I think it's important to find out what works for your hair and stick with it, regardless of what others say. I can think of times I changed up my regimen based on what I read or was told is the right way to take care of hair...and it ended up not being a good thing. So yeah, stick with what works, consistency. And don't fix what isn't broken. For instance, despite the fact that my hair was growing just fine when I was detangling daily, I tried "low manipulation" by not detangling my hair for days at a time and it really was bad news for my hair. Yet other women with long hair swear by it. So, it's a matter of what works for you.
For me, the following things work best:
Regular and frequent detangling with a seamless comb while my hair is "slippery" (conditioner or shampoo or water, etc). I also use a Denman brush to get any remaining shed hair out after I thoroughly detangle. Shed hair removal is one of the most important things for my hair, as it causes major tangling problems which can lead to damage when I try to comb them out if I wait too long. I don't comb or brush dry hair, though.
Keeping my scalp and hair clean and avoiding build up (which causes dry ends and worse tangling issues for me)
Keeping hair up/protected most of the time
No heat
No trimming/cutting
No relaxers (some people can relax their hair and keep it healthy and grow it long, but relaxers did not work for my hair...couldn't retain.)
Those are the major things. Basically I keep it as simple as possible and do as little as possible to my hair. I have a heavy hand that I have struggled to tame. I had to learn the hard way that too many or too much product = dry hair.
I think nutrition is important, but I am very bad at this lately. I'm striving to get back in the good nutrition zone.
I look forward to seeing responses in this thread.