Here’s to Houseplants – Keeping your house (and thumb) green all year
Houseplants not only look fantastic in almost any indoor space, but they also improve your home’s environment by cleaning and humidifying the air. Growing houseplants is also a perfect way to get one’s gardening “fix” for folks who live in apartments, as well as those who have a short growing season. Even better, there are several easy to grow houseplants that are a perfect starting point for beginners. Read on to learn more!
How to Grow Houseplants
There is such a huge variety in types of houseplants that it’s impossible to provide a single set of growing dos and don’ts for beginners. For the easiest way to grow houseplants, research each plant you bring into your home to find out its water, nutrition, light, and temperature needs. (See the box on the facing page for some helpful resources.) Because a houseplant’s environment is limited by the container and its placement, it is especially vulnerable to the care (or lack of care) that you give it. Beginners can start growing houseplants with the following general guidelines:
How to Choose Pots and Soil for Houseplants
Use a pot that is an inch wider than the plant’s root ball. If the pot is too small, the plant will be rootbound, and if the pot is too big, the excess soil will tend to retain water. If the container doesn’t have a hole at the bottom, add an inch or two of small pebbles, marbles, or broken pot shards for drainage.
Use a sterile planting medium composed of sand, soil, and a light planting material such as sphagnum or coir fibers. Place an inch or two of soil in the bottom of the empty pot, then remove the plant from its current home. Loosen the root ball with your fingers, or, if necessary, cut into it with a sharp knife. Place it in the pot and add soil around the edges of the root ball, pressing down to remove any air pockets. Fill the pot to an inch or two below the pot lip, water thoroughly, and press down on the dirt again.
The 5 Easiest Houseplants to Grow
We’ve selected the five easiest houseplants to grow for beginners. Choosing one of these houseplants will provide a beautiful, long-lasting focal point for any room in your home!
- Aloe: Bright light; don’t overwater; will tolerate dry air.
- Dracaena (including D. fragrans, or corn plant, and D. draco, dragon tree): Bright indirect light and high humidity.
- Pothos: Bright filtered light; leaves lose their striking color contrast in low light. Moderate water.
- Sansevieria (mother-in-law’s tongue, snake plant, bowstring hemp): Tolerates low light and very infrequent watering; doesn’t mind being pot-bound.
- Spider plant (Chforophytum comosum): Needs bright light, including some direct light in winter. Keep moist: if underwatered, leaf tips will turn brown.
10 More Easy to Grow Houseplants (Great Houseplants for Beginners):
The following ten houseplants are also easy to grow and excellent choices if you want a variety of plant styles in your home.
- Aspidistra (cast iron plant): Tolerates low light, but does best in medium light; avoid overwatering.
- Chinese evergreen: Medium light; direct light will scorch leaves. Water moderately.
- Christmas cactus: Bright filtered light, with moist soil from spring through fall (active growing season); as the days get shorter and flower buds begin to form, move it to a lower-light area.
- Dieffenbachia (dumb cane, mother-in-law’s I tongue): Bright, filtered light; water moderately.
- Jade plant: Bright light with some direct sunlight. Water moderately during active growth, allowing soil to dry out thoroughly between waterings.
- Peace lily: Medium light; direct sun will burn leaves. Water moderately; very sensitive to dry air, so keep in a humid environment.
- Philodendron: Bright filtered light; will get leggy in low light. Moderate water.
- Gynura (G.aurantiaca, or purple velvet plant, and G. sarmentosa, or purple passion I vine): Bright light, including some direct light each day to maintain the striking color of the foliage. Water moderately and avoid getting the foliage wet.
- Ponytail palm: Bright light, can handle some direct light. Prefers a slightly sandy I potting mix. Do not overwater.
- ZZ plant (Zamiocu/cas zamiifo/ia): Tolerates low light and low water, handles neglect.
