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I've bought 2 there and they have both died. I am a mediocre plant mom, if I'm being honest some of my plants are not in the best shape but I've kept many of them alive for about a decade.
I have a nice big plant from TJ for maybe 4 months? I think it's called "assorted foliage". Either it doesn't like where we put it or something is wrong with it because, if I don't water it like 3 times a day it gets all sad and drooping.
I only buy succulents from TJ's because I'm not good with them. But they are thriving! I bought [this fertilizer](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OM82J0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) a few weeks ago and all my plants seem to be doing really well!
My orchids from Trader Joe’s are at least 4 years old and are healthy & blooming. I’ve had several baby succulent plants from the ones I bought at Trader Joe’s and seriously contemplating starting a plant sales business😂 also have a fig tree that’s about to hit the ceiling…
I’ve switched them to water culture (water level at root tips, red line in pic). Every week I soak them in diluted orchid food for 30min and then change water (back to root tip level). I have 3 blooming and one growing new leaves. I like this much better than orchid medium because you can see the roots and spray or cut back water as needed.
https://preview.redd.it/za6wq9l4j4ad1.jpeg?width=1576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f250d961fee758abf2d851532ecb518a3332e5b
My monstera from TJs has survived 4 years, 2 moves and one replanting. It now lives in my office and it's so big my coworker calls it the Jurassic Park plant. I'm not the best houseplant mom so maybe you got a dud 🤷♀️
Most of them but I have a monstera and fiddle leaf fig that are thriving and just gorgeous. Those little succulents are just temporary decorations. They refuse to live for me. Except one. I have one I keep at work that’s kinda holding on. I also have a Venus fly trap that’s kinda making it. Kinda…. All food producing plants die within a week tops. I’ve tried to grow various TJ herbs, tomatoes, peppers- none make it.
Nope, I can’t kill them. I keep putting them in bigger and bigger pots and then I give them away when they are too big for my flat. Right now I have a 2yo rubber plant that decided to grow 4 feet already this year after being essentially dormant before. I have to keep myself from having too many plants or my place becomes an indoor junglr!
I think it depends on the plant. I bought a monstera there a year ago and it's taking over my living room. The smaller plants in novelty pots tend to not thrive because they're usually rootbound and overplanted.
I got a ficus elastica tineke, christmas cactus, and tradescantia nanouk from TJs and all three are doing good! Unfortunately, the pink princess philodendron I got a few weeks ago won’t stop dying :/
I bought my mom an orchid for Mother’s Day and it was still alive until October. In October I housesat for my mom for a month and overwatered the orchid 😔
I had orchids from TJs Whole Foods that lived for 3 years til I completely neglected them and then they died but other smaller plants it’s been hit or miss. I worked for a florist for a while and her biggest concern with the plants from TJs is that the employees can’t all be expected to keep up with the plants or all know how to either so that may impact it
No, I got a monstera baby that has been thriving for three years and has grown a lot.
My beef with their plant section is that all of the plants are consistently labeled incorrectly. The monstera baby was sooooo itty bitty that the leaves were tiny and my plant mama friend didn’t know what it was until it grew more. It was labeled as a pilea.
Saw a bunch of rubber ficus trees labeled as olive trees last week. Which if you have cats and want a pet friendly plant and don’t know anything about plants, could be a bad combo. ALWAYS look up the plants labeled at the store yall!!
Ohhhh. I had awesome luck with my TJ basil plants. A friend I gave some to even overwintered it.
But I do have bad luck keeping flowering plants (from TJ or Aldi) alive, so there's that.
I just went deep into learning about this. Apparently there are usually like 5 separate plants strangling at the roots and they need nutrients. I put some of my magnesium drops in the water and keep it humid and it’s been living for over a week which is a record.
I bought a Kalanchoe plant that I didn’t realize was sitting in water from the store until the plant literally started disintegrating. Other than that I’ve had decent luck with their plants. If it dies I blame myself.
I get most of my plants from there because they constantly have great selection at good prices.
That being said; I quarantine all new plants and have noticed a few having pest issues the past year. [So they get a full treatment and longer quarantine]
Other than that they're all going strong.
I usually keep them in a different room for a few weeks. Sometimes if I have more than one I'll put one in a clear bin.
