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tifflj_gw

Do you have a plant you 'dislike'?

tifflj
11 years ago

Was wondering if others have a plant or a few plants they acuired that they just simply dont like? Mine would be my dieffenbachia (not the new camo one). I dont know why I dislike this plant. Maybe its because it isnt the most attractive, there isnt anything neat about its uglyness. When I go visit it I think I am secretly looking for signs of decline but no... There are many signs of new growth and then I call it an a**hole. Mean, I know!

How about you guys?

Comments (32)

  • tifflj
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here it is.

  • birdsnblooms
    11 years ago

    Tiff, some Dieffs are prettier than others. I like thick-trunk, tall Dieffs, w/lots of white in center leaves.

    But, you're right Dieffs aren't one of my favorites either.

    I had, but no longer have a ZZ plant..I find them boring..
    Sorry to those who love their ZZ's, it's only a matter of opinion.

    Let's see..I bought a baby Dracaena 'Janet Craig,' which is probably the second least of my favorites..JC's are fast-growing and can reach the ceiling in no time.
    One pro is JC's can flower in winter, but because my guy grew at least 5', kept tilting over, it was cut back last summer.
    Thanksfully, bought at our grocery store for 1.00.

    Tiff, please don't ask about, one 'favorite' plant..it's impossible to choose one favorite! lol.

  • karyn1
    11 years ago

    Toni too funny. I was also going to say my ZZ. I have a fairly large one (17" pot) that DH brought home about 5 years ago. I soon decided that I didn't care for it and began neglecting it but the damn thing won't die. It sends out new growth just to spite me. It's lucky if it gets watered a few times a year and that's only because my housekeeper takes pity on it. I wish she would take it home.

  • tifflj
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Haha Karyn!! I havent neglected my dieff yet but I feel like it sometimes.

    Toni, I had to look up zz plant... I see what you mean, I dont like either. It does look boring.

    I like most all dracs. My favorite is my drac.warneckii. Love that plant. I think my second fav is my golden pothos. Seeing how happy it is hanging in the sliding glass door... So much new growth and it has gotten more golden color in it since I moved it!!

  • plantomaniac08
    11 years ago

    Karyn,
    If I lived near you, I'd take your ZZ... they are one of my favorites (I know, I stand alone on this hehe).

    Planto

  • birdsnblooms
    11 years ago

    Karyn...lol.
    Heck..give your ZZ to your house-keeper as a gift. lol.
    Wanna kill it. Place in a very cold location, then water 'thoroughly' at night..lol. Am I mean?

    Karyn. I like other Cycads..Example, Sago..but after a couple years, if that, they die. Cannot grow Sagos, and they're so pretty...
    I have one Cycad planted in a shallow pot..don't know it's type..It's been in the same container over 10 yrs..lol..Maybe that's the secret keeping Sagos..Ignore. Neglect.

    Tiff. Sorry, I should have typed the Latin name. Too lazy to check spelling..lol.

    Tiff, I like Dracs, too, but D. Janet Craig is boring like ZZ/Zamia..lol.

    My favorite Dracaena is Goldianna, but impossible finding. It's BEAUTIFUL, but finicky.
    Warneckii's are very pretty, espeically when colors are vivid.
    I have two D. Draco's, 'second was a bonus plant.' They're amazing as adults, but that will never happen indoors, in a container. D. Marginata's are pretty, too..

    There was a time I didn't care for Pothos..probably because they were the main plant sold here. I like Pothos now. Mine are in areas no other plant would thrive, plus cuttings in water..kept in water for years..

    Have a pic of your golden Pothos?

  • meyermike_1micha
    11 years ago

    My dang 'Kentia Palm'!

    That thing has looked pathetic for years now, and has not grown a new leaf since I have had it!
    It sits there in the corner of my room and acts like a plastic tree.

    You are all too funny! ZZ is one of my favorites too. It fills in a space where nothing else will. I must admit, it bears no fruit, color, or flowers. but still cleans the air in my house.lol

    Mike

  • flowerpottipper
    11 years ago

    I think it's funny that most of you guys love Dracaenas, I find them too boring for some reason....I have one corn plant that I got on clearance about a year ago because it's tips where brown, so I cut off the leaves, and it grew a bunch of new leave 'points' (like green bumps that are sticking out of the thick stem) and they've sat there not doing anything....so basically I have two thick sticks with green bumps on it...lol. And truthfully, I don't care much to make it grow. I might just give it to my mother, she has a big sliding window that gets a lot of light, maybe it will grow for her.