Tips for Watering Houseplants
Ideally, the water you use will be free of minerals and other chemicals. Use rainwater or distilled water, or, if you use tap water, let it sit for a few days to let the chlorine dissipate.
Avoid using chemical fertilizers, which add minerals and salts to the soil – a product like Houseplants Alive!® All-Natural Fertilizer For Foliage Plants from Gardens Alive!” can actually dissolve these salts and restore natural soil pH. If you see white or gray crusty deposits on the soil surface or on the pot itself, your plant is probably suffering from a mineral buildup; put the pot in the sink or tub and flush the entire plant with a good drenching soak, letting the excess drain completely before you return the plant to its usual spot.
Tip: If you tend to overwater, use porous pots of clay or terra cotta; if you tend to forget to water, use plastic or glazed pottery pots.
Overwatering is probably the number one cause of preventable houseplant deaths. On watering day, stick your finger about an inch into the dirt; if the soil is still moist, don’t water. After watering, let the saucer under the pot collect the excess, then empty the saucer rather than let the pot stand in it. Overwatering can cause yellowing of leaves or of the entire plant, leaf drop, wilting, and rot (mushiness of the plant and its roots).
Underwatering can also cause leaf drop and wilting, as well as brown leaves. In addition to the water the roots need, houseplants generally like some humidity in the air as well; an indoor environment, especially in the winter when the furnace is running, may be too dry for optimal plant health. Some hardy plants, like sansevieria or ponytail palm, will tolerate dry air; many plants, however, suffer brown leaf tips – or lose entire leaves – if the air is too dry. Consider placing a humidity-loving plant on a tray of pebbles that are kept moist. Be careful to keep the bottom of the pot above the level of the water; the idea is to provide moisture to the air around the plant, not to the soil the plant is growing in. You can also mist your plants with a spray bottle.
The Best Light and Temperature for Easy to Grow Houseplants
Plants generally do best in bright, indirect light, such as that found next to an east- or west-facing window. (Of course, there are plants, like cacti, succulents, and some flowering plants, that prefer a southern exposure.) Too much direct light can burn the plant, and not enough light can lead to “legginess,” as the plant stretches to receive what light is available. Even if a plant is getting enough light, it will tend to grow towards its light source, so turn pots every week or two to keep the plants balanced. Light needs and temperature needs may be in conflict. For instance, if a window is drafty, it may be too cool there, despite the bounteous sunlight the plant receives. Similarly, a plant might be too hot if it’s placed on a window sill above a radiator or heating vent, even if the window it’s next to is north-facing. Temperature conditions in a single spot can vary during the course of the day, for instance, if the plant is between a window and curtains that are closed each evening, blocking it from the heat of the room. Temperatures can also vary in a spot . over the course of a year; the same vent that blows warm air in the winter, when the furnace is on, might blow cool air in the summer.
Tips to Avoid Houseplant Pests
Common pests include aphids and spider mites, which can often be controlled by blasting them off with water; scale and mealybugs, which can be removed by dabbing them with rubbing alcohol (use sparingly, because the alcohol can harm leaves); and whiteflies and thrips, which will be attracted to yellow sticky traps like Pot Stickers. If the infestation is bad, try a horticultural oil or Spray, which smothers the pests without residual effects; insecticidal soap, which kills without residual effects; or a pyrethrin compound Spray, which kills pests but dissipates within hours, making it safe to use inside.
Diseases tend to be less of a problem with houseplants than they are with plants grown outdoors, since the environment is more controllable. Many diseases are either spread by insects or are more likely to infect plants that are weakened by insect damage, so controlling pests will also tend to lessen disease. Other techniques for preventing disease include:
- Qyarantining new plants for a few weeks after bringing them into the house.
- Keeping your pots and tools clean.
- Using a sterile growing medium.
- Removing and destroying affected leaves and stems, and, if necessary, entire plants.
If you choose the right plants and provide what they need, houseplants can be a long-lived and lovely addition to your home.
