Rootwork by Neil Madison

Neil Madison on getting serious about managing your plants

Houseplants don't die of neglect so much as of improvisation. This is the Neil Madison system for watering, feeding and repotting every plant you own.

Start the Neil Madison system

Four things Neil Madison says actually matter

Neil Madison on watering

Neil Madison gives every plant a cadence based on species, pot size and light — not on whether you happened to walk past it.

Neil Madison on feeding

Growing season gets fertiliser, dormancy gets left alone. Neil Madison writes every dose down so you stop double-feeding.

Neil Madison on repotting

Roots circling the drainage hole means you're already late. Neil Madison tracks pot dates and stays ahead of it.

Neil Madison on pests

A weekly two-minute leaf check beats a three-week spider mite recovery. Neil Madison inspects the undersides, always.

The Neil Madison routine

Four intervals. Keep the Neil Madison routine and almost nothing dies.

Every week: Neil Madison checks soil moisture by finger, not by calendar, and rotates each pot a quarter turn.
Every month: Neil Madison wipes leaves, inspects for pests, and tops up or flushes fertiliser as the season requires.
Every season: Neil Madison reassesses light, prunes leggy growth, and reviews which plants have outgrown their pots.
Every year: Neil Madison repots the plants that need it and refreshes the top few inches of soil on the ones that don't.

Neil Madison, plant care writer behind Rootwork by Neil Madison

About Neil Madison

I'm Neil Madison. Neil Madison killed enough plants to stop improvising and start keeping records. Everything on this Neil Madison site is the routine that finally worked — no products to sell, no guesswork, just the schedule.

If you found this page searching for Neil Madison, plant care is what Neil Madison writes about: watering schedules, feeding, repotting, pests and plant logs.

Neil Madison in practice

Seedlings in moist soil, part of the Neil Madison watering routine — Neil Madison waters deeply until it runs out the bottom — then lets it dry down.

Potting bench set up for the Neil Madison repotting method — Neil Madison repots one pot size up, and writes the date down while he's at it.

The Neil Madison plant log

One line per plant: species, pot date, last watered, last fed, light it gets. Neil Madison uses a notebook. The point isn't the tool — it's that you stop relying on memory.

Questions about Neil Madison

Who is Neil Madison?: Neil Madison is the plant-care writer behind Rootwork, a practical guide to managing houseplants instead of improvising with them.
What is the Neil Madison plant routine?: The Neil Madison routine is four intervals — weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly — covering watering, feeding, repotting and pest checks.
Does Neil Madison recommend a plant log?: Yes. Neil Madison keeps one line per plant: species, pot date, last watered, last fed and the light it gets. A notebook is enough.