Can you help a beginning gardener with a brown thumb?

I am trying to grow a double mock orange plant and a spider plant. The double mock orange is in a large planter in potting soil, in full sun, its leaves are turning brown around the edges, and it's never bloomed. The spider plant is small and also in a pot, it's in the shade, and looks like it's growing, but the leaves are also brown at the tips. I'm in zone, uh, 19, in inland southern California.





So--am I not watering them enough? Should I move them to different areas to get more/less sun? Should I give up and buy some fake plants and stick to cactus? (I'm even killing off some aloe, by the way).





Any spider plant/double mock orange assistance would be appreciated.

Can you help a beginning gardener with a brown thumb?
transplant and water once. Let them dry out. They only 'grow' when dry.


Overwatering kills more plants than anything else.
Reply:Spider plants multiply quickly so make sure that the pot is large enough. You may start with one plant but you will end up with multiple in a short period of time. Spider plants ar resiliant and don't need alot of water. I water mine 2 times a week (I am in costal So Cal). The leaves always are a bit brown around the edges. Just cut those pieces off.





Don't know about the orange. Sorry.
Reply:Mock Orange: try this.


1) a bigger pot


2) replace the old soil with new


3) use a good fertiliser


4) make sure to water at least once per week


5) it should be ok in the sun as they are used extensively here in Australia but it does need to be watered (don't overwater though)


6) cut it back (not too severe) when you put in the new soil to give it a new lease of life.





Spider plant: don't worry as they are very hardy. be prepared for lots of plants from this one. Water it too.

Dog Teeth