Houseplants for Every Skill Level – General Houseplant Tips – Farmside Landscape & Design

When it comes to indoor plants, do you have a green thumb, or do you manage to kill off even the hardiest variety of plants? Well, we have some helpful tips to keep your houseplants thriving at any skill level, plus some helpful plant selections whether you’re a novice or seasoned expert.

General Houseplant Tips

The Right Plant for Your Environment

The same way outdoor plants do best in their native environment, you’ll have the most success with houseplants that are suited for your specific living space. Simply sticking a plant on a windowsill is not ensuring a plant’s best environment. Light, potting medium, water/drainage, temperature and humidity are key elements for plant health – let’s explore each of these:

Proper Lighting for Your Houseplants – Plants have different light requirements, from bright and direct to diffused and indirect or minimal light. Brighter, more intense light will come from windows that face south or west, while softer, more minimal light will come from northern and eastern facing windows. When assessing the light level in places in your home, don’t forget to take into account window treatments or furnishings and/or décor that can further hinder light distribution.

Ensuring Adequate Houseplant Water/Drainage – More is definitely not better. In fact, overwatering is usually the most common reason people kill houseplants. Too much water smothers roots, which often shows up in the yellowing of leaves which, in turn, can be misinterpreted as a plant needing more water, setting up a deadly watering cycle. Make sure containers have drainage holes for excess water to escape from or a layer of pebbles or stones to keep roots from soaking in collected water.

What Potting Medium That Should Be Used For Houseplants – You can find a variety of good quality potting soils created specifically for houseplants at your local garden center. Houseplant potting soil is usually “lighter” allowing for better drainage, and formulated to include nutrients that will help your plant grow. Houseplant potting soils may include elements like coco coir that expands when wet, helping to keep the soil more evenly moist without waterlogging roots, for a longer period of time. Look for ingredients such as earthworm castings, perlite, kelp, coco coir, as noted, and mycorrhizae – fungal roots that can help plants uptake nutrients more efficiently and may protect against common soil diseases.

Temperature Regulation for Houseplants – Plants like consistency when it comes to temperature, and generally, foliage houseplants grow best between 70° and 80°F during the day and from 60° to 68°F at night. Most flowering houseplants prefer the same daytime range but grow best with nighttime temperatures of 55° to 60°F. Placing a plant by a drafty window where leaves are subjected to both strong, heat-intense light and blasts of cold air causes too much stress on a plant, so avoid those conditions.

Proper Humidity Levels for Houseplants – This is an element often overlooked for houseplants, but our heated homes are typically very dry. The solution for this isn’t more watering, but instead to create a more humid environment. This can be achieved by grouping plants with similar light/temperature requirements together, and either misting the plants regularly or having a dish filled with pebbles and water (making sure the water doesn’t touch the plant bottom) underneath the plants to create a microclimate of increased humidity.