Looking After Indoor Plants: The Do's and the Do Not's.
I'm unashamedly OBSESSED with indoor plants. This all started just over 2 years ago when I acquired myself a little fern for my college dorm, and then really took off when I moved into my first apartment. My first two plants were Fernando the Fern and Marvin (he's a type of Lily), both of which still live with me today and both of whom I am EXCEPTIONALLY fond of. Fernando is quite the understated one, but Marvin has become literally enormous, has had a pot upgrade because he outgrew his first and is now approximately 6 times the size he was 2 years ago. I guess you could call him slightly ostentatious, but around here, that's absolutely more than acceptable!
I'm currently a plant mum to 17 little (and also not-so-little, I'm looking at you Marvin...) plant children, plus the step-mum to 8 of my housemates little succulents. For the record, the apartment we live in is quite small, meaning that putting 25 plants inside it is no small feat. Despite my housemate's complaints, I am constantly adding to my collection, with the newest addition joining the fam just last week (his name is Freddie and he's a Fiddle Leaf Fig and yes I already love him dearly). Essentially I'm trying to create an indoor jungle, bring the outside in and surround myself with ALL. THE. GREEN. I also like to think I'm preparing for an apocalypse, because truthfully if the world imploded tomorrow and we all had to live indoors for the rest of our lives, there are enough plants doing enough photosynthesis/clean air making in my place that we'd definitely be okay.
Despite 2 plant deaths, and then one miraculous resurrection, I've had a fairly good run when it comes to indoor plant growing. It's not the easiest thing to get right (hence an unfortunate death...), but I guess I like to think I'm doing pretty good at it and yeah I might even go so far as to say I think I'm a bit of a plant messiah. I've definitely learnt a thing or 2 in the past few years about what my indoor plant children like and what they're not so keen on, which I've decided to share because the world needs more plants. I also genuinely think having indoor plants around the house has made me happier, and that incorporating some into your own life will also make you happier. I also read that Gen Y (of which I am sometimes begrudgingly a member) aren't having babies so much any more because we prefer investing our time and money into plants instead. I can definitely relate, and to be entirely honest, would recommend a plant over an actual baby for many reasons, though mostly the whole less vomit, less noise and more sleep in's thing. Anyways. Without further ado, here's my guide on how to care for indoor plants.
1. Watering.
Watering is literally the make-it or break-it of indoor plant growing, so much so that I maintain there are only 2 ways you will kill your indoor plant: you will give it too much water, thereby leading to death by drowning, or you will give it too little water, thereby sentencing it to death by forced banishment to a recreation of the Sahara desert.
Understanding your plants watering preferences is CRUCIAL. Luckily it is also generally rather simple.
Watering will depend on your local climate, but basically in warm months (days with temperatures over 20 degrees), you will likely need to water once a week, and in cooler months (days less than 20 degrees), you will need to seriously back off on the liquids, and likely only need to give the plant children a drink every 2-3 weeks. Plant children do not like to sit in water (this is not a pond remember), so you only ever want to give them enough water that their soil is wet through, and then stop there. This is also important because generally speaking, excess water indoors constitutes a bit of a mess/hazard, so from a cleaning perspective, you also don't want to have excess water sitting in the bottom of pots/trays.
You need to keep an eye on the actual soil in the pot, and when it looks dry, then it's probably rehydration time. If the soil on the top of the pot is wet/damp, then the soil at the bottom will definitely be even wetter, meaning you shouldn't water. The easiest approach is simply to establish a schedule, and (depending on climatic conditions) only water once a week. I designate Mondays as my watering day, because this way I know that I'm not overdoing it, nor forgetting to water.
2. Making an Appropriate Plant Choice.
Choosing the right plant for you is also very very important because if the plant is simply unsuited to your local climate, then no matter how great a plant mum you are, you will likely only be a plant mum for a limited time only. This will wholly depend on your climate, so I strongly suggest doing some research before you go out and spend some money. Alternatively, ask at your local nursery for suggestions. And, if you do head home with a new plant baby and find that it isn't doing so well where you've put it, also try moving it around in your house, because sometimes that in itself will put them in a more suitable climate. For example, my Maiden Hair Ferns only like positions with morning sun near the windows, which took me many years to work out but alas, they're happy now!
3. Never Underestimate the Plant Home You Give Your Plant Children.
This one has taken me a little while to work out, but the pot, or rather pots that you choose to give your plant children is VERY important. Initially I would buy the plants, take them home and immediately repot them straight into an actual pot (rather than the plastic one they come in). I've since learnt that this is not the best approach. Instead, I leave them in their plastic pots, and simply put them into a bigger legit pot, meaning I get a pot in a pot. I insulate the two layers with some plastic, which helps to mitigate the effects of an accidental over-water, and also keeps things a little more self-contained and tidy. The reason pot them this way is that it makes them much easier to move around, which is very important for my next point below. Also, it gives me flexibility with what pots I use, which is good for when I feel like moving them around and redecorating!
