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We’ve all heard it.

If you’re rooting cuttings in water, you should throw a cutting of Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) into the same vessel, because it helps the “companion plant” root faster. If you search online – particularly on TikTok and Instagram/Facebook reels, in my experience – you can find dozens and dozens of examples of people who swear by this method, often with scientific-sounding explanations attached.

Unfortunately, every indication is that this is completely a myth. 

Scenario: You go to your favourite garden centre, pick out a gorgeous plant you've wanted for ages -- but wait! You just got a new baby kitten, so it's time to start checking toxicity, right? You look it up, and -- damn, that's listed as toxic! ... What does toxic mean, exactly? Short version: Most houseplants that are considered "toxic to cats" (or to pets in general) are very, very mildly toxic. Medium-length version: For most houseplants, they're toxic because they contain sharp, microscopic crystals that tear into flesh -- starting with the gums when the pet chews on the...

Have you found some delicate webbing -- usually at corners of leaves, or where the leaf meets the petiole? Do you see tiny white, red, or black dots on the undersides of your leaves that shouldn't be there?

Found a white, mealy substance on your leaves -- or worse, found a big white oval with legs on the underside of a leaf?

When you’re potting -- or repotting -- your plants, you likely use a bag of potting soil. That’s completely fine, especially for a beginner -- but it’s kind of like “one size fits all” clothing: it might technically fit each plant, but it’s not going to fit each plant well. 

So how do you fix it?