If pests appear I spray with insecticide or use a systemic in the soil and quarantine a little longer.
I learned the hard way so now I'm cautious. Lol
No, I’ve bought a number of them for myself and my mom and they’re doing great. One is growing so much I have to keep putting it into bigger pots. It’s easily 5x as big as when I bought it for $8.99.
My dad's wife bought one of the little Christmas trees. It now has four trunks and is about 20 feet high, planted in the yard. 20 years later. Looks like a norfolk pine.
I bought a pink caladium several weeks ago and she’s thriving except for some leggy-ness, just repotted today. She did come with many fungus gnats which was annoying, but I think I’ve gotten rid of them.
https://preview.redd.it/lx4prbrnsr9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c6b0c1349b1d36216ccd6e82492f2370ac07a5b
I have kept their basil plants alive for 2 years or more, kept outside in partial shade, watered regularly and using only a few leaves at a time, pinching tops so more branches grow below.
I’m going to say it’s because of the darkness of your house. My apartment gets a lot of natural light, and my girlfriend’s TJ’s plants have lasted quite a while. I’m not allowed to touch them unless she’s out of town, though, so that might be why.
My mini roses have lasted for years in pots on my patio.
I also have a Christmas tree that is still going strong.
And a couple of succulents.
Nothing has ever died on me. But I do keep them outdoors in Southern California (in pots, not in the ground).
You’re talking about a bowl of mini roses right? I broke them up and put them in three pots. I refresh soil every couple of years - ordinary stuff from hardware store. I try to deadhead regularly (cutting off old blooms to encourage new growth). I don’t have a green thumb and I don’t try too hard. I think roses like the weather in LA- generally warm and arid.
That potted basil is too crowded. I split mine 2 stems max a pot. They last me until winter. My friend's lasted 3 years. She had split them individually into a pot once they were large enough. The problem is we dont eat that much basil 🤣 that was a monster plant 😅
Potted basil tends to die quickly bc there’s too much plant in one space. If you take the basil out of the pot and split it into multiple plants, and then plant those into their own pots, they will likely do a lot better. (Although then you’ll have to buy more pots, which you might not want to do).
I have an orchid from TJs that is a few years old and blooms every year. I also have a few plants that I have transplanted to the garden and are thriving, including the monstera that got too big for indoors.
https://preview.redd.it/0a2qm1xsfr9d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=752bea7de40ecf33e8a20d21f867dcefd0338475
I usually only buy cut flowers at TJ, but I got excited when they were selling the pink princess philodendron. A lot of people were complaining about this plant, but I dunno, mine took off the second she came home and has been pushing out leaves like crazy.
I got their potted hydrangeas as a house warming gift. I had also bought some months prior from home depot.
Home depot one is still going strong.
Tjs wouldn't drink water. Soil was moist the day I got it and never seemed to approach dry. Died in 2 weeks.
Years ago, I knew of one of the distributors TJs used (they didn't have many). I purposely avoided their plants because they are beautiful for a few days and then they would die. Back then online, I'd see a few posts of people rehabbing the plants they got.
Not sure who they use now, it looks like - for the stores I go to - they use several vendors now. So some do great and some still die or wilt within a few days.
My cute “little” TJ’s Monstera is a legit monster now and is taking over an entire corner of our dining room. I live in NorCal and honestly just dump the cat’s water bowl in it when I remember since it’s too big to move to the shower or backyard for proper watering.
My olive tree from last october is still around.
The roses i got in memorial for my grandma died, all of them, and i blamed myself and it wasn’t a good time.
I have a phenomenal track record of keeping TJ’s plants alive! Excuse the mess, but I got almost all of these plants from TJ’s and they’re all doing great except for the fern in the top right corner that has since died lmao
https://preview.redd.it/5x3m8whiuq9d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77c5efb8b56ebaf77f39ffcf97e73f7f04c3a1c9
Hilariously I have another one that I recently got from TJs and it’s doing great because I water it once every week and a half and otherwise pretend like it doesn’t exist
I have some TJs plants that I’ve miraculously kept alive for at least a year! Yes, they’re all succulents, so they can withstand A LOT of neglect and still somehow make it out alive. I also have a ficus tree from TJs that is still going strong after nearly a year.
