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Can You Take Care Of Your Friend's Plant Without Killing It?

Can You Take Care Of Your Friend&#x27;s Plant Without Killing It?

So, you're just sitting around after work when you get a text from your best friend. It reads as follows:

_I'm going on vacation next week, Monday-Thursday. Can you plant-sit for me??? Pleeeeease????_

You freak out a little. You're really not good at taking care of plants, but you don't want to let down your best friend. How do you respond?

The Start!

Your friend is mad at you for a while after this, but at least you didn't have to water the plant. You still didn't achieve what this quiz has asked of you, though.

I'm gonna be so busy every day next week. SORRY!!!

You get a text back.

_THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! It'll be soo easy, I promise!_


Sure!

Getting up earlier than usual is worse than you had expected. You get ready for work, grab your friend's house key and head out. Once you're inside your friend's house, you spot the plant. You've seen it a hundred times before, but you've never really given it a second thought. It's just part of her decor. Well, now you have to keep it that way.

It's Monday and you have to water the plant before work

Whoa, all that buildup for this tiny little plant? It looks like it could go weeks without water and be perfectly fine.
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/IU0cti3do.png) 

Approach the plant

Your friend has written directions for plant care. Great! 
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/ydkLmtyur.png) 
Uh...there is literally no helpful information in this note! For some reason, this little plant needs water every day, and, very unsurprisingly, it needs sunlight. YOU WEREN'T BORN YESTERDAY!! And this tiny plant belonged to your friend's dearly departed grandmother, so you absolutely cannot kill it! WONDERFUL.

There's a note next to the plant!

You look around for the best vessel to water this thing with. There is a shelf on the wall opposite to you where two other plants sit. There is a small plastic squeeze bottle with a tapered spout, like a dropper, that you assume is for watering small plants. Next to that is a regular watering can.

Water the plant

You fill the squeeze bottle with a little bit of water and approach the plant. You have no idea how much water to give it, but you decide to err on the side of caution. You give it a few drops, pick up your stuff and go to work.

Use the squeeze bottle

You decide to use the watering can. You figure you can just put a small amount of water into it and pour carefully. You're not sure if you're supposed to use the squeeze bottle anyway. You approach the plant and slowly tip the spout into the soil, but – AHH! You drenched the soil with water! Oh god, think fast: was the soil dry before? Was it moist? Did you just give this thing root rot? Ugh. Might as well not panic, it's day one and you can water it less for the next few days.

Use the watering can

You walk into your friend's place and approach the plant, hoping your water technique didn't harm it.
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/bSYpZ63zQ.png) 
Whoa, it looks just like it did yesterday! Hooray!! But...you should water it again, right? The note said to water it every day. You feel kind of reluctant.

Tuesday rolls around

You unlock your friend's door and cautiously walk toward the window. You've been worried about the plant since yesterday. You approach the plant and inspect it.
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/d06SPs6Wc.png) 
Hmm. It looks the same, right? The lower leaves look a little darker, but maybe it was like that yesterday. Maybe it needs more sun!

You place the plant  in the windowsill, in the most direct sunlight possible. Then you leave for work.

Move it closer to the sun

Better to leave it. You already gave it a lot of water, best not to panic too much. You head off to work.

Leave it there

You walk in and check the plant.
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/Lc5-FtmkI.png) 
HOLY CRAP!!! The plant looks scorched! The direct sunlight must have been way too much for this little guy! Now the tallest stalk is droopy and thin and the leaves look like they are all starting to die! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO NOW! Surely watering it won't help anymore. One thing's for certain: you have to get to work.

Wednesday rolls around

You walk in and check the plant.
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/cd3fxUjo5.png) 
Oh no...it looks worse!!!! It's dark! Is it dying? Only the longest sprout seems to be doing fine. WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO NOW??? Before you head out to work, you consider your options.

 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/3Xb1xYccb.png) 

Thursday rolls around

You squeeze a few drops of water onto the soil as you'd done before, now that you know this method seems to be working. Then it's off to work!

Water it

Your intuition is telling you not to water the plant, no matter what the note says. It looks great, and you want to be extra cautious! You give its planter a friendly tap and head to work.

Leave it as-is

Whoa... 
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/Ib-MgRdIv.png) 
It grew! Like, quite a bit! Your friend is gonna love this! You should probably stick with your routine, right?

It's that time of the morning again. You walk up to the plant and... 
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/WYjzadSPg.png) 
It grew...
a FLOWER???
WHAT KIND OF PLANT IS THIS? IT'S A FLOWERING PLANT? AND THE BUD GREW OVERNIGHT??
You're certainly not the arbiter of Plant Law, but this seems so weird. You didn't even water the darn thing yesterday.
Does the plant need extra care now? Did your friend know this was coming?? Do you water it or leave it alone?? WHAT IS HAPPENING???

You give the plant its drops of water and head to work, wondering what you'll see tomorrow.

The bud is still very fragile, so you don't want to drown it. You leave it be and go to work.

Leave it alone

You walk in hoping the bud has opened to reveal a beautiful flower... 
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/-POnWT4ar.png) 
...but that's not what you see. Watering must not have been the answer, because the bud is entirely gone, and the plant is pretty much dead. And you're pretty much dead too, or you will be, once your friend sees this.

After last time, you have kind of been expecting something strange...
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/dpnHJtgRS.png) 
...and this plant really delivered.
It seems an ENTIRELY NEW PLANT has taken the place of the old plant? I mean, the last one was a succulent (probably????) and these are straight-up flowers. Is this the final evolution of the plant? Is this what your friend wanted? Was your friend trying to teach you some sort of weird lesson about responsibility? Have you been a bad friend lately and not realized it? Do the flowers symbolize something important??
In any case, you count this as a win. There is a surviving plant in this planter, and you are DONE with this responsibility forever.

You enter your friend's house excited with the anticipation of seeing more growth spilling from the plant. But al you see is...
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/Mnv_17xGa.png) 
...this.
The entire plant...everything...has died. How has this happened???????
You don't know.
Your friend is going to be so upset with you. 
But that's not my problem, haha! Good luck with that!

You add the usual amount of water. This is easy! Time for work!

It may be best not to push your luck. The plant has grown, but maybe the soil needs a chance to dry. You leave without watering the plant.

Leave it

Last day! You're crossing your fingers...
 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/vIlvaUarb.png) 
YES!! Everything has turned out great! The plant has remained perfectly intact! You've done it!!!

 ![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/fs1agu1YH.png) 

You move the plant to a more remote area and leave. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Move it further away from the sun

You give the plant a teeeeensy bit more water and go to work. Ugh, this doesn't feel right...

Your stomach is in knots; you already know the inevitable before you see it.
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/vqWfvhAsD.png) 
The plant has gotten worse. You know it won't recover. It's all over. For you, for the plant, for your friend's grandmother's spirit. Ugh.

As you enter, your eyes immediately dart around, looking for the plant. 
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/AKbzx6Okx.png) 
It's...it's all gone? Every last bit of it is completely and utterly gone?! What did you do to deserve this?

You walk in expecting to see a totally dead plant, but...
![Image](https://img.buzzfeed.com/store-an-image-prod-us-east-1/KSPQaOBXX.png) 
IT CAME BACK TO LIFE!!!!!! You have no idea how; maybe the universe just looked kindly upon you today. But in any case, you've done it, and you will never, ever agree to this again. EVER!

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Can You Take Care Of Your Friend's Plant Without Killing It?

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