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Hi, I'm Judy Mirro, an
Extension Master Gardener

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coming to you from the office

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of UVMs Master Gardener Helpline.

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And I'm here to help you
become a houseplant hero

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by providing some guidance on
caring for your house plants.

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Today we're doing something
a little different.

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It's called Keep or Compost.

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As you can see, I've got some plants here.

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This is pretty typical.

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I often get plants left at my desk

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with notes on them asking
me what I can do with them.

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This one right here,
the Phalaenopsis orchid,

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was just left at my desk by a coworker.

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And well, he gave up on it,

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but I don't think we should.

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I think it's a keeper.

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And the reason I think it is,

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is because if you look at the roots,

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well, there's actually
one really good root left.

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And right here, here it is.

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So we're gonna re-pot this
in a little bigger pot

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and actually in an orchid
pot, which this is not.

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And we'll put it back in with
new potty mix and let her go.

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It's got good healthy aerial roots

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which look great and definitely a keeper.

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So moving along, right here in the middle

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we've got a cactus, looks like it's lived

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a pretty hard life.

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Not sure what happened.

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Maybe a little under watering,
maybe a little overwatering.

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Hmm, perhaps a little too much sunburn.

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But you know what?

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It's headed for the compost pile.

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Over here, we have a
succulent and it looks nice.

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I think it's a zebra.

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Hmm, looks like we can
trim it up a little bit.

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Pot looks a little too small,

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so my thought is get a
better pot, little bigger,

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get some cactus soil for it,

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re-pot it, prop it up,
it's definitely a keeper.

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I'm liking this plant.

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And moving right along,
we've got what used to be

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a polka dot plant.

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Not really sure what
happened here, (chuckles)

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but my guess is it was watered well,

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left in a cold window,
and those tender roots

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next to a really cold window
got a little frostbite.

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There's no hope for this baby.

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It's definitely headed
for the compost pile.

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And then here we go.

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We've got a nice little coffee plant,

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and no question, we're keeping this puppy.

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It's got great new growth on the top.

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It's got a nice couple
of good leaves and yeah,

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so we've got some yellowing over here.

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You know what, we can
take those leaves off

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and we have a couple of options.

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We can just take those yellowed
leaves off and let her go.

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Or we can actually, you know,

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coffee trees are pretty resilient,

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we can cut it right back, leave
those bottom two leaves on

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and then let it regrow again.

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Or like I said, just cut
back those yellow leaves

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and leave it alone.

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We'll monitor the watering,

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we'll get it some nice filtered sunlight,

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and it's definitely a keeper.

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So I think we've got some
keepers and some compost pile,

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but I think we'll do good here.

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So remember, by providing your plants

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with the conditions and care they need

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you too can be a houseplant hero.

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For more information on
house plants or home gardens,

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visit the UVM Extension
Master Gardener website

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and see our garden resources page.

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Or contact an Extension
Master Gardener volunteer

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at the helpline.

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The phone number is on the screen.

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This is Extension Master
Gardener, Judy Mirro,

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wishing you happy growing.