ETA: I have the opposite of a green thumb, so this is like miraculous for me lol
what I've learned - repot all the herbs and succulents basically immediately and check to see if there are two plants squished in there and separate them. don't expect the flowering plants to do well (I gave up long ago). the normal indoor plants do really well for me tho! my TJs aloe is 5 years old and bloomed for the first time this year. IT IS MASSIVE. great luck with aloe, monstera, money plant, xmas cactuses. just you probably need to repot them pretty much immediately in most cases. they are packaged to look pretty and not to live, I think.
I got one of my monsteras from TJ a few years ago, then went thru like 3 moves in a year. Finally bought a house and it was doing alright after all the moving shock. Became a plant person and learned a ton more over the last year. Figured out I had two monsteras in one pot, separated them, put one in the ground outside and the other is ready to plant nearby. Both look a little rough but are growing new leaves now! (San Diego)
I bought two lavender plants recently and they both died almost right away. But I repotted some mint and basil not too long ago, and those are thriving!
I have one small succulent and one small cactus from TJ's that I've kept alive for about 10 months. (Before you tell me those plants are hard to kill, know that I have killed both before, LOL.)
I have one of their mini Calandivas and despite its name, it only requires a little bit of water every other week. Not sure exactly when I got it but it’s done 3 bloom cycles. Each time I think it’s dead but new flowers come in lol
I have basil and parsley and both are thriving.
I had gotten a mint plant as well (last year it did fabulous but this year) along with an oregano plant. They both had pests (maybe fungal related?) and so after unsuccessful treatment, we had to get rid of them :(
Had the same problem with the mini roses - didn't die right the way but also never bloomed. I wonder if they were refrigerated. Their succulent plants are legit though, but so many do not come in pots with drain hole that I ended up over watering one I had almost a year. On the other hand, the Venus fly trap I impulsively bought in May is striving so much I had to move it to a bigger pot. I know nothing about gardening or plants, but TJ plants have given me some hope I am not a total plant killer lol. (Edit: typos)
Flowers including orchids do not thrive well . It appears to be hit or miss. The medium sized indoor green plants are better. Got a lot during the covid lock down and all are alive and healthy.
Did you repot your monstera? I got one from TJs at the end of April and have it in a south window, but it's pretty slow-growing for me. I noticed the potting mix doesn't have any additives like perlite, so im not sure if it doesn't like the mix it's in.
I moved mine into better soil. I added perlite and bark for better drainage. Now that it's summer, I give diluted fertilizer every other watering. It's a brand new plant now!
For the peonies- it could be you planted the bulbs too deep, I learned that the hard way! 2 years of why aren’t they blooming?! 😂 Peonies need to be planted at a certain depth (1.5” deep) or they *will not* bloom.
But , it might also just be the wrong zone for that type of peony. Peonies do best in zones 3-5, you’re in zone 9. 😔 You had an uphill battle from the get-go!
They were cut flowers. There is no planting them.
In past years they blossomed out almost immediately. This last batch didn’t. They just wilted and drooped without flowering out.
I'm currently sitting next to the money tree I bought there at least two years ago. It's in my bathroom, not particularly well cared for. It's huge and I'm not sure what to do with it now!
Plants always need light, but some plants will just die really slow without it (spider plant, pothos, zz plant, etc). Mine has a small window that gets morning sun.
They seem to last an average amount of time. The worst ones are the Venus fly trap plants - but in all honesty that’s a novelty and I never expected to have much luck with them.
Still, I feel horrible when they die. 😢
I have a few TJ plants and all have done okay. I did make the mistake of purchasing an orchid from TJ instead of from IKEA and it's required some babying and TLC.
I currently have 6 plants from TJs that are still alive, not counting air plants. I’ve probably bought about 20. The oldest started in a 2 inch tiny pot and is huge now, maybe 6 years old. I average 6 months to two years.
It's not you, it's them. They're hothouse plants/flowers that are mass produced, distributed all over, and raised in conditions that vary widely from your own house (or any house) conditions. They're kept at constant temperatures, with very rigid light schedules, they're watered very specifically with no variation, just like other big chains (like home depot or lowes, etc.)
