How to Care for Houseplants
Houseplants give color to your home and (literally) freshen the air. Learn how to pick the right plants and care for them properly with these tips from Domestic CEO.
Did you know that there is a Houseplant Appreciation Day? I’m guessing that’s one holiday that you don’t celebrate on a regular basis, but I could be wrong – maybe you do have a little party for your plants each January 10th!
But for those of us who don’t, today’s tips will help show houseplants how much you love them year round.
Pick the Perfect Plant
The first step in showing love to your plants is to make sure you bring the right ones into your home. Things to consider when you are searching for the best plants to fit your needs are:
- How much light does the plant require? Consider how much light your home gets. If you have lots of south facing windows, your home can naturally support plants that need direct sunlight. If you are in a big city surrounded by other buildings, you may need to look for plants that require low, indirect light.
- How much time can you commit to your plants? If you’re new to houseplants, succulents are always a safe way to start. They are the Betta fish of the plant world: they will survive almost anything. If you think you’re going to forget to water your plant, or you travel a lot, start your plant collection with a small succulent that requires significantly less attention than flowering plants.
- Are you a budding Green Thumb? Do you love plants, have lots of time to care for them, and lots of space for them to spread out? Then you can probably handle some more hands-on plants, like vines or larger flowering plants.
If you find a plant that you really like the look of, do a quick Google search on “How to care for X plant.” The results will give you a good idea of how much time and effort you would need to care for that specific type.
Perfect Your Plant’s Lighting
Once you have your plant picked out and at home, place it where it will receive the ideal amount of light. If the care instructions say that it needs direct sunlight, place it by a south facing window so it gets as much sun as possible during the day. If it needs indirect sun, place it in a room that is bright during the day, but not directly where the sun shines.
In general, if your plant is getting too much sun, the leaves will start to look brown and scorched, or faded and washed out. If it’s not getting enough sunlight, it won’t grow very well, and new leaves will be smaller than normal. If your plant is telling you with its appearance that something just isn’t quite right, try moving it across the room or to another room. You may have to go through a little trial and error to find the perfect spot where your plant will flourish.
Correct Watering for Your Plant
In general, most plants need to have moist, but not wet roots. Some need a little more watering, and some a little less, but start by watering your plant only when the top inch of the soil feels dry. It’s always better to under water plants than over water them, so start there and see how the plants react.
Signs of overwatering plants are droopy stems and leaves, mushy or spongy-feeling stems, and bugs in your plants. If you are getting fungus gnats (which look like little fruit flies) flying around your plant, you are definitely overwatering. The gnats need moisture to reproduce, so making sure the top soil in your planter dries out will help prevent them from making a home in your pot.
Grooming Your Houseplants
You may think that grooming is just for people and pets, but plants need to be groomed on a regular basis, too. Dust accumulates on leaves, which causes the plant’s pores to clog; this makes it difficult for respiration. Dust can also restrict the amount of light a plant receives, and if you paid attention in biology, you know that plants need light to work their photosynthesis magic.
To clean a plant, you can use a clean, damp cloth to wipe waxy leaves. This can keep your plant happy for a while, but on occasion, it’s good to give your plant a bath or shower, too. Literally, you are going to put your plant in the tub!
If you have a smaller plant, you can do this on a smaller scale by filling a bowl with lukewarm water, then tipping the plant over to dip the leaves in the water. Make sure to use lukewarm water, because cold water can shock the plant. And when you tip it over, make sure you hold the soil in place with your hand to keep everything from falling out of the pot.
For larger plants, simply place them, planters and all, into the tub. Then use lukewarm water from the shower to rinse the plants one at a time. Allow them to sit in the tub until all the water has drained out of the pots, and then put them back in the sun to dry. This not only cleans the leaves, but it gives the soil a good drenching to hydrate the plant. Just make sure to allow the soil to dry out a bit before watering the plant again.
Pinching and Pruning Houseplant
To keep your plant healthy, on occasion you will need to pinch and prune it to remove dead, diseased, or overgrown parts.
For plants with small stems, the pinching technique works really well to remove dead leaves. Once you’ve identified the leaf that you want to remove, follow the stem to the main part of the plant and simply pinch the attaching stem with your fingernail. This will cut the stem, and allow you to remove the leaf. Don’t just pull the leaf off, as that will harm the plant.
If the plant is bigger, or you need to do more pruning, you may want to use small pruning shears or very sharp scissors. Again, make sure you get to the stem and don’t tug on leaves.
Keeping Pests Away
For the most part, you want to make sure that bugs don’t get to your houseplants. They can start eating the leaves and building their homes in your greenery.
To prevent bugs, first make sure not to let the soil stay too wet. You can also spray the plant with some insecticide soap, or wipe waxy leaves with rubbing alcohol. Again, if in doubt, check the care instructions for your specific plant to make sure you are treating it with the right product to repel bugs.
Houseplants give color to homes and (literally) freshen the air. Most of them are very easy to maintain, but it’s still a good idea to start with just one or two to get yourself into the habit of caring for a plant. It’s a lot less discouraging when you only kill one plant versus 10 – so start small, and grow your indoor collection one plant at a time.
Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home! Visit my Facebook and Pinterest pages for more tips and ideas, or to leave some of your own.
Images of houseplants and woman watering plants opens IMAGE file courtesy of Shutterstock,