The Lo Down on Caring for House Plants (Even if You Don’t Have a Green Thumb)

The Lo Down on Caring for House Plants (Even if You Don’t Have a Green Thumb)

The term “house plant” covers just about anything that grows and will fit through the door of your home. From lush, exotic orchids to common ordinary philodendron to unusually shaped and prickly cacti, if it can be grown in a pot, you can call it a house plant!

To choose a house plant best suited to you, consider the light in the room you want to place it. Rooms with northern light will provide good homes for low-to-medium light demands of plants such as orchids and ivy, while those that receive stronger western and southern light make excellent hosts for cacti and succulents.

After determining what kinds of plans you want to grow, use these guidelines when you go to buy them:

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Garden Tip...

Good, fresh, rich soil, is an element that is indispensable to the growth of healthy, vigorous plants. A plant cannot be thrifty if grown in soil that has become musty and stale with long continued use; it must have fresh soil, at least once a year.
~ James Sheehan
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Choose healthy-looking plants that show some buds or new growth, and opt for plants that appear more bushy than leggy.

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Garden Tip...

The Calla Lily, or "The Lily of the Nile," is an old and popular favorite, and is found in window-garden collections everywhere. It is a native of the tropics, where it is said it grows to an enormous size; a single flower often measuring one to two feet in diameter. The Calla will attain its highest perfection if planted in a rich, mucky soil, obtained from a swamp or bog. It also requires an abundance of water during the growing season. Callas, like all other bulbous plants, must have a season of rest. If required to bloom during the winter or spring months, they must be rested in the summer season, if this is not done we must not expect to have any success in flowering them. The blooming season can be reversed if desired, by resting in winter. Without allowing them at least three months of rest, it is useless to expect to flower them successfully. By "resting," we mean to withhold water, and allow the leaves and stalks to die down completely to the bulb. Then turn the pot on its side under a tree or grape-arbor, and let the soil dry up completely; this will kill the stalk but not injure the bulb.
~ James Sheehan
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Avoid plants with brown-edged leaves that signal under watering or too much fertilizer and those with pale or yellow leaves, which are a sign of over watering.

Give plants some time to adjust to their new home; many plants will drop a few extra leaves while they are acclimating to a new environment.

Though you may not be aware of it, your home has many ?microclimates.? Ferns and philodendrons, both species that delight in being misted with a plant atomizer, will do well in kitchens and baths, which are usually more humid than living or family rooms. Cacti and succulents, on the other hand, will prefer the drier microclimate a living or family room offers.

As mentioned above, light is very important when caring for house plants, which depend on it for their very survival and will grow in the direction of the closest light source. Flowering house plants such as azaleas and spring bulb plants like tulips and narcissi require more light than foliage plants that do not blossom. If the walls of the room where your plants live are light in color, they will reflect more light back to the plants from the sunlight that enters that room.

Turn your plants every time you water them to ensure they grow evenly, and remember that plants with variegated foliage need more light to remain healthy than plants with all green leaves. Most plants naturally do most of their growing at night, so make sure your plants can experience some hours of darkness every day. If sunlight is scarce, especially during winter months, you may need to supplement it by using light bulbs that mimic natural light.

Can I grow large plants like bushes?

In our special free report we share the best kinds of containers to be used, the ultimate potting mixes for huge harvests, how to make your own self-watering container, which pots never to buy, and much more! Claim your FREE REPORT!

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