Shoutout to the lady at the Denver Botanic Gardens who told me my soil was too compacted

I was at the Denver Botanic Gardens last spring and this older woman saw me poking at my phone taking pictures of the succulents. She asked if I grew any at home and when I said my jade plant was dying she told me to check if the soil was hard as a brick and she was right. Do you think bad soil habits are worse than overwatering for indoor plants or am I just making excuses?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver24228d ago

Wait, is bad soil actually worse than overwatering? I always thought drowning the roots was the number one killer, but compacted soil basically suffocates them too (if not more).

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ivan87328d ago

Man I've killed more plants from bad soil than I care to admit. Overwatering you can fix by just stepping back from the watering can, but crappy soil is like trying to grow things in concrete mix. Got a bag of "premium" potting soil once that was basically just wood chips and sadness, my poor basil never stood a chance. At least with overwatering you feel like you're showing love, bad soil is just betrayal right from the start.