Every few months my plant children (at least those that are small enough to be lifted manually, so not Marvin), have a shower party. This might seem a bit unconventional, but is a very important part of their upkeep. You can use a dust cloth to do this, but I personally find it quicker, easier and more effective to simply whack them all in the shower and simultaneously give them a wash and a soak. This is very easy to do if you have the plants in smaller plastic pots inside their prettier actual ones (see point #3), so again, I suggest you do that.
If you have an actual house with a backyard, then you can do this with a hose outdoors, but being an apartment-dweller, the shower is my next best bet. Always make sure you turn the water temperature down to cold though (plants don't fancy hot showers like we humans), and don't leave them in there under the water for too long - a few minutes is definitely enough!! Also, only do this every few months, because if you shower them too often, you'll likely overwater them, which plant children don't fancy (see point #1).
(P.S. it is easiest to leave them in the shower for an hour or so afterwards to let them drain and the leaves dry a little before moving them back to their normal places of residence in your house!)
5. Excess Sun Baking is Indoor Plant Leaves in Trauma.
Put simply, you gotta choose the right spot in your house for your house plants, and being indoor dwellers, in the direct afternoon sun is very likely NOT the spot. Indoor plants, by very virtue of being indoor plants, generally need less sun than their outdoor counterparts, and it pays to keep that in mind when choosing where they'll be living in your house. Most plants can survive, and indeed thrive, on just a few hours of sunshine per day, and some do not even need direct light. Most of my plants live in shady corners of rooms and only see the soft, early morning sunshine; conditions that they quite enjoy. That said, plants need natural light to grow, so you can't leave them in full shade all year round. The solution? Simply move them out for a sun bake every few weeks! This is very quick and easy to do, especially if you do my little pot in a pot trick (point #3 in this post).
I don't have a backyard, but I do have a very sunny balcony that gets the full force of the hot afternoon sun. In winter I move the plants into the direct light of this sun for a few hours every two weeks or so, and in summer I do the same, albeit for a little less time and less often (given the summer sun is much stronger). Doing this means I can keep my plants in the most aesthetically pleasing places in my house, yet still keep them happy with enough sun!
6. Holiday Watering.
Going on holidays is very lovely, in actual fact, so lovely that it's an activity I would DEFINITELY recommend. Unfortunately, most plant children do not agree, and to keep things harmonious, you'd do best not to forget them while you sun yourself on an exotic beach somewhere. Solution? Put them all in some large containers, give them a drink, give them a bit more of a drink and then leave them to sit in a little water at the bottom of the container while you're gone. Also, do this in a shady corner of your house.
It's not ideal to leave plants sitting in water because most don't fancy having wet feet (roots), but if you have no one to come and water them for you, this is your next best option. I only leave them with 2cm or so of water, perhaps a little more for bigger plants or if I'm heading away for longer. As soon as I get home, I take them out of the containers, give them a sun bake on my balcony, then return them to their usual homes, meaning I get a happy holiday and happy plants. JOY!
6. Foliage over Flowers.
Finally, probably one of my favourite things about indoor plants is that generally indoors it is the foliage that speaks louder than the flowers. Sure, some indoor plants (lilies for example) will flower, usually quite profusely, but for most plants, it's the leaves that create interest and colour. You can get some truly crazy indoor plants, with purple leaves, stripes, different coloured undersides - you name it and it almost certainly comes packaged in an indoor plant!
It took me a while to change the way I looked at plant buying so as not to focus on the flower, as one typically does when outdoor plant shopping, but now I have a very lovely collection of colourful plants that I feel in no way lacks for the absence of flowers. You can even get the most out of foliage in just the one colour, by making sure you have different shaped and sized leaves, which is another trick I've also learnt as time has gone on.
My favourite plant for foliage is definitely my bright pink and purple Begonia, which also has crazy shaped leaves and is an intensely colourful to my house! For green foliage, I love my new Fiddle Leaf Fig, with its large, bright green circular leaves and my Bird of Paradise, which has ENORMOUS leaves that make for a very different and interesting addition to the interior of my bedroom! Palms are also great for some different foliage, as are Cordyline's.
I'm unashamedly OBSESSED with indoor plants. This all started just over 2 years ago when I acquired myself a little fern for my college dorm, and then really took off when I moved into my first apartment. My first two plants were Fernando the Fern and Marvin (he's a type of Lily), both of which still live with me today and both of whom I am EXCEPTIONALLY fond of. Fernando is quite the understated one, but Marvin has become literally enormous, has had a pot upgrade because he outgrew his first and is now approximately 6 times the size he was 2 years ago. I guess you could call him slightly ostentatious, but around here, that's absolutely more than acceptable!
