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Plant care questions, answered
The things people ask most often — about watering, about yellow leaves, and about what Petalum does and does not do.
How often should I water my houseplants?
There is no single number. Most common houseplants want water every 7 to 14 days in spring and summer, and noticeably less in winter when growth slows — but the real interval depends on pot size, soil, how much light the plant gets and how dry your air is. A more reliable habit than counting days is checking the top few centimetres of soil: if it is dry, water; if it is still damp, wait. Petalum starts from a per-species interval, then corrects it based on how often you have actually been watering that plant.
Why are my plant's leaves turning yellow?
Overwatering is the most common cause indoors, and it is easy to mistake for the opposite because both leave a plant looking limp. Other causes are underwatering, too little light, a lack of nutrients, pests, and simple ageing of the lowest leaves. What separates them is usually the pattern and your recent history. Petalum's symptom checker ranks these using your own watering log, so it can say something specific like "you have watered this four times in nine days" rather than listing every possibility.
Does Petalum identify plants from a photo?
No, and that is deliberate. Petalum is built for looking after plants you already own rather than telling you what they are. Instead of photo identification it ships a catalogue of 65 common houseplants with per-season watering intervals, light and humidity preferences, misting and feeding guidance and pet toxicity — searchable by common or scientific name, and available offline.
How does the weather change my watering reminders?
Petalum reads the local forecast through Apple WeatherKit. When rain is expected it can mark your outdoor plants as watered, so you are not reminded to do by hand what the sky is about to do for you. In a heatwave it flags that thirsty plants may need water sooner. Location is optional: refuse it and everything else works, just without weather suggestions.
Is Petalum free?
Yes. Petalum is free to use with a limit on how many plants you can track. Premium is a one-time purchase that removes the limit — not a subscription, and it does not renew. It is tied to your Apple Account, so you can restore it on another device or after reinstalling.
Does Petalum need an account, and where is my data stored?
There is no account and no server. Your plants, photos and care history stay on your iPhone, and sync to your own private iCloud if you enable it. We cannot read any of it. There is no advertising, no analytics inside the app and no tracking.
Which plants are toxic to cats and dogs?
Several very common houseplants are: Monstera, pothos, philodendron, snake plant, ZZ plant, aloe vera, dieffenbachia and peace lily all appear on toxicity lists. Ferns, palms, Pilea, peperomia, spider plant and Calathea are generally considered pet-safe. Petalum's catalogue flags toxicity per species and lets you filter to pet-safe plants, which is the question most people are really asking in a garden centre.
More in the plant care guides.