    Of the plants I own, I probably dislike that corn plant the most. But for some reason I dont like any Dracaenas, ficus, ferns (except for a very few ferns that I can't find for sale anywhere, like heart fern), palms (except for a very few also), and english ivys....these are plants I wont even look for at stores, which of course is just about everything most basic stores carry for houseplants LOL.

    -FPT

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    I'm trying to love the Easter cactus my neighbor gave me, and when it makes a flower I'm a pretty big fan, but the rest of the time, it's just lumpy hairy fat green sticks.

    Some plants I've had periods of ambivalence, like Sans and plain green Aglaonema, but after finding conditions where they will grow fast and excitingly, the romance is rekindled.

    All winter long I hate potted Persian shield. When semi-dormant inside, which it always does, it's seriously fugly. The cuttings in water look so much better.

    I had a NIP for a couple years and when it died, I wasn't really sad. "Pine" trees belong outside to my eye.

    The stupid African mask I got has no leaves definitely isn't my favorite plant right now. I'm assuming it's dormant but I see that other people's aren't and almost hope it doesn't grow back so I don't have to go through the distress of watching all of the leaves die again. A pot of nubs is really boring!

    I worked through most of these issues years ago though and don't usually buy stuff I'm not crazy about anymore just 'cuz I don't already have it.

  • tommyr_gw Zone 6
    11 years ago

    Yeah, ZZ plants are boring I had a few over the years. Never been a big fan of Norfolk Island pines.

  • kaktuskris
    11 years ago

    I try to only grow what I like...otherwise, what is the point? I love the look of ZZ plants, personally. Dracaena, Aspidistra and ferns are houseplants I could live without.

    Christopher

    This post was edited by kaktuskris on Wed, Dec 12, 12 at 21:21

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    11 years ago

    Sansevieria!!!!! Ugh. I have two. One is S cylidrica. When I bought it Iloved the spike like stems. Now is just sits and grows. If It flowered I might have a change of heart. The other is the typical one S triafsciata. Both pots are gorgeous but I never pay them much attention. I even moved the normal one right outside my bedroom door thinking I would come around to it--seeing it everyday and all. Tho I just pass by it in the morning and pass by it at night; take a quick glance and go on about my business. I'm not sure why I dont like them....any of them! I just have them because it seems like I should.

    I'm also falling out of love with any of the indoor asparagus plants. I have 3 kinds and the shedding bit is starting to irritate me. It's almost not worth growing them.

    I used to be like this wih Pothos. Last week I went to Lowes as usual to look....(right).... anywho they had marked almost all the 8 inch hangining baskets down. I grabbed a gorgeous pellionia and stawberry begonia for 5 bucks each! As I was taking a final look, I saw these 8 inch baskets of Pothos. For the past 6 years I have never even second glanced at the normal Pothos. They just did not interest me at all! Then last week happens and sparks, sparks and more sparks! The baskets were sooooo full and beautiful. I think I was under a spell. Lol. I walked out without them because I have a rule I only buy what can be carried with two hands. Already had two 8 inch baskets. No hands left................... (Ive carried more before and oooooo the looks I get) lol.

    Later that night I grabbed a brother, went back out and bought three 8 inch baskets of the normal Pothos. ( four hands hehehehehehe) now I love them and just watch them everyday; so full and lush. Kyle

  • tifflj
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hope it doesnt post sideways. Stupid phone.

  • tifflj
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    So much more golden than it used to have.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    11 years ago

    You guys are going to want to smack me, but my least favorite plant was an eNORmous hoya. Lush, healthy, and hung from our 11 foot ceiling nearly to the floor. When it bloomed, which it seemed to do eight months out of the year, it would be covered with 100-150 huge infloescences.

    Sounds amazing, right? I couldn't tolerate the smell! When it was a much smaller plant, the sweet chocolate-y aroma was delightful. Not so much when it reached gargantuan dimensions.

