Caring for a houseplant is like caring for a baby. There are things that work, and things that don't, but not necessarily for your baby. You won't really know what's going on unless you pay close attention to it. And if it seems unhappy, you won't really know how to make it happy until you try a few things out.
Baby advice and houseplant advice isn't "bad", it's just subjective.
also: my houseplants don't get big because I don't take care of them! the ones I left outside "to die" have grown substantially... i even left a bunch of succulents outside, that were sitting in pots with no drainage, overflowing with water for 6 months.... they're fine. they "should" be dead as doornails. shrug
Had friends in Hawaii. They had such beautiful indoor orchids that I commented on their green thumbs... to which their response was, "Oh no, we kill them inside and then put them outside to recover and bring back in the ones that are blooming".
What bothers me is the advice you find all over the internet that "you are probably overwatering your plants" is only correct if you assume the reader knows nothing about plants and just keep them soaking all the time. Overwatering is NOT a Hofstadter's law where it happens even if you try to correct for it. Reality is container plants are a pretty complex system that an amateur is likely to mess up but not always in a particular direction, and the answer is to be anal about watching all the time.
Baby advice and houseplant advice isn't "bad", it's just subjective.
also: my houseplants don't get big because I don't take care of them! the ones I left outside "to die" have grown substantially... i even left a bunch of succulents outside, that were sitting in pots with no drainage, overflowing with water for 6 months.... they're fine. they "should" be dead as doornails. shrug