13 High-Maintenance Plants To Test Your Gardening Skills
Everybody loves easy-to-grow low-maintenance plants as they are less demanding. However, if you are someone who loves challenges and wants to test your gardening skill to its extent we bring you some high-maintenance plants that you can try to grow. These plants with high maintenance can be a real challenge for you.
These plants with high maintenance have very specific needs that you should keep in mind as a little mistake can affect them. So let’s explore these 15 High-Maintenance plants.
High-Maintenance Plants
Caladiums
These plants are beautiful ornamental plants with pink, white, and green leaves. However, as indoor plants, Caladiums can be very demanding. These high-maintenance plants need bright light, moist soil, and high humidity levels. Moreover, these plants also demand consistent room temperatures between 65 to 75℉. On top of this, these plants with high maintenance aren’t evergreen and the leaves will eventually die out.
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
These plants can be challenging to grow indoors as they require filtered light and high humidity. These high-maintenance plants also need temperatures to be 18 to 23℃ during the day and 13 to 18℃ during the night. Boston fern is also known for its extensive shedding, however, these plants can easily add texture to your home with their lush green foliage. Moreover, these are non-toxic and pet-friendly plants.
Orchids (Orchidaceae)
All 28,000 species of Orchids are known for their high maintenance. These ornamental plants can add beauty to any indoor setup with their vibrant blooms. The most common problems faced by everyone while growing orchids are humidity and watering. Moreover, these high-maintenance plants need direct sunlight but are sensitive to too much heat. However, some varieties only need watering once a week.
Fiddle-leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata)
These plants are known for their beautiful, thick, and leathery leaves. However, these plants with high maintenance are dramatic when it comes to sunlight. If provided too much of it the leaves will turn brown and if not provided enough the plant won’t thrive. If your plants start dropping leaves and they turn red that means you are overwatering the plant. Fiddle-leaf fig also hates constant changes in their environment so you can’t move your plant freely.
Elephant’s Ear Plant (Colocasia)
The Elephant’s Ear Plant is known for its large leaves. These high-maintenance plants are native to the subtropical regions of Australia and Asia. These plants need a good amount of light and humidity to reach their optimal growth. You’ll also need to mist the plant to keep the humidity levels high. However, if your plant needs water it can easily tell you as the leaves will become droopy. The extravagant leaves of these plants also need cleaning once a week as they can be easily infested by pests like spider mites.
Rose (Rosa spp.)
Roses are another famous ornamental plant known for their beautiful colors that come in a variety of colors such as red, white, pink, and even black. These high-maintenance plants are pest and disease-prone, they require constant watering, and will almost always die if you move them. On top of this, they need enough sunlight, humidity, and proper air circulation. These plants also need regular trimming and pruning as their sharp thorns can injure you.
Air Plant (Tillandsia spp.)
Air plants are known for their ability to grow without soil. However, that doesn’t mean that these plants don’t have other needs such as regular watering, humidity, and sunlight. As these plants don’t have a traditional root system these plants require soaking and misting. Moreover, the water should not contain any calcium carbonate so you’ll need to keep that in mind. These plants with high maintenance also need strong light.
Croton (Codiaeum variegatum)
Crotons are known for their showy leaves but they need a lot of sunlight to keep the leaves variegated and if they don’t get it the leaves will become dull and dark green. Furthermore, these high-maintenance plants also need consistent watering and high humidity levels. These plants are also very sensitive to change and will drop leaves if you change their environment.
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that feeds on insects and bugs that land on its sensitive leaves. These plants can be a great addition to your indoor garden due to their fascinating appearance. But these plants need attention and specific needs such as sandy soil with not too many nutrients, constantly moist soil with distilled or rainwater, a lot of sunlight, and bugs and insects to feed the plant.
Azaeleas (Rhododendron spp.)
Azaleas are another high-maintenance plants that are tough to grow indoors. These plants need cooler temperatures around 18℃ and high humidity levels. Moreover, these plants need acidic soil and fertilizing to remain in good shape. Azaleas are also toxic to pets and humans so you need to keep that in mind if you have a dog.
Gardenias (Gardenia spp.)
Gardenias are known for their captivating fragrance and beautiful white flowers. However, these plants with high maintenance need tropical conditions to thrive. The buds of these plants will drop if they are exposed to too cold, too heat, or not enough water. So they are not the ideal choice if you live in a place with unpredictable weather or constant temperature changes. Moreover, these plants are also prone to pest infestation.
Bamboo
The bamboo plant is a fast-growing popular plant. These plants are used to decorate fences but if not contained properly the vigorously growing nature of these plants can result in bamboo growing all over the garden. And once established they are hard to get rid of. Furthermore, bamboo requires specific soil conditions based on the species to grow in.
Climbing Plants
Climbing plants are a great idea to decorate empty walls and fences but these plants tend to grow very fast and if they become invasive they can also destroy fences and trees. Moreover, these high-maintenance plants need regular pruning and other specific needs to grow.
Conclusion
High-maintenance plants can challenge your gardening skills but if grown under the right conditions can also reward your garden with their attractive foliage and in some cases flowers. However, these plants with high maintenance can’t be grown by everyone and require special gardening skills that can only be achieved through experience.
Furthermore, you can use the Plantora- Plant Care and Identification App to help you know the specific needs of different plants in your garden. This app can help you grow different types of plants by providing care guides for each plant and you can also know all the types of diseases and pests that can affect your plants. Moreover, you can also identify plants with this app with great accuracy. So make sure to try this app if you are a plant enthusiast. Available on both IOS and Android.
