Rapid Review: How Not to Kill Your Houseplant
A Rapid Review
Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged
Author: Veronica Peerless
Publisher: DK Publishing | August 2017
Format: Hardcover | Rating: 4 stars
Can’t keep a houseplant alive, no matter how hard you try to how good your intentions are? This is the book for you. You need this book. Give plants a chance.
What’s it about . . .
This is a brief reference book aimed at those who know little about houseplants. It’s perfect for those folks who are gifted or purchase a cute plant and then mysteriously watch it die… over and over again. This book might help them keep their plant alive.
The book begins with a section called “The Basics”, which covers how to buy the plant, where to put it, how to water it, how to feed it, and how to spot pests and diseases. Don’t know the name of your plant? The beginning of the section has an eight page index of illustrations for you to look at to identify your plant and find it in the book. Each plant has several pages of information including full color photos and details on what that plants requires to survive indoors. My advice: Keep the little stick that comes in the starter pot. It has valuable information on it about food, light, and watering needs.
What did I think . . .
So will this book help the noobie? Yes, but it is not going to cover every scenario. However, it will help people give their plant a fighting chance by giving it the right amount of light, the correct room temperature, and a proper watering schedule. In my experience, overwatering is the biggest killer of plants. The roots can survive a lack of light, less than ideal temperatures, and even underwatering, but too much water causes the plant to rot and die.
The book is also a handy quick-reference guide. I consider myself to have a green thumb and a lot of what I do is instinctive. But once in a while I don’t know a plant’s name and the index of illustrations has already proven helpful. Will it solve all your problems? No, but it’s a good start for the horticulturally challenged and is written in an approachable, friendly manner.
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through AmazonVine.
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Under My Apple Tree 
This book is definitely wasted on me!
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I could probably use this! I have a Christmas cactus that someone gave me 10 years ago that has somehow survived but, other than that, I have a black thumb.
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Sometimes benign neglect is the best course of action! I was given an orchid and didn’t know what to do with it. Instructions said to water lightly once a week. So I did and mostly ignored it. I thought it died, but it survived and made gorgeous flowers the next year. Maybe I was just lucky!
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Leslie, I like the humorous title and cover of this book. Most of my indoor plants survive, thankfully. But I’m sure I could learn a few things from this book!
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