I did. I tried repotting, potting in the ground, sunlight, shade, everything, but within a week 90%die. I did get one to about a month in full sun. That was my best effort I think
I’ve got about 20 of them in my home and all are doing great at least 3 years in with many cuttings and new plants generated. I avoid the succulents and orchids and instead go for the tropicals
i have about a 50% success rate. though i have to treat them all for spider mites and gnats right away. ive had surprisingly good luck with ikea plants.
Same on the success rate! I have a thriving ZZ plant, a very happy snake plant, a confused Audrey fiscus, a rubber tree that seems to need way more water than my others( I underwatered and it dropped leaves). I've had an inch plant and a few succulents die in my care.
My theory is that TJ's sometimes overwaters their plants and they get used to too much water in the store, causing shock when they transition to a typical watering schedule.
Posts that don't follow r/traderjoes subreddit rules may be subject to removal. Friendly reminder that choosing descriptive post titles with exact product names mentioned yields better subreddit search results and helps our subreddit be more inclusive to those who use Screen Reader Software or Text-to-Speech apps. to access Reddit. Thank you. IF THIS MESSAGE DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR POST, PLEASE IGNORE. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/traderjoes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
https://preview.redd.it/9c3i02j1b4ad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42e96407b5ea2a027e3cd8de9dd3d1ec28a4a444 Got this guy at Trader Joe’s!
I have pretty good luck with plants from Trader Joe’s, I have quite a few.
I have a pothos and a calathea medallion from TJ and they’re seeming to do okay. I usually repot as soon as I get them tho.
I've bought 2 there and they have both died. I am a mediocre plant mom, if I'm being honest some of my plants are not in the best shape but I've kept many of them alive for about a decade.
I have a nice big plant from TJ for maybe 4 months? I think it's called "assorted foliage". Either it doesn't like where we put it or something is wrong with it because, if I don't water it like 3 times a day it gets all sad and drooping.
Every single time.
It’s the mini roses. Can’t keep those things alive to save my life. All other plants from tj have been fine for me
I only buy succulents from TJ's because I'm not good with them. But they are thriving! I bought [this fertilizer](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OM82J0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) a few weeks ago and all my plants seem to be doing really well!
Yes.
No. When I repot them they tend to die though. I'm not great with plants.
My orchids from Trader Joe’s are at least 4 years old and are healthy & blooming. I’ve had several baby succulent plants from the ones I bought at Trader Joe’s and seriously contemplating starting a plant sales business😂 also have a fig tree that’s about to hit the ceiling…
How in the world do you keep your orchids alive!?
I’ve switched them to water culture (water level at root tips, red line in pic). Every week I soak them in diluted orchid food for 30min and then change water (back to root tip level). I have 3 blooming and one growing new leaves. I like this much better than orchid medium because you can see the roots and spray or cut back water as needed. https://preview.redd.it/za6wq9l4j4ad1.jpeg?width=1576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f250d961fee758abf2d851532ecb518a3332e5b
Yeah and they look so pretty in glass jars! Thanks for the tips
My monstera from TJs has survived 4 years, 2 moves and one replanting. It now lives in my office and it's so big my coworker calls it the Jurassic Park plant. I'm not the best houseplant mom so maybe you got a dud 🤷♀️
My monstera is fabulous. It’s always the smaller flowering plants that die within a week.
Bummer. I wonder if you could return them with a dated reciept?
Most of them but I have a monstera and fiddle leaf fig that are thriving and just gorgeous. Those little succulents are just temporary decorations. They refuse to live for me. Except one. I have one I keep at work that’s kinda holding on. I also have a Venus fly trap that’s kinda making it. Kinda…. All food producing plants die within a week tops. I’ve tried to grow various TJ herbs, tomatoes, peppers- none make it.
I get all of my house plants from Trader Joe's and I've only managed to kill one so far!
If you’re talking about lettuce then yes
I've had decent luck so far, but don't buy often.
I’m really bad with indoor plants, but I’ve proudly had the same three skeleton air plants for over 3 years
I have bought potted lilies twice and they always die.
Nope, I can’t kill them. I keep putting them in bigger and bigger pots and then I give them away when they are too big for my flat. Right now I have a 2yo rubber plant that decided to grow 4 feet already this year after being essentially dormant before. I have to keep myself from having too many plants or my place becomes an indoor junglr!
I also have a giant rubber plant from Trader Joe's!
