If there is a gardening subject I am familiar with, it’s learning from my mistakes. I have been gardening indoors for the past 20 years. I have read many books, articles, blogs, and magazines and watched or listened to countless YouTube videos, movies, and podcasts. Still, I am far from knowing it all. As many colleagues have stated, the more I learn, the less I know. Don’t get me wrong, I have learned so much and have a good handle on my work — until something goes wrong. Like people, all plants are different, even within the same family.
Once you master the basic principles of indoor gardening, that is often where the real learning begins. Having a “green thumb” means you can listen to and understand what a plant needs just by looking at it. But what that plant is trying to tell you may not always be clear, or with some varieties, you don’t speak their language and can’t figure it out.
When asked to write about some of the most common problems and solutions they have encountered over the years, Dr. Av Singh and Dr. Colin Bell wrote similar articles. What they both discovered about themselves was that what they thought they knew about growing was not so straightforward, and their experiences with the plants themselves have taught them as much as their PhDs have.
Learning from our mistakes and correcting our approaches and actions to become happier or better humans is one of the fundamentals of personal evolution. It equally applies to becoming a better gardener. Everest Fernandez says it perfectly in his article “Gardening Mistakes Are a Gift to Your Future.” This edition also features many tips for identifying problems and avoiding common growing mistakes, along with some inspiring ideas for your next garden ventures.
Plants, like children, are not something we control but need to nurture and learn from. Adopting this ideology is the best way to improve your gardening game.
Happy Growing