Verdejar
Journal
Notes on plants, written slowly.
Houseplant care guides: how much to water, where to put them, what to do when a leaf turns yellow — with Verdejar’s maths behind every number.
How often should you water a Monstera?
The short answer is “less often than you think”. The long one depends on three things in your home — the light, the pot and the season — and on a test that beats any calendar.
Read · 6 min readWhy are my Monstera leaves turning yellow?
A yellow leaf isn’t a death sentence. It’s the plant telling you something — and, most of the time, it’s telling you its feet have been wet for too long.
Read · 6 min readHow often should you water a snake plant?
It’s one of the hardest plants to kill with neglect and one of the easiest to kill with kindness. The secret is to wait longer than you feel like waiting.
Read · 5 min readThe best plants for low-light apartments
Low light isn’t no light. If you can read a book there without switching a lamp on, some plants will live happily in that spot — as long as you don’t water them like plants in the sun.
Read · 4 min readWhy are my Monstera leaves turning brown?
A brown tip is rarely a drama, but it is always a clue. It usually tells you what’s too much or too little in your home — and exactly where the brown shows tells you which.
Read · 6 min readWhy are my Monstera leaves curling?
A curled leaf is a plant saving water, and it may be saving it because there’s too little, or because it can’t drink what’s there. The trick is telling which, before you pick up the watering can.
Read · 6 min readWhy doesn’t my Monstera have holes?
The holes are what make the plant famous, and what everyone wants to see. The good news is that it’s almost never a flaw: it’s a matter of age, light and a little support.
Read · 6 min readWhy isn’t my Monstera growing?
A plant at a standstill is rarely ill: it’s almost always waiting for something. Light, season, space or food — the hard part is working out which, and that’s what we’ll do.
Read · 6 min readHow to propagate a Monstera from a cutting
Taking a cutting is one of the simplest and most satisfying things you can do with a Monstera: one cut, a jar of water and, a few weeks later, a new plant. The secret is knowing where to cut.
Read · 6 min readWhy are my snake plant leaves turning yellow?
A snake plant puts up with nearly everything except too much love. When it turns yellow, most of the time it isn’t a lack of care: it’s too much care, in the form of water.
Read · 5 min readWhy is my snake plant drooping or falling over?
A snake plant is the plant of blade-straight leaves. When it starts to flop, or go soft, it’s telling you something has changed underneath, and that’s where we need to look.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my snake plant tips turning brown?
Brown tips are among the most common snake plant complaints, and they’re almost never serious. But they’re a message: the watering, the water or the spot may need a small adjustment.
Read · 5 min readHow to propagate a snake plant
A snake plant multiplies in two ways, and one of them is almost impossible to get wrong. The other is slower, but gives you lots of plants from a single leaf.
Read · 5 min readCan a snake plant live in low light or sun?
It’s the plant everyone puts in the darkest corner of the house, and it nearly always survives. But surviving isn’t growing: here’s what it tolerates, what it prefers and what light changes.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for a Monstera
Looking after a Monstera is simpler than it seems: good light, calm watering and a little room to climb. Here are the essentials, kept simple, and where to go when something goes wrong.
Read · 6 min readDoes a Monstera need a lot of water?
It’s a plant from humid forests, so many people water it as if it lived in one. But a Monstera doesn’t ask for a lot of water: it asks for water given well, and then a rest.
Read · 5 min readHow fast does a Monstera grow?
For a houseplant, a Monstera is a vigorous grower, as long as you give it what it wants. But there’s a season when it nearly stops, and that’s normal.
Read · 5 min readHow much light does a Monstera need?
Light weighs more than anything else in a Monstera’s life: it decides how much it grows, what leaves it makes and how often it needs water. Here’s what it wants, and what it tolerates.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for a snake plant
It’s the plant that forgives almost everything. To look after it well, you only need to know two things: it likes light and it hates wet feet. The rest is detail, and it’s all here.
Read · 5 min readDoes a snake plant need a lot of water?
It’s one of the plants that asks for the least water, yet the question keeps coming up, because the urge to water is strong. Here is the right amount, and the myths that lead to overdoing it.
Read · 4 min readHow fast does a snake plant grow?
It isn’t a plant for the impatient. A snake plant grows slowly, but it always grows, and the reward is a plant that lasts for years while asking for almost nothing.
Read · 4 min readWhen should you repot a snake plant?
