Why do my houseplants die? (A tale of unnecessary woe)

Or, humans can't live on bread and water alone, and neither can plants...


I have some friends who swear up and down that they have a brown thumb. Every plant they take in dies a long, slow, horrible death. Sometimes it's because they forget to water enough (and even more rarely, too much). Usually when I ask them what happens, they say they don't know.


tl;dr- Buy a good liquid plant food and add it to your plant water as directed. Sometimes you need to re-pot your plants in new soil. Ask at your local garden centre what they suggest. Sometimes your plant has outgrown its pot and needs a slightly bigger one, but if you don't give food to your plant it will likely never get to this point.


If you actually want to learn something about it, read on...

Mend your own clothes- patching jeans and shirts

I took patching my jeans to spectacular new heights in high school. I had one pair that was more patch than jean. They fit like a glove... mostly because I remade them that way. I would pin the patch onto my jeans while wearing them (safety pins of course), take them off, and then sew the patch like that. Usually with contrasting thread and embroidery floss.

I'm not that radical anymore, but I still enjoy a good patch on a knee or two. Elbow patches on sweaters are endearing. Inner thigh patches are a little bit embarrassing, mostly because I don't really want to draw attention to that spot, and patches tend to draw the eye.

That said, I must be a little more gentle on my clothes than I used to be. I almost never blow out the knees of my jeans. I mostly need to patch the outside edges where the fabric wears from use along the seam at my hip. Or moth holes in my favourite wool sweaters. (Bloody moths)