Growing flowers is like raising children - do these few things right and they'll surprise you now and then

The first thing Huahua does every morning is go check on those precious flowers - are they wilting? Any yellow leaves? A hundred worries, just like raising children. If you're not careful, they either bloom overnight or die overnight. It's really exhausting!

These flowers give you a "surprise" now and then

The Complete Guide to Growing Flowers

Some flower lovers, though they love flowers, are still pretty lazy. They don't obsess over their plants every day. But have you noticed? The less they fuss, the better the flowers bloom. Isn't that infuriating?

Huahua thinks the point is that they picked the right flowers. As for the ones below, they really do grow better the less you worry about them!

1. Snake Plant (Sansevieria) (Ease level: ★★★★★)

The snake plant at Huahua's home barely gets any care, and it's already shot up to two meters tall. It's the most low-maintenance baby of all, like raising a top student son who develops perfectly on his own. 100% satisfaction.

Caring for a snake plant is really simple:

Snake plants are highly adaptable. They like warmth, tolerate drought and shade, and can go just about anywhere. Water once every half a month and that's it.

For snake plant soil, just mix leaf mold and river sand at 1:1 and stir evenly. Easy to get.

2. Peace Lily (Ease level: ★★★★)

A friend has two peace lilies in his living room, always green and blooming. I even suspected he bought fake flowers, but they really are real peace lilies. When I asked how he cared for them so well, he said he just remembers to water them with rice water sometimes and does nothing else.

Peace lilies are fairly shade-tolerant, and their water requirements aren't strict. Water when the soil is dry, just don't let water accumulate. In summer, spray a little water around the leaves and flowers to keep humidity up and prevent yellow leaves.

For soil, mix leaf mold, peat soil and river sand at a ratio of 2:1:1. As long as it's loose and breathable, there's no problem.

The peace lily's blooming season is May to August. During this time, apply a little diluted 20-fold fermented rice water to ensure the nutrients needed for blooming.

3. Baby Rubber Plant (Peperomia obtusifolia) (Ease level: ★★★★★)

The baby rubber plant is the kind that easily gets leggy if you're not paying attention. Its leaves are plump and green, and it needs no fussing. It's deeply loved by lazy people. Huahua even keeps one on the desk for eye candy.

Baby rubber plants tolerate shade and like moisture. Water once on a free weekend, and on ordinary days just spritz a bit with a small spray bottle to keep humidity up, and the leaves will stay lush and green.

For soil, use a sandy soil that drains and breathes well. Mix garden soil and river sand at 1:1.

4. African Violet (Ease level: ★★★★)

This flower comes in many colors and has a long blooming season. When it blooms, it's especially beautiful. The grandmother next door has several pots, and they're said to be very easy to grow.

African violets like warmth and humidity and are fairly shade-tolerant. Generally you can place them on a coffee table or a sunny windowsill. Water once every 3-5 days, but don't water onto the leaves or flowers - the leaves are fuzzy and rot easily when wet.

For soil, mix peat soil and river sand at 4:1. You can add a little chicken manure to boost the soil's nutrients.

5. Peacock Plant (Calathea makoyana) (Ease level: ★★★★)

Old Li downstairs has a really beautiful peacock plant, big and tall. Every time she sees me she brags: "Isn't it tiring caring for flowers every day? Look at my two pots of calathea - they grow so well with hardly any care. How about I give you one?" "Thanks a lot!"

They grow well because peacock plants are super low-maintenance! Its leaves look like a peacock's tail and are especially beautiful. It tolerates shade and likes moisture, and just spritzing water regularly is enough.

Peacock plants like loose, fertile, well-draining soil. You can mix leaf mold, peat soil and river sand at 3:1:1, and add a small amount of chicken manure or sheep manure as a base fertilizer.

Envious of flower lovers who picked the right flowers - they don't have to live like a wet nurse all day.

These flowers usually only bring "shocks"

The Complete Guide to Growing Flowers

They say growing flowers makes people diligent. It's true. Sometimes you feel like a flower's nanny, tending to every meal and every drop of water - you weren't even this careful raising children. Has your kid ever said to you: "Mom, Dad, the flowers must be your real children, right?"

But flowers won't bloom brilliantly just because you worked hard. Wilting in the blink of an eye is all too common!

After so many years of growing flowers, Huahua still wouldn't call herself an expert. There are certain flowers that are widely acknowledged as hard to grow, but I believe every flower lover has grown them at home - except! Every pot you grow dies! Truly dead overnight.

1. Gardenia (Difficulty level: ★★★★★)

How hard this flower is to grow needs no explanation from Huahua. You can already see plenty of complaints from flower lovers. Truly a beauty you cannot touch.

Bud drop, yellow leaves - when there's a problem, you just can't fix it:

If there are buds, add light. Sunning it on a balcony through glass is fine. Give it plenty of light!

Water once every 2-3 days, don't let water accumulate. Usually spritz with a small spray bottle, but don't spray onto the buds - they'll drop!

Don't use clay soil! Mix peat soil, perlite and coarse sand at 2:1:1 and that's fine!

2. Camellia (Difficulty level: ★★★★)

Avoid temperatures that are too low and poor air circulation. Put camellias on the balcony during the day and move them indoors at night to avoid nighttime temperatures that are too low. Usually keep windows open for ventilation, otherwise it won't bloom easily.

Maintain humidity. Camellias in the north may not bloom because the air humidity isn't high enough. Use a spray bottle to regularly spritz water around the flower, just don't spray it on the buds.

Also, don't keep too many buds. Remove the small ones promptly to ensure the strong ones can bloom.

3. Azalea (Difficulty level: ★★★★★)

When it comes to hard-to-grow flowers, what flashes through flower lovers' minds is gardenia and azalea. They're gorgeous but extremely picky - no matter what you do, you can't grow them well. A real headache.

Azaleas like a relatively humid environment, but you can't water too much either. Generally water once every 2-3 days. In dry, hot weather, water once a day.

Don't put azaleas on a south-facing balcony, especially in the north, where the day-night temperature difference is large, which is bad for blooming. Just place it somewhere in the living room with scattered light.

4. Cyclamen (Difficulty level: ★★★)

Cyclamen bought from the flower market all bloom beautifully, but once they finish blooming at home, it's basically their death sentence. You'll never see a bud again - like buying disposable chopsticks...

For cyclamen soil, mix leaf mold, garden soil and coarse sand at a ratio of 2:2:1. Make sure it's loose and breathable.

Cyclamen doesn't need much fertilizer. After October, you can apply a small amount of fertilizer to promote bud growth.

5. Clivia (Difficulty level: ★★★★★)

Clivia's temperament is also hard to figure out. Some people grow it for three to five years and it still won't bloom - they can only look at leaves every day, and sometimes the leaves turn yellow too, or the whole plant even dies.

Clivia easily gets root rot. When watering, you absolutely must not let water accumulate, otherwise it'll die on you in no time. Generally water once every 4-5 days.

Except when it's blooming and needs plenty of light, the rest of the time just keep clivia indoors with scattered light.

Growing flowers isn't really about easy or hard - do you really need talent for it? That's asking too much of people!

Alright, today's post is basically a rant

What flowers do you think are easy to grow? Which ones are hard to grow?

Experienced folks, leave lots of comments

Huahua will organize them and share them with other flower lovers~