A snake plant likes tight roots and is in no hurry to move pots. But there are clear signs the time has come, and a right way to do it.
Read · 4 min readHow often should you water a pothos?
A pothos is one of the few plants that tells you when it’s thirsty: the leaves visibly droop and perk up again after a drink. Even so, it’s kinder to water before it gets that far — and there’s a way to know when.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my pothos leaves turning yellow?
A yellow leaf on a pothos is rarely serious, and it almost always has a simple explanation. The hard part is working out which, because the same yellow can mean too much water, thirst or just an old leaf.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for a pothos
The pothos is the plant almost everyone ends up with: it tolerates low light, forgives forgetfulness and grows on any shelf. Here’s the essential, kept simple.
Read · 6 min readHow to propagate pothos in water
Few plants multiply as easily as a pothos: one cut, a glass of water and, within a few weeks, roots. It’s the best way to have more plants — and to give one to someone you like.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my pothos leaves turning brown?
Brown on a pothos is a message, and nearly always a simple one. Where the brown sits and what it feels like tell you whether it’s thirst, dry air, too much sun or, the opposite, too much water.
Read · 5 min readHow often should you water a peace lily?
A peace lily tells you when it’s thirsty: it collapses completely, as if it had given up, and stands back up after a drink. That’s not your fault. It’s how the plant talks, and you can stay one step ahead.
Read · 6 min readWhy are my peace lily tips turning brown?
Brown tips are among the most common peace lily complaints, and the cause is almost always simple. Where the brown sits and how it feels tell you whether it’s dry air, thirst, tap water or too much feed.
Read · 5 min readWhy is my peace lily not flowering?
A healthy peace lily, with green, glossy leaves, can go years without a single flower. It almost always needs more light, but there are other reasons, and some of them need nothing from you.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my peace lily leaves turning yellow?
One yellow leaf on a peace lily isn’t always a problem, but several at once are a message. Which leaves yellow, and where, tells you whether it’s overwatering, thirst, light or just age.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for a peace lily
The peace lily is the plant that talks: it flops when thirsty and stands up again after a drink. With bright indirect light and watering on time, it’s one of the most rewarding. Here are the essentials, kept simple.
Read · 5 min readHow often should you water a ZZ plant?
A ZZ plant keeps water stored underground and seems to need nobody. That is exactly why so many die of the opposite: too much care.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my aloe vera leaves mushy or brown?
Aloe vera is a succulent: it stores water in its leaves and gets by on very little. When those leaves go soft or dark, it is telling you something in the routine does not suit it.
Read · 5 min readHow to water a Phalaenopsis orchid
The supermarket orchid doesn’t live in soil: in the wild it clings to tree trunks with its roots in the open air. Watering it like any other pot plant is the quickest way to lose it.
Read · 6 min readWhy is my fiddle-leaf fig dropping leaves?
The fiddle-leaf fig has a reputation for drama, and it has earned it: when something changes around it, it drops leaves. The good news is that the reason is nearly always easy to find.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my ZZ plant leaves turning yellow?
A ZZ plant hardly ever complains, so a yellow leaflet is alarming. Sometimes it is just the plant renewing itself; sometimes it is a warning from under the soil.
Read · 5 min readWhy do houseplants slow down in November?
In November the house looks the same, but the light isn't. Plants notice before we do, and anyone watering by the calendar is usually the last to find out.
Read · 4 min readWhy are my areca palm tips turning brown?
An areca palm fills a corner with green, and its tips are the first place it shows what it is missing. A little brown tells a story; you just need to read it.
Read · 6 min readHow to tell if a houseplant needs water
Watering on a fixed schedule is the quickest way to drown a plant. The compost, the weight of the pot and the leaves all tell you when it’s time, once you know how to read them.
Read · 6 min readHow to care for a Boston fern
A Boston fern is a cascade of fronds that forgives almost everything except dry air and forgotten soil. Get those two right and the rest nearly looks after itself.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my plant's leaves turning orange?
An orange leaf is your plant telling you something has changed. It’s usually water, light or the roots, and the pattern of the colour tells you which.
Read · 5 min readHow to propagate aloe vera from pups
A happy aloe vera ends up surrounded by small copies of itself. Separating them is the easiest way to get more plants, and it gives the mother room to breathe.
Read · 5 min readFungus gnats in houseplant soil: causes and fixes
Those tiny flies drifting up from the pot didn’t come in from outside: they were born in the compost. It’s almost always the watering, and that’s where the fix starts.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my heartleaf philodendron leaves yellow?
