Cleveland Plant Doctor

Cleveland Plant Doctor simple plant care for homes and small businesses

09/20/2026

Not every plant care endeavor will go in your favor, but you can’t be scared to try!

This fiddle leaf fig tree grew back from my last trim way too fast and was already to max height for my space, pruning it was not an option.

The plant was healthy and putting out new growth, I had no reason to doubt the success of this pruning.

Things seemed to be going great, until they weren’t and there were a few factors I think may have gone wrong.

1 - my blinds broke and changed the amount of sunlight the plant was getting. It wasn’t a significant change, but it was a change.

2 - I’ve been trying some new fertilizers and this plant got a product I’ve never used before. I’m not going to blame it on that, but it is the only plant I used it on and it’s the only plant I’ve killed recently.

3 - my fiddle fig was in this ceramic pot for probably 6+ years, which is a really long time to go without a repot and after I pulled the plant out I discovered the pot was holding the water. The roots did look healthy when I repotted, so that may not have been the issue.

The truth is, I don’t know what went wrong. I have tons of ficus, and I’m really good at ficus care. I’ve had this fiddle fig for about 8 years with several prunings and lots of successful growth.

I don’t regret chopping my fiddle leaf fig tree but I’m happy to take the lessons that came with it.

09/18/2026

A mobile houseplant care business in Cleveland was never on my radar as a potential business when I got started.

I came from the corporate world as an HR Business Partner and in my personal time I was a CrossFit coach so I knew I had skills for coaching and business but not much else was clear.

I tried to coach fitness and nutrition online…

I became a yoga teacher… and taught yoga in every place people would let me.

I opened a yoga studio that was also a plant shop…

And nothing worked… for YEARS nothing worked.

Then one day, someone asked me for help with their plants… to come to their home, repot their plants, teach them about watering and make sure the plants were in the right windows of their home and BAM it all came together.

I was finally living in my purpose and the universe knew it.

This is the end of my 3rd summer doing mobile houseplant care and if you got this far reading this - I want you to know something… if you dream of having a business of your own, it’s possible.

Even if you fail a whole lot.
Eventually something will click.
It will all come together.

Your purpose might not be the thing you think it is. It might be the thing you never even thought was a thing.

Believe in you and your ability to figure it out.

Be like a houseplant. Set yourself up for success. Get rooted in who you are. Nourish yourself with the right people and education and coaching. Don’t be afraid to chop off anything that’s not working and never be scared to grow in a direction you never dreamed was possible 🫶

09/17/2026

Citrus tree care indoors in Cleveland is a little more complicated than people think.

This lime tree came to me last spring covered in spider mites, so I pruned it back hard and removed all of the foliage.

It looked brutal.

But it bounced back beautifully.

It spent the summer growing outside, and now it’s a full and healthy again.

Here’s the thing about growing citrus trees indoors… it can be done, but Cleveland winters are not exactly what citrus trees want.

Our homes get dry and have low humidity during the winter, and I have yet to meet a citrus tree that doesn’t eventually have some kind of pest issue in Cleveland.

Spider mites are especially common.

If you’re growing a lime tree or other citrus tree indoors, regular maintenance is a big part of keeping it healthy.

Dust the foliage regularly so pests are easier to spot and their preferred habitat is removed. Increase humidity when the air gets dry. Neem oil can also help.

And most importantly, inspect your plant regularly. Don’t wait until the leaves showing visible signs of distress.

09/16/2026

Bird of Paradise plant care is easy, but ONLY if you have enough sunlight.

This is one of the biggest reasons I see Bird of Paradise plants struggle indoors.

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) is a tropical plant that needs a LOT of light to grow well. If your plant is getting leggy, floppy, and putting out super long top heavy stems, take a hard look at how much sunlight it’s actually getting.

I recommend placing your Bird of Paradise in your sunniest window, ideally a south-facing window, followed by west or east. If your home doesn’t get enough natural light, a grow light can make a huge difference.

And when a Bird of Paradise has already become leggy, don’t be afraid to prune it back. Sometimes a dramatic cut is exactly what the plant needs to start growing again with better structure.

Good Bird of Paradise plant care starts with good light. Get that right, and this can be a surprisingly easy houseplant to grow.

If you’re struggling with a Bird of Paradise, start by asking yourself one question:

How much direct sunlight is this plant actually getting… and then add more!

09/15/2026

You’re never going to be perfect, so you can’t expect perfection from your plant care journey either.

You’re going to kill plants.
You’re going to underwater something.
You’re going to overwater something.
You’re going to try something that absolutely does not work.

