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Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

What plants die in under a week of slight negligence?

The answer you're after is: "many"

But who would buy a plant like that?

I get liking plants, but I don't want their maintenance to be yet another painful chore. I want plants that survive no matter what I do. Fortunately, my plants seem to select themselves based on that criterium.

Hobbyists.

I have an uncle who waters all his plants every Saturday. Those who survive stay, those who die are tossed. Survival of the fittest in action.

If you have this line of thinking I think you’ll already be looking at a watering system, or even simple pots with a water reserve. Your needs for friends looking after your plants will already be minimal, and be reduced to asking them to fill the tanks once every three or four weeks.

For me people who need to educate friends about how to deal with their plants are playing on a different field, in a different game altogether (and I’ll flat refuse to deal with kind of PITA)

People who _really_ like plants? I am one, and I wouldn't even call myself a hobbyist, just a person who likes plants a lot and doesn't mind having a routine of caring for plants, it's not like it's very difficult: all plants are watered on the weekend, a few are watered once more during the week. Yes, it also involves knowing how much water, but it's pretty much the same all year round (unless there are a few exceptionally hot days in a row during summer, then a bit more).

I have a toddler who loves watering plants. I have no real control over how much water they get.

Why not get plants that love water? Papyrus is one that comes to mind...

They will die as soon as the toddler loses interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica is one example for a plant that has died after not being watered for a few days which let the soil dry. Over-watering would not do good either.

Sure, most plants will not die within a week, but a lot will suffer enough and will take months to recover.

It depends on not just the plant but also on the humidity, temperature, soil type, plant growth, sun exposure and many other things.

Nonlocal plants. Growing a banana in Thailand is a forgiving endeavor. Growing the same banana in Sweden is not.

There are banana growers in Iceland. A banana grown in Iceland costs about 500$ each.

are you talking about the plant itself the massive trees that actually bear fruits?

because my banana plants are by far the most forgiving things i've got (i live in germany). They grow and multiply like crazy and you can never give them too much water.

Going away for two weeks in summer? there might be a little brown after you'll be back, but that hardly matters with the speed they grow.

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