Houseplants are awesome! They can add so much joy to life and decor to your home but not if you keep murdering them! So what’s the trick? How do you keep these guys alive? Well answers may not be 100% correct without examining your houseplant myself but I can give you five basic houseplant care tips and things to be aware of when taking home a planty friend.
- Do your research Know what you are bringing home. You can talk to someone at the garden center to get more details regarding the needs of your plant. Also check the plant tag because it will give you some basic information such as light needs and water needs. If you cannot meet the basic needs for the plant its best to leave it behind. Why get your heart broken if you don’t have to.
- Light: Plants need light to live lol. Plants are Autotrophs and make their own food. Weird I know but amazing. They use the energy from light to help create glucose. No more scientific details but you can look it up if you want. So long story short plants need light to survive. Some plants require more light and some less. Do your research and see how much light your plant actually needs. One example is a Succulent is going to want more light than say a Peace Lily which likes low light.
- Water: I have killed many houseplants in my years of plant ownership and water is the main cause of death. Either I over watered and the plant rotted from the bottom up or not enough water and the plant dried up from the roots on up… Water is tricky and its is best to know how much water your plant needs. Plants like Cactus’ need very little water and plants like a Banana Tree love water. A game changer for my plants has been by using pots with a drainage hole. When the top inch or two of soil is dry water that sucker until water starts coming out of the bottom. Good Luck
- Pots: The type of pot your plant is in can cause issues for your planty friend. Such as a plant that likes to stay moist may not love being in a Terracotta pot. Terra Cotta will pull moisture from the soil causing your plant to dry out quicker. Plastic and Ceramic will hold moisture for longer. So if you have a plant that likes to be dry like Succulents or Sansevieria Terra Cotta is great. Plants that like moisture like the Croton or any Calathea will not be happy to dry out.
For a list of beautiful houseplants that are cheap check out this post
- Pests: This is the one I hate the most. There are many insects that love to eat your plants and if the populations get to high they can completely murder your plants before you even notice. Two pests that have invaded my home have been Spider Mites which are tiny little mites that web and suck the juice out of your plants and Mealy bugs which are white and fuzzy looking. Both offenders are very small and treacherous. I combat them by washing leaves, spraying a neem oil mixture on the leaves an keeping a close eye. Now there are many things that can infest your plants so keep a close eye to changes in your plant.
So that’s my quick list of considerations when bringing home a planty friend. Also know that sometimes plants die and there isn’t a reason why at least not visible. So don’t get bent out of shape if you kill a few. You can always try again but make sure you do your research.
Happy Planting!
Ciearra