    Once I reached my tolerence threshold a couple of years ago, I called the person who had been wanting to buy it from me. YAY.

    At least I didn't kick it to the curb, lol.

  • greenchic
    11 years ago

    Rhizo, I would love to see a picture of it if you should have one :) I love hoyas! what kind was it?

  • Drock
    11 years ago

    I would have to say that my least favorite is my Spathiphyllum. Just way too finicky. It almost seems like rather than deciding what day to water it, I have to decide what hour of what day to water it. I am not a morning person and never water my plants in the morning. I watered my Spath this morning at 7:15 before heading out to work because I knew if I waited until I got home that it would be starting to droop. Jerk.
    I love my ZZ. Probably in my top 5! Well, top 10 -5 is too hard to narrow down. But, I also like Dracaenas. With D. reflexa ('Song of India') being my favorite (that I own) of the genus.

  • deadheadri
    11 years ago

    Hmmm.. One I dislike.

    Gotta be the stalk of bamboo. I purchased a Lucky bamboo at a local convenience store, (paid too much for it, in fact I think i was Bamboozled!) anyway, I brought it home but could never seem to make it 'Fit in'. It grew. I watered. It grew more, towering above the other plants I was adding.
    Finally, i talked my son into taking it to his place, but ripped off one stalk, placing it in a cruet by the kitchen sink. That was at Least 6 or 7 months ago. It sits there. It drinks water. It doesn't grow. I change the water. It doesn't grow. I flip it the bird, it laughs.

    Yeah, I hate the bamboo. It doesn't like me either.

  • stewartsjon
    11 years ago

    Zamioculcas

    They were (are) fashionable in offices and got a reputation for being good in low light which is not justified. They do survive in low light but they get very unruly.

    Also digging them out of a pot is an utter nightmare as the roots turn into one big potato.

    Finally they are a pain to dust as you have to dust them towards the base to stop knocking the leaves off.

    AAARGH I hate them.

  • marricgardens
    11 years ago

    The one plant I really don't like is the poinsettia. I don't like the large flowers and I don't think the foliage is that great either. At first I thought it was because of the red (I'm not a fan of the color) but I don't like the new colors either.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    How could I forget plain green spider plant? Several pots of them. Got sick of one being especially ugly this summer and put it in compost pile, where it turned into a beautiful plant after a couple weeks... which I then buried under more OM.

    I'm going to try using an Easter basket for growing this next summer since it seems to prefer having so much air on its' roots. If that doesn't help, I'm going to end this decades-long heartbreak relationship and just go Chlorophytum-free, give the rest of this stuff away.

  • tifflj
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I absolutely dispise the poinsetta plant... I think it is the ugliest plant I have ever seen. Who am I kidding, I hate hate the plant. When I see them in the store I always make a face at them and say to myself, i hate those stupid things.
    I also really hate the rhodedendrom. Wow, i really hate this bsh. I want to set them on fire! LOL! Without flowers they are the ugliest things and ppl always let them get out of control and dont prune back. Yuck.

    But neither of these I have and the point of the thread was a plant you have that you hate. I kind of went off in a tangent.

  • jodik_gw
    11 years ago

    Actually... no. I don't have any plants that I dislike. I have a few that I wish would grow better for me, but nothing in the dislike department.

    Interesting thread... I think if I did have a plant I disliked, I'd either give it away, or I'd leave the pot outside in fall and let it die and become part of the compost pile!

  • elkay_gw
    11 years ago

    Well, I really can't say I dislike ANY of my plants, however, two that are at the bottom of my fav list would be......the ZZ plant because it NEVER DOES ANYTHING except sit there in suspended animation. DH brought home 2 cuttings from a ZZ plant in his office. I potted up 2 cuttings about 4 and 6" in length and just for fun, stuck two leaves in a small pot to see if they would grow. Well, it's been over a year and a half and NOTHING! They just sit there - definitely alive but unwilling to shoot out even one leaf! I can't get rid of them, tho. If I ever see a new leaf, I might faint!

    The other plant I'm not that fond of is....Hens & Chicks. My friend sent me some this summer and I planted a few outside and some in pots. The outside ones got washed away in a storm. I have the potted ones inside and, I don't know.....they're just kinda....BLAH.