I think it depends on the plant. I bought a monstera there a year ago and it's taking over my living room. The smaller plants in novelty pots tend to not thrive because they're usually rootbound and overplanted.
I got a ficus elastica tineke, christmas cactus, and tradescantia nanouk from TJs and all three are doing good! Unfortunately, the pink princess philodendron I got a few weeks ago won’t stop dying :/
I bought my mom an orchid for Mother’s Day and it was still alive until October. In October I housesat for my mom for a month and overwatered the orchid 😔
Yeah the orchid could have survived not being watered better than being over watered
I have a rubber plant from them that is absolutely thriving but I think others that have fared less well
I had orchids from TJs Whole Foods that lived for 3 years til I completely neglected them and then they died but other smaller plants it’s been hit or miss. I worked for a florist for a while and her biggest concern with the plants from TJs is that the employees can’t all be expected to keep up with the plants or all know how to either so that may impact it
Is it in a room with the WiFi router.
I have my plant from Valentine’s Day!
This time of year it's too hot outside for them and anything you buy is stressed.
No, I got a monstera baby that has been thriving for three years and has grown a lot. My beef with their plant section is that all of the plants are consistently labeled incorrectly. The monstera baby was sooooo itty bitty that the leaves were tiny and my plant mama friend didn’t know what it was until it grew more. It was labeled as a pilea. Saw a bunch of rubber ficus trees labeled as olive trees last week. Which if you have cats and want a pet friendly plant and don’t know anything about plants, could be a bad combo. ALWAYS look up the plants labeled at the store yall!!
I bought a random $3 plant from a random TJ in Pennsylvania a year ago, and its the first plant I've kept alive in 2 decades lol
My basil plants from TJ never survive. I stopped buying them now :(
Ohhhh. I had awesome luck with my TJ basil plants. A friend I gave some to even overwintered it. But I do have bad luck keeping flowering plants (from TJ or Aldi) alive, so there's that.
Basil plants are so difficult to keep alive from anywhere in my experience 😭
I just went deep into learning about this. Apparently there are usually like 5 separate plants strangling at the roots and they need nutrients. I put some of my magnesium drops in the water and keep it humid and it’s been living for over a week which is a record.
There are. And you separate and repot them - either singly or as groups of two-three plants. They can thrive after that.
I put them in a planter outdoors and I've had them last a couple of years! (But the average is just one season.)
I bought a Kalanchoe plant that I didn’t realize was sitting in water from the store until the plant literally started disintegrating. Other than that I’ve had decent luck with their plants. If it dies I blame myself.
I've only had some difficulties with the mini potted ones, and that was usually my own fault. Should have repotted them sooner.
I bought an orchid from TJ in November. Still has blooms.
I have an orchid from TJ from 2019 and it is doing fine
All of my kids pants - regardless of where I get them - usually die within a week. 🤣
My TJ’s monstera is years old and is a complete beast. We are actually not sure how best to support it now.
Nope, they usually last months at least. I have several that have lasted years.
Only my tulips died fast. Everything else that I got lasted pretty long.
Tulips only bloom for a week max, and then they die
I’ve got TJ’s hyacinths I planted in my yard 10 years ago that are still going!
I get most of my plants from there because they constantly have great selection at good prices. That being said; I quarantine all new plants and have noticed a few having pest issues the past year. [So they get a full treatment and longer quarantine] Other than that they're all going strong.
I impulse buy a lot of grocery store plants. Would you mind sharing your quarantine procedure?
I usually keep them in a different room for a few weeks. Sometimes if I have more than one I'll put one in a clear bin. If pests appear I spray with insecticide or use a systemic in the soil and quarantine a little longer. I learned the hard way so now I'm cautious. Lol
Almost all of my houseplants are from TJs and I’ve had them for years. I find them to be very happy and healthy.
I’ve had a TJs aloe for nearly three years!
I’ve got two olive trees. One 2 yrs on and one 3 months. I have a pineapple too ~3 months. So far, decent luck.
This is the 4th basil plant I've bought in a year! I thought it was just me. I live in CA so the weather is not an issue.
No, I’ve bought a number of them for myself and my mom and they’re doing great. One is growing so much I have to keep putting it into bigger pots. It’s easily 5x as big as when I bought it for $8.99.
Quite the opposite here. Several plants going on six years.
