Melissa Greenhouse Tips

05/29/2026

One of the biggest houseplant myths is that every plant needs its own special soil mix.

Most of my plants start with the same three ingredients: potting soil, perlite, and orchid bark. The only thing that changes is the ratio.

Think of it as having a moisture slider.

More soil = holds moisture longer.

More perlite and bark = more airflow and faster drying.

That’s how I adjust my mix for everything from calatheas and marantas to monsteras, pothos, snake plants, ZZ plants, and even my Thai Constellation.

What soil mix are you using right now?

05/28/2026

Most indoor plant problems usually come back to the same few things: not enough light, watering without checking the soil, and soil mixes that stay wet too long indoors.

In this video I break down:
☀️ where bright indirect light actually lives
💧 how I check when it’s time to water
🪴 the tropical houseplant soil mix I personally use

05/27/2026

I do not use moss poles… but I finally bought one to test.

After researching coco coir poles, sphagnum moss poles, aerial root attachment, moisture retention, and climbing plant support, I realized they all function VERY differently indoors.

So for this experiment, I picked a rigid D-shaped sphagnum moss pole because it slows moisture loss, gives aerial roots actual space to root into the pole, and hopefully gives this whole moss pole experiment the best chance to succeed.

Now we see whether the extra maintenance is actually worth the larger leaf growth and maturation everyone talks about.

05/27/2026

I already know which one I’d leave behind… but I wanna see if we agree 👀

Which Rex Begonia is getting left in the greenhouse?

A, B, C, or D?

05/26/2026

Repotting and dividing a cylindrical Snake Plant 🌱
How snake plant pups form from underground rhizomes, how to properly split them, pot sizing, soil mix, watering, and why brighter light makes them grow faster and healthier.

05/25/2026

I leave ONE plant too long and suddenly it develops legs 😭🌱

05/24/2026

Not all “moss poles” actually work the same 🌿

Coco coir poles, sphagnum moss poles, bendable poles, rigid D-shaped poles — they all support climbing plants differently, retain moisture differently, and affect aerial root attachment differently too.

In this video I’m breaking down:
🌱 coco coir poles vs sphagnum moss poles
🌱 support vs rooting
🌱 why some poles dry out too fast
🌱 bendable pole problems
🌱 how to choose the right moss pole for your plant and your setup

Because the best moss pole really depends on whether you want simple support… or active rooting and maturation.

05/23/2026

Moss poles and wood stakes don’t actually do the same thing — and neither one is automatically “better.”

Wood stakes are simpler, cleaner, easier to maintain, and still support larger mature growth in climbing plants.

Moss poles can help aerial roots attach and create a secondary root zone, which can speed up leaf sizing and maturity — but they also require much more moisture management and can run into issues like rot, fungus, algae, or pests inside the moss itself.

So I finally bought a moss pole.

This is the start of a full experiment series where I’ll test:
🌿 growth differences
🌿 aerial root attachment
🌿 leaf sizing
🌿 maintenance
🌿 watering
🌿 pest issues
🌿 long-term results

And yes… I’m still a wood stake girl for now.

05/22/2026

Hoya flowers are some of the weirdest flowers in the houseplant world 🌸

They can smell spicy, floral, chocolaty — or honestly just weird — and many of them drip sticky nectar while blooming. But one of the biggest Hoya mistakes people make happens AFTER the flowers die.

If your Hoya has ever bloomed once and never again, the peduncle might be why.

05/21/2026

05/21/2026

Hoya propagation confuses a LOT of people because Hoyas don’t propagate like pothos

Hoyas root much slower, store water in their leaves, and usually do better with airflow around the roots while propagating. In this video I’m breaking down how I propagate Hoyas in chunky substrate, why patience matters so much, and why it can look like “nothing is happening” for weeks.