From the greenhouse to my house?

Is it my imagination, or are some plants from the big box stores stronger than from greenhouses?!? I bought a spider plant YEARS ago from my local grocery store, almost neglected the life out of it, and when I gave it attention again, it perked up like a faithful dog. But I babied the big, beautiful hanging basketful that I bought from a greenhouse and it slowly rotted. And the curly spider I bought from the greenhouse is hanging in there, but it's not thrilled. The lipstick plants from the greenhouse are gone (actually I know what my mistake was with them), but the 2 baskets from Lowes are doing great and one even has a flower again! I just bought another from a different greenhouse and it's just beautiful. And I got 2 gigantic hanging baskets of spider and wandering jew from the flea market. I asked one of the greenhouses about the spider, and they could only tell me that the spiders like to be on the dry side :(

I'm sure my problem has something to do with acclimating it from a greenhouse to my home, but how?

Wow... that's interesting.
One thing I thought of is to check the inside bottom of the baskets....some places use a basket with a liner that causes it to hold water at the bottom. Others use baskets that drain right through. Perhaps yours were holding too much water? Or perhaps they other way around.
Something else to consider is the change in water quality and temp changes...lots of green houses use drip systems to water plants...maybe the change in both was a shock to it's system???

One other consideration is if there was a dieases involved???

Just somethings to think about...

MsC

hmm. I didn't think about water quality or type of watering system. I didn't do anything different with these than I did with the one from the grocery store for the spiders, and maybe I should. The greenhouse that the curly spider came from feeds all their plants regularly. Your post has me thinking much more differently now, like how they were cared for instead of just the physical environment. Thanks!

I know when I buy some plants from the local garden shops they seem hardier than the greenhouse ones...down here you have to harden things off that are grown in tender environments.

The heat alone will kill things down here.

Where you live, it be the cooler temps at night?

Maybe check the insides of the pots where the dead ones were and see if you can find root rot??? Airplane plants are pretty hardy and kinda hard to kill so it's hard to tell what caused them to die.

Good luck!

We do get cooler temps at night but they're all houseplants indoors in central air, which I thought was the problem so I use the spray bottle a lot. It helps but doesn't seem to be enough for some. Maybe I need to add more humidity too and wean them off of it.

The roots on my big greenhouse spider were definitely rotted which is very very unusual for me because I tend to under water. I was cutting rotten roots regularly and it didn't seem to help at all. It's been awhile since I had that one, so I'm not remembering how I watered it. I think I'll peek at the roots of the curly one this weekend and make sure its not having the same problem.

Since you keep yours in the house maybe once a week or so you can put them in the shower or tub and water them really well. Then let them sit and drain with the shower curtain closed...that can create a lot of humidity they like. Misting them just doesn't seem to do it for some plants.

You could place a table top fountain close to them, that might help if it is a humidity issue.