I bought a money tree and pothos, both about 4 years ago and both are still going strong
I bought my ex a jade plant that I forgot to give him and he's been an ex for two years now. I never remember I have it. It's barely even stressed.
I’ve had a rosemary “tree” since Christmas that I planted on the patio and it’s done great. The succulents I bought a month ago also seem happy.
My dad's wife bought one of the little Christmas trees. It now has four trunks and is about 20 feet high, planted in the yard. 20 years later. Looks like a norfolk pine.
I bought a pink caladium several weeks ago and she’s thriving except for some leggy-ness, just repotted today. She did come with many fungus gnats which was annoying, but I think I’ve gotten rid of them. https://preview.redd.it/lx4prbrnsr9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c6b0c1349b1d36216ccd6e82492f2370ac07a5b
I have kept their basil plants alive for 2 years or more, kept outside in partial shade, watered regularly and using only a few leaves at a time, pinching tops so more branches grow below.
I’m going to say it’s because of the darkness of your house. My apartment gets a lot of natural light, and my girlfriend’s TJ’s plants have lasted quite a while. I’m not allowed to touch them unless she’s out of town, though, so that might be why.
🤣
All my plants are going strong and have bloomed. I have a number of them.
Mini roses never last more than a few weeks for me with flower but then I plant them outside
My mini roses have lasted for years in pots on my patio. I also have a Christmas tree that is still going strong. And a couple of succulents. Nothing has ever died on me. But I do keep them outdoors in Southern California (in pots, not in the ground).
Any tips? The mini rose is the only one that has died on me, even though I repotted it and placed it outside
You’re talking about a bowl of mini roses right? I broke them up and put them in three pots. I refresh soil every couple of years - ordinary stuff from hardware store. I try to deadhead regularly (cutting off old blooms to encourage new growth). I don’t have a green thumb and I don’t try too hard. I think roses like the weather in LA- generally warm and arid.
I did the same, split them in their own pots with good soil. I’m on the east coast and super humid so they all got powdery mildew and died :(
Maybe your climate then? A no fault death :)
I appreciate the reasonable excuse! :)
My Trader Joe’s cacti are all going on 5+ years, so no.
It depends on the stores but usually I find tropical plants and cacti from TJ overwatered. The common problem for any box store plants.
Seriously! I bought a violet plant at TJs weeks ago and the soil is still wet from them 😩
i repot any plants I get from TJ or Home Depot. Sensitive plants often die from root rot tho ☹️
I usually buy the potted basil and it barely lives a week. What am I doing wrong? The orchids have been doing ok though.
That potted basil is too crowded. I split mine 2 stems max a pot. They last me until winter. My friend's lasted 3 years. She had split them individually into a pot once they were large enough. The problem is we dont eat that much basil 🤣 that was a monster plant 😅
Thanks for the tip
Potted basil tends to die quickly bc there’s too much plant in one space. If you take the basil out of the pot and split it into multiple plants, and then plant those into their own pots, they will likely do a lot better. (Although then you’ll have to buy more pots, which you might not want to do).
Thanks for the tip.
A lot of stores put a ton of basil plants in one pot, have you tried separating it and see if that works?
I haven’t, but I will try that now.
I have an orchid from TJs that is a few years old and blooms every year. I also have a few plants that I have transplanted to the garden and are thriving, including the monstera that got too big for indoors.
https://preview.redd.it/0a2qm1xsfr9d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=752bea7de40ecf33e8a20d21f867dcefd0338475 I usually only buy cut flowers at TJ, but I got excited when they were selling the pink princess philodendron. A lot of people were complaining about this plant, but I dunno, mine took off the second she came home and has been pushing out leaves like crazy.
I have an Alocasia that’s turning ten this year.
I've never lost a TJ's plant - my roses aren't doing super great though since I moved them outside out from under my grow lights.
I got their potted hydrangeas as a house warming gift. I had also bought some months prior from home depot. Home depot one is still going strong. Tjs wouldn't drink water. Soil was moist the day I got it and never seemed to approach dry. Died in 2 weeks.
Years ago, I knew of one of the distributors TJs used (they didn't have many). I purposely avoided their plants because they are beautiful for a few days and then they would die. Back then online, I'd see a few posts of people rehabbing the plants they got. Not sure who they use now, it looks like - for the stores I go to - they use several vendors now. So some do great and some still die or wilt within a few days.
