Plant Care Tips: Expert Advice and Common Mistakes to Avoid

Do’s, don’ts and common pitfalls

For Suzana Zainal Abidin, owner of Taman Hati plant shop, plants aren’t just a business, her passion for plants runs deep in her roots, quite literally. She grew up surrounded by her mother, grandmother and aunts, who all loved gardening hence their home was always filled with flowers, herbs and leafy greens. Her earliest lessons in plant care came not from books, but from watching her mother tend to their garden.

What started as a childhood fascination slowly grew into a lifelong passion and after more than a decade in the industry, she’s turned her green thumb into a thriving business. We had a chance to sit down with Suzanna to chat about how she started her business and the common mistakes people often make when buying houseplants.

About Suzanna and her plant shop, Taman Hati

I started my plant journey in 2016 as a small home-based business, selling mainly cacti and succulents after leaving my corporate job. With limited outdoor space, I focused on potted plants and later discovered terrariums, learning the craft through DIY workshops, online resources, and plenty of trial and error.

A breakthrough came when Airbnb invited me to run a terrarium workshop, which led to registering my company, Taman Hati. What began as a home-based setup has since grown into a physical shop in Petaling Jaya, which allowed me to branch out beyond plants into F&B and more. Today, Taman Hati is not just a plant store, but also a café, a space for terrarium workshops, and a venue for events like poetry readings. I also provide plant styling consultations for homeowners who want to bring greenery into their spaces (more on this later).

Having been in the plant industry for over a decade, I’ve experienced plenty of ups and downs. One of the biggest shifts happened during the Covid pandemic, when interest in plants skyrocketed. With the growing popularity of plant ownership, I started noticing a number of common mistakes plant owners make when buying houseplants. These are the ones I see most often and here's how you can avoid or fix them:

1. Buying plants just because they’re trending on social media

It’s easy to be swayed by Instagram-worthy plant photos but not every plant is suited to your space or Malaysia’s climate. At one point, many people were asking if I sold olive or eucalyptus trees, simply because they were trending online.

These plants thrive in cool, dry regions, which is the exact opposite of our hot and humid weather. While it’s possible to grow them here, they require intensive care, and more often than not, they don’t survive in our tropical climate. The result? You’d spent a lot of money, only to end up with an unhappy plant.

Instead of chasing aesthetics alone, choose plants that are native or well-adapted to our local climate. They’ll be easier to maintain, healthier in the long run, and far more rewarding to care for.

2. Caring for all plants the same way

Another common mistake I often noticed is that people think there’s one rule that applies to all plants. The truth is, plants are just like us, they each have their own personality. Some require plenty of sunlight, while others are sensitive to too much moisture. Every plant comes with its own set of needs, so you can’t treat them all the same way.

At the same time, choosing plants also depends a lot on your lifestyle. If you’re someone who doesn’t have the time to mist or check on every single leaf regularly, then it’s best to choose low-maintenance plants that can thrive with minimal care. Some great low-maintenance options include pothos, spider plants, money plants, ZZ plants, ficus and philodendrons.

If you have more time and energy to dedicate to your plants, I’d recommend trying options that require a little more care, like bonsai or flowering plants. For example, flowering plants love plenty of sunlight; but the more sun they get, the faster the soil dries out, so you’ll need to water them more frequently. At the same time, if you water them too often, especially when they’re kept indoors, the soil might not dry properly, which can damage the roots. So caring for these plants is really about finding the right balance.

3. Buying plants to match your interior style

There’s nothing wrong with wanting plants that look good with your décor, but it’s just as important to make sure that the plant can actually thrive in your home. For example, a homeowner may buy tall cacti for their Bohemian-inspired home, but without enough sunlight, these cacti won’t last long. The key thing to remember is that when choosing plants, aesthetics should come last, health and suitability should always come first.

If you want to buy plants to match your home’s interior design, a better approach is to play around with different types of pots. For instance, if you’re going for an Oriental-inspired look, you could use Chinoiserie ceramic pots or pots with Chinese motifs.

If you don’t feel like wrestling with heavy clay or ceramic pots or repotting every time, try the pot-in-a-pot method. Just keep the plant in its original nursery pot and place it inside a larger decorative pot.

4. Forgetting that plants are living beings (and need time to adjust to their surroundings)

I often see plant owners treat their plants as if they’re just accessories or decorative objects, rather than living beings. The truth is, plants are living things; they have needs, they react to their surroundings, and yes, they can even get stressed too.

When buying houseplants, it’s important to consider the environment they were grown in. For example, if a plant has been living outdoors at a nursery and you suddenly move it indoors where there’s no wind/airflow and the A/C is turned on most of the time, it can get stressed, and that’s when you notice the leaves start to drop.

My advice is, if you’re looking for indoor plants, it’s best to buy them from shops that actually grow their plants indoors. For example, when you get a plant from Taman Hati and bring it home, it’s already acclimatised to an indoor setting with filtered sunlight, so it’s more likely to last longer inside your house.

The same goes for outdoor plants, if they’re meant to be outside, it’s better to buy them from a nursery where they’ve been exposed to sun, rain and wind every day. Of course, every plant needs a little time to adjust to a new environment. It’s important to pay attention to their surroundings, as many factors can affect how comfortable they are in their new home.

5. You need to spend a lot to fill your home with nice plants

Many people think they need to spend thousands of ringgit to own “fancy” plants like peperomia incana or a variegated monstera to make their house look beautiful. But the truth is, every plant has its own beauty, it’s all about how you style and display it. Even the humble pennywort, which you might find growing in drains, can look beautiful in a home when presented the right way. For instance, I had a plant that sat unsold at the shop for the longest time, but once I moved it to a better location, they suddenly became an eye catcher and were quickly snapped up by a customer.

You don’t always have to splurge on expensive pots either. Often, the best planters are the ones you already have at home, like old jars, makeup containers, or even broken teapots that can be repurposed into charming plant holders.

Plant consultation service by Taman Hati

If you’re not sure how to style plants in your home, Taman Hati offers a one-time plant consultation service for RM200. Think of us like interior designers, but for plants.

During the consultation, we’ll visit your home, assess the space, and ask important questions such as whether they have pets or young children (since some plants can be toxic) and how much time you can dedicate to plant care. Based on this, we’ll recommend the best types of plants that suit your lifestyle and home environment, so they thrive long-term. Of course, you’re free to purchase those plants from us or source them elsewhere if you prefer.

We’ll also share ideas on how to make the most of your space. For instance, if you have limited space, placing a large tree indoors might not work. Instead, we might suggest using tiered stands or hanging planters to create a lush, green jungle effect without taking up too much floor space.

Browse or simply just enjoy the greenery at Taman Hati

If you’d like to browse houseplants or simply enjoy a cup of coffee surrounded by greenery (and maybe say hi to our resident cats), feel free to drop by Taman Hati. We’re at 43A, SS2/30, SS2, Petaling Jaya, and are open daily from 10am to 6pm.