Three monsoons in this flat and I’ve finally stopped fighting it. Here’s what four months of high humidity and low light actually does to two hundred plants.
What thrives
Ferns and calatheas. The two things that struggle all summer suddenly look like they belong in a magazine. The maidenhair I keep failing at gets closest to happy in July.
Anything climbing. The monstera, the pothos, the philodendrons all push out new growth like they’ve been waiting for it. Biggest leaves of the year, every year.
Moss and terracotta. My unglazed planters grow a thin green film on the north side and I’ve decided I like it.
What rots
Succulents and cacti, obviously, but it’s worse than people expect indoors. I move all of mine to the brightest windowsill in June and cut watering to almost nothing. I still lose one or two.
Anything sitting in a cache pot. Water collects underneath and you don’t see it. In monsoon I empty every saucer the day after I water, without exception. This one habit has saved me more plants than anything else.
Cuttings in water, which go slimy in days rather than weeks. Change the water every second day or root them in perlite instead.
What I change for four months
- Watering roughly halves. I check by weight and by finger, not by schedule.
- No fertiliser in the darkest weeks — there’s not enough light to use it, and it just builds up in the soil.
- A cheap clip fan on the plant shelf for two hours a day. Moving air is the single best defence against fungus and it costs nothing.
- I stop buying plants. Nursery plants have spent the monsoon in a polyhouse and the move into a dim flat is a shock. I wait for September.
The honest bit
I lose plants every monsoon. Usually five or six, usually the ones I already knew were in the wrong spot. It used to bother me a lot more than it does now.
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