Your money plant didn't die because of you. It died because your balcony hits 42° by two in the afternoon.
The Desi Plant Parent's Survival Guide is the plant-by-plant, season-by-season handbook for Indian balconies, windowsills and one-BHK corners. Thirty plants, one card each, and the rules for summer, monsoon and winter.
Instant PDF · reads on your phone · 39 pages, 30 plants
Written for the balcony you actually have
Most plant advice was written for a cottage in England. This wasn't.
Every rule in the guide starts from what happens on an Indian balcony: 42° afternoons, three months of rain, dry winters up north, grilles instead of gardens. Four of the things it teaches.
Surviving the monsoon
Seven rules for June to September, when the enemy is too much water, not too little. Which pots to move under cover, which ones to leave out, and what to do the day the leaves go yellow.
Part 5, page 28The finger test
Two knuckles into the soil before you water. The one rule that saves the most plants.
Part 1, page 6Why it stopped flowering
The five reasons a hibiscus, jasmine or bougainvillea refuses to bloom, and the fix for each.
Parts 3 and 4Creepers for the grille
Petrea, madhumalti, mogra and cat's claw: support them on day one and they turn a railing into a wall of green.
Part 3
What actually goes wrong
Six plants. Six ways they die in an Indian home. Six fixes.
Every plant in the guide gets one card with the same four lines: light, water, soil and pot, and the one thing that usually goes wrong. This is that last line for six plants you probably already own.
Watered every day out of love, in a pot with no drainage hole. The roots rot quietly for a month, then the leaves go yellow all at once.
Two knuckles into the soil first; water only if it's dry. And a hole in every pot, no exceptions.
Moved to a "safer" spot away from the harsh sun. Stops flowering within three weeks and never restarts.
Four hours of direct sun, minimum. It is a sun plant; the harsh afternoon is what it wants.
Buds appear, then turn black and drop before they open. Tiny green insects on the stems.
The neem spray from the pest clinic, once a week for three weeks, sprayed under the leaves.
Left out in the monsoon. The fat stem goes soft at the base and the whole plant collapses in August.
Under cover from June to September, watered only when the stem feels slightly soft.
The "impossible to kill" plant, killed by winter watering. Wet, cold soil rots it from the bottom.
Once every two or three weeks in winter, and never in the evening.
Brown, crispy tips within a month of moving into the AC room.
Out of the direct line of the AC, water a little more often, and stop trimming the tips.
A page you can use right now
Don't start with the plant you love most. Start with the one that suits your home.
This is how page 3 of the guide works. Tap the light your balcony or window gets, and you get the plants that will actually live there. Confidence first, fussy plants later.
4+ hours of direct sun
South- or west-facing balcony
- Hibiscusflowers almost all year, very forgiving
- Bougainvilleathe more you ignore it, the more it blooms
- Jasmine (mogra)fragrance in the evening
- Adeniumloves heat, hates rain: under cover in monsoon
- One creeperpetrea or madhumalti for the grille
The guide's version continues with hot west balconies and windowsills, then gives each plant its own card.
Bright, but no direct sun
East-facing, or 1–2 metres inside a bright room
- Money plantthe one everyone should own
- Aglaonemacolourful leaves, very easy
- Anthuriumthe easiest flowering plant for indoors
- Areca palmbig, green, cleans the air
Each of these has a full care card in Part 2.
A dim corner indoors
More than 2 metres from a window, or a north-facing room
- Snake plantsurvives a dim corner and being forgotten
- ZZ plantglossy, needs water twice a month
- Peace lilydroops when thirsty, then tells you
- Lucky bamboolives in a jar of water on a desk
The hand-shadow test on page 5 tells you which of the three you actually have.
What you're getting
Bought as separate guides, this is what it would cost.
- 30 plant care cardsLight, water, soil and pot, and the one thing that goes wrong, for every plant in the book₹199
- The Indian season calendarSummer survival, monsoon rules and winter care, with regional notes₹149
- The hand-shadow light test and the finger testThe two checks that replace guesswork about light and water₹99
- The pest clinicMealybugs, spider mites, fungus, gnats, and the desi remedies for each₹149
- "Is my plant dying?" chart and the first-30-days planWhat to do in the first month with any new plant₹99
- Myth-busters, free plants from cuttings, and the beginner's shopping listEverything to buy on your first nursery trip, under ₹1,000₹99
- Total value₹794
- You pay₹199
From Green Haven Garden
We sell rare plants, creepers and indoor greens and ship them across India. This guide is what we wished every customer had read before their first order: the same answers we give on Instagram every day, written down properly, with pictures. @green_havengarden
Questions before you buy
Which plants are covered?
30 plants: 14 foliage plants (money plant, snake plant, peace lily, areca, aglaonema, ZZ, calathea and more), 10 creepers and climbers including petrea, congea, jasmine, madhumalti and bougainvillea, and 5 flowering shrubs: hibiscus, adenium, ixora, rose and champa. Tulsi and lucky bamboo are in there too.
I'm in Kerala. Does it work for Delhi weather too?
Yes. The season calendar and the survival rules carry regional notes for North, South, West, East, the coasts and the hills, because a Delhi January and a Kochi January are different months.
How do I get it, and can I get a refund?
You get a download link on the payment page and by email within a minute. It's a PDF, so it opens on any phone or laptop. It's a digital download, so there are no refunds once it has been sent; that's why the contents, the price breakdown and real pages from the book are all on this page, so you can see exactly what you're buying.