House Plant Care 101

Houseplants are shown to increase mood and are a wonderful way to (literally) bring life into a space. Indoor plants generate clean air in your home and have proven health benefits.

You might think that house plants are hard to care for, and maybe you’ve killed off a few in your day… but once you know the basics, it’s usually quite easy. 

Plants need three things to thrive: water, light, and food. But how much is enough? We’ll explore those three needs and a few extra things that are important for plant care. 

Water

We’d venture to say that overwatering is the #1 cause of plant death. This is probably the opposite of what you thought, but you might be loving your plant to death. 

• Plants don’t like having “wet feet” or having their roots sitting in water. They breathe through their roots, and wet roots, which causes root rot, kills the plant quickly. 
• Your plant pot needs good drainage to avoid root rot. Look for a pot with drainage holes in the bottom. If it doesn’t, you can drill holes in it yourself or use a slightly smaller plastic pot with holes inside your pretty pot. Stone pots like clay are also a good option, as the pot itself will “sweat” out excess water. 
• Putting an old plate or clear drainage trays under your plants is a good idea to avoid water damage to your furniture or shelves. 
• About once a week, poke your finger into the top of your plant’s soil. If the top inch feels dry, it’s time to water it. If the soil still has moisture about an inch down, give it a few days to dry out.
• You want the soil to get pretty dry in between waterings. Gently pour in room-temperature water until a bit of water comes out of the drainage holes. Don’t panic if you overwater it; that’s why we have drainage. 

Pro tip: If your plant is wilting and looks sad, it might need a drink (but check the soil first). If your plant has brown spots, you are likely overwatering it.

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Sunlight

Take time to research the plants you have or plan on buying. Do they like full sun, partial sun, or shade? Does your house suit that environment?

• As a general rule, most plants will thrive in a place that has lots of indirect sunlight. Please don’t put them in a dark corner, but don’t bake them directly in a hot window. 
• If your home doesn’t have many windows, you can always supplement with artificial light, using a full-spectrum LED (USA) (Canada), on a timer mimicking natural daylight hours. 

Food

Plants slowly pull nutrients out of the soil to grow. If your plant has sunlight and water but is still not doing well, you might need to feed it some fertilizer. 

• When buying a fertilizer, look at the package numbers for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium amounts. 20/20/20 is an excellent all-over ratio that will work for most plants. (USA) (Canada)
• Follow the instructions on the fertilizer label. Too much fertilizer can burn and kill your plant. 
• Fertilize your plants at least once every three months and more frequently in their natural growing seasons, Spring and Summer. 

Pests

You will probably encounter a few pests at some point in your plant’s life. We have some tricks up our sleeves for dealing with them.

• Fungus gnats – these little guys look much like fruit flies and love a wet, decaying environment. So if you’ve been overwatering your plant, these little buggers follow closely behind.
  • Sticky yellow traps (USA) (Canada) placed in the dirt will take care of fungus gnats quickly. And stop overwatering. 
• Spider mites are another common plant pest that looks like little white webs on the underside of leaves.
  • To treat spider mites, make a solution of 1 cup water and 1 tsp dish soap and spray or wipe down the tops and bottoms of the leaves where they live. You might need to do this a few times to get the hatching eggs, too. 
• Zevo insect traps (USA) (Canada) will also catch these little critters if they’re close enough to your plants. 

Pets (not to be confused with pests)

Please do your due diligence and research to see which plants are safe for your pets. Plants have different levels of toxicity, and some should be avoided altogether, while others are fine as long as you keep an eye on your pets around them. Talk to your local greenhouse about options, and consider adding shelves or plant hangers to keep your plants out of reach. 

Cleaning Your Plants

We couldn’t leave you without knowing how to CLEAN your plants. And no, we won’t be busting out the Windex® to get those leaves shining. Dusty leaves can’t absorb sunshine well, so cleaning them every once in a while is essential. 

Our favorite method is to take your plants to the shower and give them a gentle hose-down. Use your hand sprayer if you have one, keep the flow gentle and the water room-temperature. Spray down all the leaves to get them sparkly and clean.

If your plant(s) are too big and bulky or fragile to make the trip to the shower, use a dry microfiber cloth or Swiffer® duster to wipe the dust from the leaves. After dusting, you can use a damp cloth on larger leaves to really get them clean.

Hopefully, this basic knowledge will help turn your thumb green. Head to your local greenhouse to grab a snake plant and a pot with good drainage and build up from there. Warning: before long, your house might resemble a jungle. 

Becky @ GoCleanCo