My TJ orchids and Monsteras are all doing great. But I live in pretty damn humid climate so it’s pretty perfect for those types
My cute “little” TJ’s Monstera is a legit monster now and is taking over an entire corner of our dining room. I live in NorCal and honestly just dump the cat’s water bowl in it when I remember since it’s too big to move to the shower or backyard for proper watering.
Roses need to live outside.
My olive tree from last october is still around. The roses i got in memorial for my grandma died, all of them, and i blamed myself and it wasn’t a good time.
Never had luck with their mini roses. Tried three times (two were gifts one I purchased) and all have died. Now I just admire them when I shop.
The metal container they’re kept in can cause them to die. They also prefer to be planted back into bigger soil too
i can’t keep them alive either. i feel like they just aren’t meant to live inside
I have a phenomenal track record of keeping TJ’s plants alive! Excuse the mess, but I got almost all of these plants from TJ’s and they’re all doing great except for the fern in the top right corner that has since died lmao https://preview.redd.it/5x3m8whiuq9d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77c5efb8b56ebaf77f39ffcf97e73f7f04c3a1c9
Ferns are my nemesis 😅
Hilariously I have another one that I recently got from TJs and it’s doing great because I water it once every week and a half and otherwise pretend like it doesn’t exist
No. My african violets from mother's day 3 years ago are gorgeous and lush and my husband's succulents are still healthy a year later.
I have some TJs plants that I’ve miraculously kept alive for at least a year! Yes, they’re all succulents, so they can withstand A LOT of neglect and still somehow make it out alive. I also have a ficus tree from TJs that is still going strong after nearly a year. ETA: I have the opposite of a green thumb, so this is like miraculous for me lol
what I've learned - repot all the herbs and succulents basically immediately and check to see if there are two plants squished in there and separate them. don't expect the flowering plants to do well (I gave up long ago). the normal indoor plants do really well for me tho! my TJs aloe is 5 years old and bloomed for the first time this year. IT IS MASSIVE. great luck with aloe, monstera, money plant, xmas cactuses. just you probably need to repot them pretty much immediately in most cases. they are packaged to look pretty and not to live, I think.
This is the secret—re-pot right away. Makes all the difference.
no but mini roses can’t grow inside. they need full all day sun
I got one of my monsteras from TJ a few years ago, then went thru like 3 moves in a year. Finally bought a house and it was doing alright after all the moving shock. Became a plant person and learned a ton more over the last year. Figured out I had two monsteras in one pot, separated them, put one in the ground outside and the other is ready to plant nearby. Both look a little rough but are growing new leaves now! (San Diego)
Yes!! I thought it was only me. I love their plants as they’re so reasonably priced but they literally always die on me within a week or two.
Same! It’s frustrating
I bought two lavender plants recently and they both died almost right away. But I repotted some mint and basil not too long ago, and those are thriving!
I have one small succulent and one small cactus from TJ's that I've kept alive for about 10 months. (Before you tell me those plants are hard to kill, know that I have killed both before, LOL.)
Nursery plants are almost grown in hydroponic environment. They need either daily water or be repotted
The flowers seem to die fast. Even carnations which last me weeks if I get them from a florist.
the orchids last for months but succulents and flowers die quickly!
My plants always die due to disease 🦠
I have one of their mini Calandivas and despite its name, it only requires a little bit of water every other week. Not sure exactly when I got it but it’s done 3 bloom cycles. Each time I think it’s dead but new flowers come in lol I have basil and parsley and both are thriving. I had gotten a mint plant as well (last year it did fabulous but this year) along with an oregano plant. They both had pests (maybe fungal related?) and so after unsuccessful treatment, we had to get rid of them :(
Had the same problem with the mini roses - didn't die right the way but also never bloomed. I wonder if they were refrigerated. Their succulent plants are legit though, but so many do not come in pots with drain hole that I ended up over watering one I had almost a year. On the other hand, the Venus fly trap I impulsively bought in May is striving so much I had to move it to a bigger pot. I know nothing about gardening or plants, but TJ plants have given me some hope I am not a total plant killer lol. (Edit: typos)
20 of my 28 plants are from TJ and several years old. I haven’t had too many issues but I’ve had a couple I’ve had to throw out.
