How to Keep Your Houseplants Thriving
Back in Chicago, I felt like I really learned a lot about keeping our houseplants growing, especially our finicky fiddle leaf fig tree! I know how hard it can be to figure out exactly what they need and then accidentally kill them—I’ve done that all too often too!
Houseplants are such a great way to clean and purify the air and add a pop of green and the outdoors inside. For those reasons, they are essential for our home. This reminds me that I really need a plant for our bedroom!
5 Favorite Houseplants
Snake Plant
One of the easiest houseplants to keep alive, mostly because it just likes to be ignored. It likes a good amount of sunshine, so keep it somewhere that gets good sun. I water mine about every 2-3 weeks, less if you live somewhere humid.
Philodendron
Another super easy plant to keep alive! It needs watering a little more often, I typically water about once a week to once every 9 days. The great thing about these is that they bounce back quickly. Shortly after watering, you can see the leaves and roots look more full and alive again. These come in several colors too and trail beautifully as the grow. They need moderate, indirect sunlight.
Fiddle Leaf Fig & Ficus Trees
Fiddle leaf figs are technically a type of ficus tree and are one of my favorites, though they can be very finicky. But, if you find a spot they love and they start thriving, they can do really really well!
I have a whole post on tips just for your fiddle leaf fig. But, they like good, direct sun for at least part of the day. Once you put them in your home, do not move them for awhile, they don’t like to be moved.
If you want a fiddle leaf fig, but don’t want to spend a ton, go to Home Depot, they often have good-sized ones that are so much cheaper than the fancy nurseries. Plus, my BEST fiddle leaf fig actually came from Home Depot, just saying.
Trailing Succulents
It’s been awhile since I had one of these, but boy are they beautiful! They don’t require much effort, very little watering and are gorgeous. Put in a hanging pot so you can really see their beauty!
Birds of Paradise
Another gorgeous, large houseplant! These need adequate sun and a large pot, ours quickly outgrew it and tipped over in our Chicago apartment. They have big pretty leaves and look tropical! They do well in humid places too.
Tips for Thriving Houseplants
Dusting Leaves
Since indoor plants don’t get the benefit of wind or rain to dust off their leaves, make sure you dust them regularly so they can properly absorb sunlight. For plants with large leaves, I just take a damp paper towel and wipe them down. For plants with smaller leaves, I lightly dust with a Swiffer duster.
Spray to Boost Growth
I can’t lay claim to creating this, but I made this spray from essential oils to boost growth and spray it on the roots at least once a week. So far, all my plants are pretty dang happy!
Getting Rid of Bugs
For Christmas, we got a beautiful ficus tree, but quickly learned it had spider mites (these create small webs over all the leaves and eventually can kill the plant). We sprayed the plant religiously for about 2-3 weeks with this all natural spray and they all died and haven’t come back. I still spray our plants about once a week—just in case.
Tune into Leaf Color
Your plants leaves can tell you a lot about what it needs. Yellow, wilted leaves mean too much water, while brown, crispy leaves mean they need more water. Pretty simple, right!?
Watering Needs
Every plant has different watering needs, so if you’re unsure, hop on the Google monster and search for what your plant needs. Each climate will make those needs vary a bit too, but with a little trial and error, you’ll be able to easily figure out what your plant needs.
A good rule of thumb for checking to see if they need water is to stick your finger about an inch or so into the soil and see if it’s wet. If it is, then hold off on watering for a few more days. And, if it’s dry, water it!
Sunshine
This should come as no surprise, but plants all love and need sunlight in some form or fashion. Some plants need lots of direct sun, and some are fine with indirect sun. When picking a plant for your house, take into consideration where you want to put it and how much light you get in that area of your home. This will insure that you find a happy place for your plant to thrive!
Lastly, at the end of the day, they are plants! Don’t fuss with them too much, just give them proper sunshine and water and they should be fine!
Do you have houseplants? Which plants are your favorite? Any questions I didn’t answer?
BTW, how to care for your fiddle leaf fig tree, from an expert, and 15 affordable finds for your home.