I know because I’ve been there.

And honestly, some of my biggest plant care lessons have come from the things I got wrong.

The goal isn’t to know exactly what every houseplant needs before you ever touch it or to buy some miracle product that works instantly.

It’s to get curious.

Pay attention.

Notice patterns.

Try something different.

And when something doesn’t work, ask yourself why… because that’s the key to plant care. Everything else is secondary.

After years of caring for thousands of houseplants, there are some things I wish I understood when I was first learning ...
09/14/2026

After years of caring for thousands of houseplants, there are some things I wish I understood when I was first learning plant care.

Not the basic stuff.

The weird stuff.

The lessons you only really learn after killing plants, making mistakes, troubleshooting the same problems over and over, and spending tons of time in other people’s homes looking at how plants actually live.

That’s why I don’t think becoming “good at plants” means knowing everything.

It means being curious enough to figure out what’s happening when something doesn’t go according to plan.

That’s the part of plant care I love most.

Not having all the answers.

Knowing how to find them.

09/13/2026

Just because a houseplant has been in your family for 50 years doesn’t mean it ever got the care it needed.

And that’s especially true for heirloom jade plants.

I love helping my clients get their sentimental houseplants back on track, figuring out what they actually need, getting them set up for success, and then giving them the jade plant care instructions and support they need to keep them thriving.

Because these plants aren’t just plants.

They’re memories. They’re family history. They’re something you can continue to care for and eventually pass down to the next generation.

Jade plants are one of my favorite heirloom houseplants because, with the right care, they can live for decades and decades.

A little TLC now can help keep a special jade plant growing for many more years and hopefully many more generations.

That’s the kind of houseplant care I love most.

09/13/2026

And listen, if your houseplant is root bound, you don’t need to perform root surgery.

I see a LOT of unnecessary root damage when people repot rootbound plants because they think they need to completely untangle, loosen, and pull apart the roots.

Don’t do that.

When I’m repotting a rootbound houseplant, I disturb the roots as little as possible. I just take the root ball as it is, move it into fresh soil, give it a really good drink, and let the plant get back to growing.

Those roots have already done a pretty damn good job getting the plant this far. We don’t need to tear them apart just because they look a little wild.

But root bound does not automatically mean “rip all the roots apart.”

Sometimes the best plant care is to stop messing with it and let it grow.

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09/12/2026

Heres what you need to know before you bring your next houseplant home.

I hear people say you need to let a new plant “acclimate” before you repot it ALL THE TIME…

But I’m going to disagree.

I recommend checking and repotting most new houseplants when you bring them home.

Why? Because you have no idea what’s happening inside that nursery pot until you look.

The plant could be:
Rootbound
Sitting in soil that stays way too wet
Planted in poor-quality or compacted soil
In a pot that’s simply not appropriate for the root ball
Already rotted and dying

And if something is wrong with the roots or soil, waiting two weeks to address it doesn’t magically make the problem better… in fact it can make it much worse.

This doesn’t mean every plant needs a giant pot and for you to shake all the soil off the roots, bc that’s an awful idea. For the record, I NEVER recommend doing that.

But “never repot a new plant because it needs to acclimate” is not a thing.

Check the roots. Check the soil. Check the pot. Then make an educated decision. Set it up for success.

Thats what good houseplant care should look like.

09/10/2026

Water propagation isn’t the only way!!

Here’s what else you need to know about plant propagation!!

Callousing a cutting for propagation means allowing the cut end to dry and harden before planting or propagating it. This is especially important when propagating succulents and cacti.

And please: don’t water propagate a cactus!!!

For most succulents, about a week is generally plenty of time to callous. Some cacti can sit out of soil for weeks and weeks. There’s no rush!

For woody plant cuttings, I’ve found that a few hours is usually plenty of time for the cut end to dry. But waiting too long can become a problem, too. The important thing is making sure the cut is completely dry before putting your cutting into water or soil.

Most importantly, treat propagation as an experiment.

When you’re pruning, make the original “mother” plant the priority. Then use the cuttings to experiment and see what works.

There are SO many ways to propagate plants. Try:

🌱 Water propagation
🌱 Soil propagation
🌱 Moss propagation
🌱 Stratum propagation
🌱 Air layering for woody plants

And if one propagation method isn’t working? Try something else.

There’s no single “right” way to propagate every plant. Different plants and different cuttings can respond differently.

Experiment. Pay attention. Learn what works.

That’s half the fun of plant propagation anyway.

What’s your favorite propagation method?

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