The heartleaf philodendron forgives almost anything, so a yellow leaf feels like a betrayal. It isn't: it's the plant telling you, in the only colour it has, that something in the soil or the light is off.
Read · 5 min readWhite mould on houseplant soil: is it a problem?
That white fuzz on top of the compost looks alarming, but it's nearly always about dampness rather than the plant's health. The real question is why the compost isn't drying.
Read · 5 min readWhat to do with an orchid after the flowers fall
The flowers have gone and the orchid is left with a few leaves and a stick. It isn’t dead: it’s resting, and what you do over the next few months decides whether it flowers again.
Read · 6 min readHow to care for a poinsettia
A poinsettia comes home from the shop at its best, and often doesn't see the New Year. It is rarely bad luck: it is the cold on the way home, a draught and too much water.
Read · 5 min readThe best plants to decorate your home for Christmas
A living plant gives colour at Christmas and outlasts cut stems, if it goes in the right spot. Choose by your home: the cold, the light and the heating decide.
Read · 4 min readWhite crust on pots and compost: what is it?
A hard white crust on the compost or pot rim isn't mould: it's nearly always mineral salts left behind by water and feed. Understanding them helps you water and feed better.
Read · 5 min readWhy are my dracaena tips turning brown?
A dracaena puts up with a lot, but it has a weak spot few houseplants share: tap water. Brown tips are, more often than not, how it tells you.
Read · 5 min readThe best plant care apps in 2026
Some apps identify plants and others just remember dates; Verdejar, launched in 2026, does the sums for each plant on your behalf. We compared five, side by side.
Read · 5 min readVerdejar vs Planta: which plant app should you use?
Verdejar is the new generation of plant apps: it does the sums for you, plant by plant, and charges nothing. Planta is one of the best known.
Read · 4 min readVerdejar vs Greg: which app waters plants better?
Verdejar starts from a science Greg also uses: the right watering depends on the water a plant loses where it lives. And it turns that into an app that thinks for you.
Read · 4 min readVerdejar vs PictureThis: which app to care for plants?
Verdejar was born to keep each plant thriving in your home, never too much water or too little. PictureThis was born to tell you which plant this is.
Read · 4 min readVerdejar vs Blossom: which plant app should you choose?
Verdejar chose to think hard about what matters most: the right rhythm for every plant, with no limits and no cost. Blossom wants to do everything in one app.
Read · 4 min readHow to care for a cyclamen
Cyclamen is the Christmas plant that hates the heat. Give it a cool, bright corner, water it without wetting the middle, and the flowers keep coming week after week.
Read · 6 min readHow to prune a Monstera (Swiss cheese plant)
A Monstera doesn't need cutting back every year, but one day it sprawls sideways, brushes the ceiling or trails old leaves on the floor. Pruning is easy once you know where it grows back from.
Read · 6 min readYellow leaves on houseplants: what they mean
A yellow leaf isn't a diagnosis, it's a clue. Where it appears, how fast and in what pattern tell you far more than the colour itself.
Read · 7 min readHow to keep a potted Christmas tree alive
A potted Christmas tree is an outdoor tree paying a visit to your living room. Keep the visit short, cool and well watered, and in January it goes back outside in one piece.
Read · 7 min readWhy are my houseplant's leaves sticky?
You brush a leaf and it's tacky, as if someone spilt juice on it. It's almost never the plant sweating: it's a note left by something drinking its sap.
Read · 7 min readHow fast does a pothos grow?
Among houseplants, pothos is one of the few you can actually watch grow: in a good season the vines trail down the shelf in plain sight. But its speed depends almost entirely on light, and winter is for resting.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for potted holly at Christmas
Holly is an outdoor shrub that comes inside for Christmas. Treat it as a guest, cool and in good light, and buy it from a grower: in mainland Portugal wild holly is protected.
Read · 5 min readTrees flowering in November: what are they telling us?
A horse chestnut in flower in November looks like a gift. To the people who study trees, it is mostly a sign that the year went badly for them.
Read · 5 min readHow to care for a pink jasmine indoors
Pink jasmine turns up in the shops as a hoop of pink buds and fills the house with scent at the end of winter. It asks for light, a cool autumn and something to climb; the rest is keeping an eye on the soil.
Read · 6 min read