Plant notes
Including the one we killed twice. Care labels tend to describe a greenhouse; these notes describe a flat with radiators, draughty windows and someone who occasionally goes away for a fortnight.
The plant we recommend to anyone who has killed things before. Survives inconsistency, tells you clearly when it is thirsty by drooping, and recovers within hours of watering. Cuttings root in a glass of water on a windowsill.
Almost impossible to underwater and very easy to overwater. Ours went eleven weeks untouched during a move and looked identical afterwards. The one real risk is a cold, wet windowsill in winter.
Grows fast enough to be satisfying, and the fenestrations arrive with maturity and light — not with feeding. Needs something to climb or it sprawls. Brown crispy edges here usually mean dry air, not thirst.
Dramatic and forgiving: it collapses theatrically when thirsty and stands back up within two hours of water. Doing that repeatedly does wear it down, so try not to rely on the warning.
The one that taught us most, mainly by dying. Hates being moved, hates draughts, drops leaves at any change. If you get one, decide its position before you bring it home and then leave it there.
Stores water in rhizomes, so it treats a forgotten month as normal. Growth is slow and comes in occasional bursts of new stems rather than steadily.
Difficulty here means "difficult in an average home", not botanically demanding. A fiddle-leaf fig in a bright, stable conservatory is easy; the same plant beside a front door is not.