Cleveland Plant Doctor

02/22/2026

Things that may not feel intuitive, but are incredibly important for the health of your plants!

Pruning!
It might hurt your soul to chop your plant, but they need you to go for it. Shaping, cleaning up dead leaves and branches, or removing infections are all really good reasons for pruning - don’t be scared, you plant will thank you with a long life and lots of growth.

Rotating!
Plants reach for the sun and can easily lose their shape especially with larger plants that become trees. Ficus, Dracaena, Dieffenbachia, among others are notorious for losing their shape to the sun. Rotate a ¼ turn every time you water to keep them upright and strong!

Dusting!
Dusting is one of the best protections you can give your plants against pest infestations. Get a neem oil and a GOHA Leaf Sweep to be sure your plants are clean and healthy.

Aerating!
Soil can become compact and hydrophobic over time. This prevents the soil from absorbing water and can cause roots to dry rot even when you think you have been watering. Poking some holes in the soil loosens it up and helps your plants get a good drink!

Cleaning Drip Trays!
Drip trays can get funky. They can become a collection zone for mineral buildup, algae, mold, rotting organic mater and bacteria. This funk can wick back into the soil and cause nasty root issues. Cleaning your drip trays is an important way to protect your plants!

Changing Water!
Changing out the water in your prop jars gives the roots more oxygen which is important for their development. It also removes algae which can look yucky and become slimy bacteria over time.

Hit the follow for more simple plant care tips!

02/21/2026

It’s a sad day over here in the Plant Emergency Room. I did everything I could. The owner has been informed and we’re picking up the pieces and moving on.

It’s been a journey with this jade plant and while I’m sad I couldn’t save it, I’m proud of the effort.

All the videos are linked to each other on IG so if you haven’t been following along you can go back through each step of this process.

Here’s what I’m going to say LOUDLY for the people that tell me “but I water my jade once a week and it’s thriving”

… STOP IT. Your jade is a drought plant and it will rot. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday you’ll have a mushy mess. More sun. Less water. That’s all.

At the start of the video you see two trunks, the other trunk is healthy and thriving and I’ll update that soon - follow along for that and more plant sagas. As the come to me, I’ll share the journey with you 💚

Thanks for following along with this guy - I appreciate all of your encouragement, tips I’ve never tried and ideas to save its life. It takes a village y’all!

02/18/2026

There are still a few tickets left for this fun in-person workshop happening next Wednesday!
I’d love to meet you 💚 hope you can come

Registeration link in the comments 🌸

02/17/2026

Spider mites move quickly, cause lots of damage and are highly contagious!

Here the best things you can do to treat them….

If it’s warm enough, take the plant outside and spray it down with the most aggressive spray feature on your hose. Spray every leaf, stem, and I even get it bare root and blast the crap out of the roots. Spider mites don’t tend to live in the soil, but I don’t risk it, there can be one in the soil and it needs to go!

If it’s still cold and crappy out - wipe the whole plant down with a miticide. I use paper towels for this because they get so dirty so quickly and you’ll want to throw them away.

Once it’s wiped down spray with a neem oil weekly and keep an eye out for more mites… 9.9999 times out of 10 they will be back.

Add humidity if you can.

Once you can get the plant outside, hose it down, keep up with neem and inspections.

If you can get the plant into the shower, that’s another option and if the plant is small enough to get it into the sink, start there!

Mites are nasty and the best way to keep them at bay is prevention. Dusting and neem will keep your plants safe in the winter months but you have to be paying attention and caring for them quickly if you see anything!

02/16/2026

Heavy news and good sales!

PLEASE REDEEM ALL GIFT CERTIFICATES and read below. Questions? Contact me at info@clevelandplants.com

Hello all, Lori here. Since I am getting a lot of questions via FB, Insta and email, I would like to offer a quick explanation with full transparency about this sale. Over the past few years, I've developed pneumonia a few times. I've had pneumonia twice in the past five months. I finally made it to a pulmonologist last week, had a chest CT, and it appears I have developed a fairly rare condition that has caused a lung fungal condition, aspergillosis. It is treatable.

This condition affects .001 percent of the population. I've had minor asthma since COVID, and people with an underlying condition such as asthma or COPD are at risk of aspergillosis. My airways are an open invitation to this mold. Here's the kicker: The mold is heavily concentrated in houseplant soil.

Who knew? Not me, the person who has repotted hundreds of plants since opening, and brings in hundreds of new plants a month. Anyway, unless you have an underlying condition and spend say, 30-40 hours per week surrounded by hundreds of plants, you should be fine. Again, it's pretty rare. I will be undergoing a 4-6 month treatment, and then should be ok.

I will not be in the store again with plants in it. Emily, the extraordinary Cleveland Plant Doctor, will be in charge on Thursday, the store is closed Friday, and Ashley, another ultimate plant person, will handle this weekend, as she did last. I might open a few days a week to sell pots.

I hope the store will remain a plant store in the future, just not with me at the helm. Talks are ongoing. It is one of the most unique plant stores, if not retail stores, in Cleveland. Lorain Avenue is buzzing, and the store has been my pride and joy for almost 5 years. Mostly, I will miss all of you awesome customers, now friends.

This is all new to me, so hold on while we figure things out. I am trying to contact everyone who received a gift certificate and avoid any additional lung damage.

02/16/2026

When you’re starting out on a plant journey learn to care for healthy plants BEFORE taking on rehabs and problem plants.

Learning the ropes is always where you should start. Get watering and light mastered before you do anything else.

Learn which plants thrive in your care and which ones don’t do so well.

Learn to solve problems for your healthy plants before you bring home a plant that can take down your whole collection with a pest you can’t see.

I know the rehab plants are cheap and you want to save them all - but master the basics. There is a lot to learn and the rehab plants will always be there later on.

Follow along and I’ll share this variegated money tree glow up as it happens!

02/14/2026

Euphorbia are not cacti. They look like cacti because they have spines, but they are succulents and need more water than cacti.

If you have any of these cactus looking plants make sure you’re still giving them water once a month in the winter!

Also, as a side note… euphorbia are highly toxic. Their sap can cause blindness if you get it in your eye… so be careful with these beautiful plants!

02/12/2026

Jades are one of the easiest plants to care for, but they do need a couple things in order to really thrive.

Sunlight is most important. Without enough light these plants won’t grow much. And when they do grow they will be leggy.

They don’t need to be repotted very often. 20 years might be a little long, but it’s WAY better than too soon. They have slow growing shallow root systems. Pot up slowly.

These plants should only be watered when the soil is completely dry… and even then, you can hold off. I wait until the leaves slightly soften.

Pruning is very important to the jade plant. Prune often to keep it under control and manageable. You are not hurting the plant. You can share propagations with your friends and family. If you don’t prune there will come a day that you regret it. I promise.

That’s it.

Jade was the first plant I got 25 years ago. We’ve been through a lot together. It’s funny how many calls I get to care for other people’s jade plants - I think they’re my spirit plant 🪴

02/10/2026

Come see me Thursday 12-6
Lori will be there 6-7 so you have extra time to grab a Valentine’s Day gift 💝

02/10/2026

It’s gonna be about 50° today. Don’t fall into the trap - your plants want to say in the house!

02/09/2026

I’ve learned the hard way that propagating every single cutting can take over your space, your time, your energy and your sanity.

Of, course propagating is amazing and fun but seriously, do you really need ten THOUSAND of the same pothos? No… no, you don’t.

So stop it.

Composting is the best way for me to wrap my head around it so it doesn’t feel like waste - just sending the plants back to the earth to create more plants actually feels good.

02/08/2026