The orchid lady at the farmers market who humbled me in two minutes

I walked away with a $12 bag of proper medium and a bruised ego, but the roots are finally firm after 3 weeks. The weird part is she never once said I was wrong, she just asked better questions and let me dig my own hole. That interaction stuck with me more than any YouTube tutorial because it was so specific to my exact setup. What's the simplest mistake you've seen trip up a fellow plant person?

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nancyj1119d agoProlific Poster

The asking questions thing is honestly the secret weapon. Most people just tell you what to do but then you dont actually learn why, so you end up back in the same spot next month. That market lady probably gets more return customers than any big box store because she makes you figure it out yourself. Its like the difference between someone handing you a fish and someone teaching you to check the moisture level before you even think about watering. My own wake up call was overwatering a snake plant for a year because every video said "low light, ignore it" but nobody mentioned how my apartment's humidity was the real problem. Now I always ask about the environment first before touching anyone's potting mix.