During my childhood there were a lot of plants around the house, and when I got to college, and wanted to make my space feel more complete, I gravitated toward houseplants because they were a big part of what home meant to me. I've consistently gotten compliments on my plants, and I think that's because I was able to pick up so many tips and tricks from both my mom and my sister.
I realize this post isn't on brand for me, but I wanted to share some of the things I know even if it's just a quick reference I can share with IRL friends.
How I think about house plants
There is no such thing as a houseplant. There are only plants hardy enough to survive indoors.
When it comes to maintaining houseplants, they are not a widget that you can manipulate to a specific output. They are a living organism with certain needs, and your job is to replicate nature as closely as possible.
I would only recommend buying house plants if you want to spend the time observing them and figuring out how to make them thrive. This post is how I consistently replicate nature indoors.
1. Light
Full light plants need to be in front of a window
One of the biggest issues I see friends run into is buying full sun plants and placing them in the corner. Yes, it's aesthetically better, but your plants won't thrive and that will be aesthetically worse. Full sun plants need to be directly in front of the window. Having bigger windows means you can place your plants in a wider range of locations.
South, West, East, North
Not all windows are created equal. A south-facing window will have dramatically more sun than a north-facing window.
If you have a full sun plant on a north facing window you need that plant to be directly in front of the window. If you have a full sun plant on a south facing window you may be able to get away with it being just to the side of the window.
Grow lights are hard
I haven't figured them out yet, and I have tried many different plants with different grow lights and setups.
Learn to use them on plants you don't care about. And try to be scientific with your process, I've found the more unnatural your setup the harder it is to execute well.
Here's my most ambitious grow light set up. In this case I was growing oak trees in my basement.
I felt like the saplings where constantly tettering between not getting enough light and getting too much light to the point of burning.
2. Water
Plants in the wild go through cycles of getting wet and then drying out.
Buy pots with good drainage
Having pots that drain is essential for replicating these cycles. Good drainage means that your soil is more consistently moist.
The most common issue I see caused by poor drainage is when people water based on the top soil's moisture level. If you are just paying attention to the topsoil and your pot doesn't drain well soil at the bottom is probbably still wet. After a few cycles of not being able to dry out at all, your plant can get root rot.
Pots with drainage holes allow for more consistent moisture level throughout your soil and therefore make your soils condition more easy to identify.
Buy a moisture meter
A moisture meter is also invaluable for determining moisture level below the topsoil. You can buy one for 7$ and it will dramatically increase your understanding of the moisture level for fine tuned watering.
I think this tool is essential for a beginner because moisture is so relative. Having a meter gives you some certainty which is much needed when troubleshooting.
Check in once a week
Now that we have the means to observe the moisture of our soil we just need to do so consistently. Some weeks you need to water a lot and some weeks a little. The key is learning how to observe, and doing this on a schedule. I make this a ritual once a week to check in with all my plants, monitor their moisture level, and water accordingly.
Avoid built-in water trays
The utility of a drip tray is that you can thoroughly water your plant without risking overflow.
Built-in trays are never big enough and are not easily emptied since they are attached to the pot.
If you find a pot with a built-in tray that you absolutely can't pass up, make sure the pot is small, so it's easy to move to the sink or bathtub when you water it. This will allow you to not worry about overflow.
Avoid auto watering systems
Having great plants is largely about taking the time to observe them. Setting up a system that waters automatically robs you of the chance to observe.
Wait a few years until you have observed all the seasons in your space before you try to automate anything.
Don't buy these. They are a gimmick. My main gripe with these things is they are meant to always keep your plants at the same moisture level, but plants want the moisture level to vary just like in nature.
Every once and a while put your plants in the shower
This will clean off the dust and completely soak the soil. Just make sure the water isn't crazy hot.
3. Fertilizer
Plants in the wild have a lot more soil than potted plants. Fertilizer is key to getting indoor plants the nutrients they need to thrive.
Soil doesn't matter as much as fertilizer does
No matter how good the soil is, it's going to run out of nutrients in some number of months. And at that point you will need fertilizer. That's why I buy cheap dirt and good fertilizer.
Know your plants
Fertilizing is hard to do well because it's an infrequent activity you need to do consistently.
When you buy a plant, look up how often it needs fertilized. Then create reminders on your phone so you can fertilize it on a rhythm.
When in doubt, under fertilize
If you under fertilize, growth will slow, but your plant won't die. If you over fertilize, they might just die. Unlike gardening, growing house plants isn't limited to a specific growing season, so I lean toward under fertilizing as I would rather my plants grow slowly than risk killing them. Read the instructions, and when in doubt, use less.
My fertilizer recommendation
I recommend Espoma. It's quite smelly, as most organic fertilizers are, but it's been great for my plants.
More general tips
Don't buy these
Expensive soil, auto watering systems, pots with built-in catch trays, and most of all... large plants.
Large plants are heavy and therefore unweildy to reposition, repot, and move to the shower. If you haven't already raised this plant type it's way less emotionally charged to fail small. Most importantly, when you buy a big plant, you miss out on the satisfaction of learning about it's needs and seeing it grow into a thriving beauty.
Big box vs small stores
Plant shops can be pricey. It's great to support local if you can, and down the road they are helpful for more exotic plants, but for starter plants you can't beat Lowes. Lowes has great pots and general plants at a reasonable price. I have found they have the best selection of pots of any of the big box stores.
If the leaves fall off they won't grow back
If a plant goes through a rough patch, it will often times drop leaves. If this happens, you need to prune the plant back so that new stems can grow in with full foliage. A struggling stem will not grow new leaves, you need to grow a new stem.
Don't buy too many plants
Three great plants makes a better impression on guests than twenty five struggling ones. The more varieties you have the more observing you will have to do, the more sun preferences and fertilization requirements you will have to remember, and all this will make consistently growing good plants more difficult.
Start with two or three!
Where to start
I recommend starting with these plants. They are easy to find at the store, hardy, and a great start to your observation journey.
Pothos (The juggernaut)
- Doesn't need a lot of light
- Great intro to pruning
- The hardiest plant known to mankind
- Link
One time I was out of town during the winter and our apartment door was pushed open by the wind. It was cold enough that all the toilet bowls froze, and most of my fifteen-ish plants died, but the pothos somehow survived the -15 degree winter nights.
Snake Plant (The shadow dweller)
- Doesn't need a lot of light
- Doesn't require strategic pruning
- Has a great vertical structure which is unique among low-light plants
- Link
Fiddle Leaf Figtree (The sun warrior)
- Doesn't require strategic pruning
- Needs a lot of light.
- Link
A bit more difficult than the other two, but has some real wow factor
I hope this post has been helpful for you. DM me your plant pictures and thanks for reading!