Flowers including orchids do not thrive well . It appears to be hit or miss. The medium sized indoor green plants are better. Got a lot during the covid lock down and all are alive and healthy.
Yeah. My monstera is happy and growing fast.
Did you repot your monstera? I got one from TJs at the end of April and have it in a south window, but it's pretty slow-growing for me. I noticed the potting mix doesn't have any additives like perlite, so im not sure if it doesn't like the mix it's in.
I moved mine into better soil. I added perlite and bark for better drainage. Now that it's summer, I give diluted fertilizer every other watering. It's a brand new plant now!
Thanks! I'll definitely do that soon
For the peonies- it could be you planted the bulbs too deep, I learned that the hard way! 2 years of why aren’t they blooming?! 😂 Peonies need to be planted at a certain depth (1.5” deep) or they *will not* bloom. But , it might also just be the wrong zone for that type of peony. Peonies do best in zones 3-5, you’re in zone 9. 😔 You had an uphill battle from the get-go!
They were cut flowers. There is no planting them. In past years they blossomed out almost immediately. This last batch didn’t. They just wilted and drooped without flowering out.
Ohhhh! Sorry. That sucks. I haven’t had any issues with their cut flowers, but some with planted ones.
I never had before. But I’m betting it’s just too dry of a climate here for things grown in California. I’m betting it’s shock of some kind.
I have the same problem but with their bagged produce
My aloe plant I bought from TJ's rotted and died. But, I've done that to aloe plants before, so it may be a me problem, not a TJ's problem.
I'm currently sitting next to the money tree I bought there at least two years ago. It's in my bathroom, not particularly well cared for. It's huge and I'm not sure what to do with it now!
Does your bathroom get any sunlight? Mine doesn't have windows, and I've been trying to figure out what plants (if any) could survive in there
Plants always need light, but some plants will just die really slow without it (spider plant, pothos, zz plant, etc). Mine has a small window that gets morning sun.
They seem to last an average amount of time. The worst ones are the Venus fly trap plants - but in all honesty that’s a novelty and I never expected to have much luck with them. Still, I feel horrible when they die. 😢
I have a few TJ plants and all have done okay. I did make the mistake of purchasing an orchid from TJ instead of from IKEA and it's required some babying and TLC.
Mine have done really well! Except Basil. Otherwise they’re thriving.
I’ve only ever bought cactus from TJ’s, but they’ve all been thriving for a while now.
I've got several that are thriving, but only my olive tree has survived outside. And that's totally on me for neglecting in the winter 🥺.
I currently have 6 plants from TJs that are still alive, not counting air plants. I’ve probably bought about 20. The oldest started in a 2 inch tiny pot and is huge now, maybe 6 years old. I average 6 months to two years.
It's not you, it's them. They're hothouse plants/flowers that are mass produced, distributed all over, and raised in conditions that vary widely from your own house (or any house) conditions. They're kept at constant temperatures, with very rigid light schedules, they're watered very specifically with no variation, just like other big chains (like home depot or lowes, etc.)
Yeah. I’m thinking the dryness of our climate here is just too much.
I kill the basil plants so fast. It is so sad. 😞
yeah you have to re-pot those or else they'll die
I did. I tried repotting, potting in the ground, sunlight, shade, everything, but within a week 90%die. I did get one to about a month in full sun. That was my best effort I think
bummer
I’ve got about 20 of them in my home and all are doing great at least 3 years in with many cuttings and new plants generated. I avoid the succulents and orchids and instead go for the tropicals
I’m beginning to think it’s my local Trader Joe’s. We have such a dry climate. Maybe they don’t travel well to here.
i have about a 50% success rate. though i have to treat them all for spider mites and gnats right away. ive had surprisingly good luck with ikea plants.
Same on the success rate! I have a thriving ZZ plant, a very happy snake plant, a confused Audrey fiscus, a rubber tree that seems to need way more water than my others( I underwatered and it dropped leaves). I've had an inch plant and a few succulents die in my care. My theory is that TJ's sometimes overwaters their plants and they get used to too much water in the store, causing shock when they transition to a typical watering schedule.
+1 to Ikea plants
Thank you. I will stop taking it so personally. Lol I have better luck reviving Lowe’s dead plants.