9 most common gardening mistakes people make (and how to avoid them)

19 hours ago 43

May 11, 2025

Aakanksha Sharma

Avoid major gardening mistakes

If you wish to start a home garden or a balcony garden, the process is thrilling and exciting. The new plants, the feeling of growing new life, maintaining a watering schedule, and much more. But, there are certain mistakes people commit and here is why you should avoid them.

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Jumping to heavy maintenance plants

The first mistake beginner gardeners make is to jump into heavy-maintenance plants instead of starting with simple indoor plants or succulents. So to start your journey into gardening, don’t start growing fruits and veggies, but slowly build up to them.

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Overwatering the plant

When you get a new plant, or grow it from a seed, one of the most common mistakes people do is to overwater it. There are plants that need water just once a day, and there are plants that only need to be watered once every 3-4 days! So do your research well.

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Placing it in the wrong spot

As beginner gardeners, the first mistake people make is to keep the plants in the wrong spot. How? Well, a Snake plant only needs about an hour or two of direct sunlight, and a Dragon fruit needs well over 6 hours of sunlight. So plan the space accordingly.

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Not using the right soil

Using random ingredients for the soil can be very bad for your plant’s health, and thinking that ‘sand’ is the most important part of garden soil is very wrong. To keep things simple, mix 50% of garden soil, 20% of cocopeat, 20% of organic matter or compost, and some perlite.

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Cramping the space

Be it indoor plants or dwarf fruit trees, it is natural for people to cramp the space thinking that it will result in better aesthetics, cleaner air, and the likes. But if you cramp the space and overcrowd it all, the plants will just be fighting for nutrients.

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Not taking care of pests

Identifying pests in your garden and treating them is something not many beginner gardeners know how to do. But for starters, look for white powder or little bite marks or cuts in the leaves to identify if you have a pest problem and then treat it at the right time.

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Ignoring the pruning stage

If you are growing fruits or veggies and still ignoring the pruning, your garden will be in trouble. Make sure to cut off and prune any extra or wilting leaves so that they don’t compete with the flower or fruit for nutrition.

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Planting in the wrong pots

Just like every human is different, so is every plant. And so their growing needs are also varied. Make sure to research well and talk to the gardener near you about which plant needs how much space, and if the plants need a wide pot or a deep one.

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Ignoring fertilisation

You will often hear that fertilisation is the worst thing you can do to your plants. But it is simply not true! When done in the right intervals, and done in the right amount, fertilisation will help the plant have extra nutrition.

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Thanks For Reading!