New Houseplants Before You Display Them
Beautiful gardens aren’t just for the outdoors. You can create a lush garden inside your home by adding the right houseplants. Houseplants are a great way to bring a peaceful, natural feel indoors. Whether you have one plant or a bunch of them, it’s important to care for them properly. The right soil, the right amount of water, and the right light and temperature will vary depending on the type of plant. But there’s one task you can do for any houseplant you bring home: clean it.
Give your new houseplant a gentle rinse with plain, warm water. Larger plants can be placed under a shower head for this task, while smaller plants can fit in the sink, where a hose sprayer can be helpful. After rinsing, wipe the broad leaves with a soft cloth or paper towel. This treatment will remove any dust or residue from hard water, fertilizers, or pesticides used by the previous grower or nursery. It can also kill hidden pests that you don’t want to spread to your existing collection. (In any case, it’s a good idea to isolate new plants for a week or two to see if any pest problems develop.)
Your existing plants may benefit from being bathed or at least wiped down with a damp cloth from time to time. Keeping the leaves dust-free promotes plant health because it allows light and air to reach the leaf surface.
Choosing the Right Houseplants
Like garden plants, houseplants have specific growing needs. Success in growing plants indoors starts with knowing the conditions in your home and choosing plants that are as adaptable as they would be in an outdoor garden. Here’s a quick guide to identifying your houseplant habitat, along with suggestions for plants to try.
Light
Most houseplants fall into one of two light needs: direct light, which is similar to full sun; or bright/filtered light, which is similar to slightly shaded areas in the garden. Direct light plants will thrive in a sunny window, where the light will touch their leaves most of the day. Plants for bright or filtered light will do best in a window with a thin curtain or placed further into the room away from the window. They can also be planted in an east-facing window, where they will get direct morning light, which will be softer.
If you can provide direct light all day, try cacti and succulents such as agave and cactus, as well as coleus, polka dot plants, and date palms for foliage. Flowering houseplants for direct light include bougainvillea, mandevilla, hibiscus, and passionflowers. If you can provide bright or filtered light, try chenille, cymbidium, dendrobium, or phalaenopsis orchids, African violets, and Cape primrose (Streptocarpus) for flowers. Your best foliage options include rex begonias, caladiums, spider plants, dieffenbachia, piggyback plants, and stromanthes.
Is your home getting low light? Try plants with large, dark green leaves, such as cast iron plant (Aspidistra latifolia), peace lily, and aglaonema, or various types of ferns.
Temperature
Many houseplants—especially those grown for their flowers—originate in tropical locations and thrive in temperatures ranging from warm to hot. However, some can handle or prefer cooler climates. When thinking about the temperature in your home, keep in mind that it can fluctuate. Your bathroom may be very hot and humid when you shower, and then cool throughout the day. Entryways may be cold or frequently windy. Take the time to observe any area at different times of the day before choosing a plant for it. If you have a room that is consistently hot, try tropical plants like citrus, bougainvillea, banana, and mandevilla. If you expose your room to heat, the air can become dry, and you may need to increase the humidity for these plants.
If you keep your thermostat low in the winter, look for plants that originate from temperate forests, such as piggyback plant, fatheads, jasmine, English ivy, Norfolk Island pine, and some ferns. Desert cacti and succulents also do well in cold northern homes, where the low temperatures of winter can cause them to freeze. They will prevent spiral growth in weak light.
Your choice of houseplants
Ultimately, your choice of houseplants really depends on your level of enthusiasm and the time and effort you are willing to devote to them.
If winter wears you down because you can’t get outside in the garden, high-maintenance or finicky houseplants like orchids or gardenias can fill the void, or you can create a large collection of easy but diverse plants to keep you busy. On the other hand, if you enjoy taking a break from gardening in the winter or it’s time to get involved in other duties and hobbies, choose something that thrives on neglect, such as succulents, sansevieria, pothos, and trailing philodendrons.
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