  • birdsnblooms
    11 years ago

    Charlie, you are SO funny..Bamboozled...give it the bird. ROFL...

    Tiff,,,lol..'I hate those stupid things.' You sound like me..

    I forgot about Norfolk Island Pines..don't like them either, guess that's the reason I don't have one.

    There was a time I didn't like Sans and Aglaonemas..Reason..they sold the same types here. Once on the net, viewing different varieties, both are my top 10 favorites.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    11 years ago

    I sort of do. I have a sugar beet processing plant about a half mile from us that I dislike from mid-Sep through March or so - whenever a south wind wafts our way, because it produces a bad odor until the beets are done being processed. Fortunately, we seldom get a south wind, but unfortunately, the plant was here before we were, so there is no legitimate reason to gripe. {{gwi:10897}}

    Al

    {{gwi:1685}}

  • kaktuskris
    11 years ago

    I have to agree about the Lucky Bamboo. It's not lucky, it's not Asian, (from Africa, actually) and it's not even Bamboo, it's Dracaena sanderiana. What a fake!

    Christopher

  • birdsnblooms
    11 years ago

    Al, LOL...Call the EPA.

  • jodik_gw
    11 years ago

    "If I ever see a new leaf, I might faint!"

    LOL!

    I think I got that "love for all potted houseplants" out of my system decades ago, and consequently, don't bring anything home that I don't like or want to grow. I've been growing or caring for potted plant material since I was quite young, so now I'm more choosy about what I keep inside in containers... and even in what I plant in the gardens, even though there's room for everything here!

    I do like Hens and Chicks... my Grandma used to grow those, and it's kind of neat to see them stretch up and bloom! I have a tiny patch that doesn't do much because it just happens to be right under the drip line of a garage roof. Keeps the patch small! LOL!

    I don't like Norfolk Island Pines because they're spider mite havens, and they hate dry conditions... which I have. Hence, none of those.

    I would have to honestly say that I like every plant I currently have growing in a pot!

  • aseedisapromise
    11 years ago

    Lots of LOL's! When I was a kid there were a lot of rubber plants where I grew up, Akron OH. They were pretty stinky, too. BF Goodrich, Firestone, etc. But they are all outsourced now.

    I like plants that bloom more than those that don't, and like jodik I tend to not bring home those that I don't like. I was given a Plectranthus candle plant cutting, and it grows and blooms but is kind of messy and not too exciting to me. I usually take the ones that I tire of to the farmer's market.

    I have a really intensely perfumey Hoya, too, but I keep it in an out of the way place so I'm not overwhelmed.

  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    11 years ago

    I have to say that I never met a plant I didn't like...

    Until recently I had only few indoor plants, but a lot of plants in the garden - too many! and lot of potted ones that would winter outside, too.
    Need to control myself not to get just about everything I can. Plants I would not grow inside are because of mite/aphids magnets, and sometimes the size they want to grow to and space available, not because I don't like them. I have 2 bouganvelias, and one gets covered with bugs minute I bring it in. Other one doesn't - it's a mystery to me. Need to do something with it-it's getting on my nerves to try to keep it bug free-no other plant I ever had was so 'buggy'-poor thing ends up in solitary and chopped up every year. Does well outdoors tho.

    I find it amazing that from just a tiny seed, something so amazing could grow. I planted a ginko outside that was about 1.5"tall 7yrs ago, now it's taller than 2 sty house.

    My mother used to grow some plants in the apartment we lived. She had amazing hoya, euphorbia milii, passion vine and a begonia that was a 'forest' to me - many stems, growing upright more than 5' tall, and blooming non-stop (few other plants too). These plants were not very easy to get where we lived, and she did grow them really well.
    She also experimented a lot: grew palms from seeds (we got dates once a year & she would save the seeds), coffe & citrus plants from the seeds, and similar.

    My father had aquariums, one was about 90gal, with colorful fish. Another with betas only! There were at least 4 tanks at any time. Thinking back, they did amazing with all this flora & fauna under not very favourable conditions...
    Rina

    This post was edited by rina_ on Thu, Dec 13, 12 at 21:49