Honestly for years I was team "plants just need light and water, everything else is overthinking it." Then my pothos sat there doing nothing forever and I moved it like two feet away from a drafty door and it finally started growing. That was a humbling day for me. It's wild how one small thing like air flow or temp can be the whole problem. You're not dumb, you just solved the puzzle.
Did you know those things hate cold drafts? I had mine near a window for a year and it barely did anything, then I moved it to the other side of the room and it went nuts. Sometimes it's just one dumb little thing throwing them off.