Umar Farooq

I'm not a horticulturist, botanist, or plant pathologist, and I don't hold a horticulture degree or industry credential. I write and run this site, and every article on it goes through the same process: read the actual sources, check the numbers and claims against them, and write the result up in plain language rather than repeating whatever's already circulating on other plant blogs.

How I research and write

Before publishing or updating a page, I check its claims against horticultural references and institutions — the Royal Horticultural Society, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden, NC State Extension, the ASPCA's toxicity database for pet-safety questions, and peer-reviewed plant science where it exists for a specific claim. Figures on this site — light levels, watering intervals, temperature thresholds, and similar — are meant to trace back to one of those sources, not to a number that sounded reasonable. Where a page describes something I've observed directly with my own plants rather than something a source states, I try to say so in the text rather than blur the two together. I also use AI tools to help draft and edit some articles from that research — I set the direction, check the sourcing, and edit the result myself before anything is published; the tool doesn't publish anything on its own.

Sourcing policy

I don't cite other houseplant blogs as authorities, even popular ones, because most of them are repeating each other rather than checking a primary source. If an article on this site links out for a factual claim, it should go to one of the institutions listed above, a manufacturer or product label where relevant, or a peer-reviewed paper — not to another blog making the same unsourced claim.

Editorial policy

This site exists to answer practical questions about growing and troubleshooting Peperomia obtusifolia, not to rank for as many keywords as possible. I distinguish sourced facts from personal observation, correct material errors once they're found, and don't claim veterinary, medical, or plant-pathology credentials I don't hold — the toxicity and pest-treatment pages here are informational and are not a substitute for a vet or a qualified professional.

Corrections policy

If you find an error on this site — a wrong figure, a dead link, an outdated recommendation — email me at [email protected] with the page and what's wrong. I'll check it against the source and correct the article if the correction holds up. A page's "updated" date only changes when it's actually had a substantive review, not automatically.

How this site is funded

This site is intended to earn money in future through the Amazon Associates affiliate programme, display advertising served through Mediavine, and referral commissions from pay-per-call and quote-request partners. None of these are active yet, and none of it will change what I write when they do — see the affiliate disclosure for the current status and full detail.