I'm currently a plant mum to 17 little (and also not-so-little, I'm looking at you Marvin...) plant children, plus the step-mum to 8 of my housemates little succulents. For the record, the apartment we live in is quite small, meaning that putting 25 plants inside it is no small feat. Despite my housemate's complaints, I am constantly adding to my collection, with the newest addition joining the fam just last week (his name is Freddie and he's a Fiddle Leaf Fig and yes I already love him dearly). Essentially I'm trying to create an indoor jungle, bring the outside in and surround myself with ALL. THE. GREEN. I also like to think I'm preparing for an apocalypse, because truthfully if the world imploded tomorrow and we all had to live indoors for the rest of our lives, there are enough plants doing enough photosynthesis/clean air making in my place that we'd definitely be okay.
Despite 2 plant deaths, and then one miraculous resurrection, I've had a fairly good run when it comes to indoor plant growing. It's not the easiest thing to get right (hence an unfortunate death...), but I guess I like to think I'm doing pretty good at it and yeah I might even go so far as to say I think I'm a bit of a plant messiah. I've definitely learnt a thing or 2 in the past few years about what my indoor plant children like and what they're not so keen on, which I've decided to share because the world needs more plants. I also genuinely think having indoor plants around the house has made me happier, and that incorporating some into your own life will also make you happier. I also read that Gen Y (of which I am sometimes begrudgingly a member) aren't having babies so much any more because we prefer investing our time and money into plants instead. I can definitely relate, and to be entirely honest, would recommend a plant over an actual baby for many reasons, though mostly the whole less vomit, less noise and more sleep in's thing. Anyways. Without further ado, here's my guide on how to care for indoor plants.
 |
| People of the interwebs, meet (part of) my plant family. Now isn't this a pose that you'd like to be a part of?! |
Watering is literally the make-it or break-it of indoor plant growing, so much so that I maintain there are only 2 ways you will kill your indoor plant: you will give it too much water, thereby leading to death by drowning, or you will give it too little water, thereby sentencing it to death by forced banishment to a recreation of the Sahara desert.
Understanding your plants watering preferences is CRUCIAL. Luckily it is also generally rather simple.
Watering will depend on your local climate, but basically in warm months (days with temperatures over 20 degrees), you will likely need to water once a week, and in cooler months (days less than 20 degrees), you will need to seriously back off on the liquids, and likely only need to give the plant children a drink every 2-3 weeks. Plant children do not like to sit in water (this is not a pond remember), so you only ever want to give them enough water that their soil is wet through, and then stop there. This is also important because generally speaking, excess water indoors constitutes a bit of a mess/hazard, so from a cleaning perspective, you also don't want to have excess water sitting in the bottom of pots/trays.
You need to keep an eye on the actual soil in the pot, and when it looks dry, then it's probably rehydration time. If the soil on the top of the pot is wet/damp, then the soil at the bottom will definitely be even wetter, meaning you shouldn't water. The easiest approach is simply to establish a schedule, and (depending on climatic conditions) only water once a week. I designate Mondays as my watering day, because this way I know that I'm not overdoing it, nor forgetting to water.
2. Making an Appropriate Plant Choice.
Choosing the right plant for you is also very very important because if the plant is simply unsuited to your local climate, then no matter how great a plant mum you are, you will likely only be a plant mum for a limited time only. This will wholly depend on your climate, so I strongly suggest doing some research before you go out and spend some money. Alternatively, ask at your local nursery for suggestions. And, if you do head home with a new plant baby and find that it isn't doing so well where you've put it, also try moving it around in your house, because sometimes that in itself will put them in a more suitable climate. For example, my Maiden Hair Ferns only like positions with morning sun near the windows, which took me many years to work out but alas, they're happy now!
 |
| Lilies and Palms grow EXCEPTIONALLY well in my apartment, so I have multiple of them scattered about the place. Sure, sometimes I fancy other varieties, but some things simply aren't suited to Canberra's cold winters, so I make do with what I can! |
This one has taken me a little while to work out, but the pot, or rather pots that you choose to give your plant children is VERY important. Initially I would buy the plants, take them home and immediately repot them straight into an actual pot (rather than the plastic one they come in). I've since learnt that this is not the best approach. Instead, I leave them in their plastic pots, and simply put them into a bigger legit pot, meaning I get a pot in a pot. I insulate the two layers with some plastic, which helps to mitigate the effects of an accidental over-water, and also keeps things a little more self-contained and tidy. The reason pot them this way is that it makes them much easier to move around, which is very important for my next point below. Also, it gives me flexibility with what pots I use, which is good for when I feel like moving them around and redecorating!
 |
| Here you can see that I've put the original plastic pot inside a proper ceramic one with a layer of plastic in between that captures any excess water I may inadvertently give the plant plus keeps things clean AND let's me change up my pots quickly and easily! |
 |
| All three of these pots on my bedside are pots inside pots. |
4. Dust Off the Leaves.
Every few months my plant children (at least those that are small enough to be lifted manually, so not Marvin), have a shower party. This might seem a bit unconventional, but is a very important part of their upkeep. You can use a dust cloth to do this, but I personally find it quicker, easier and more effective to simply whack them all in the shower and simultaneously give them a wash and a soak. This is very easy to do if you have the plants in smaller plastic pots inside their prettier actual ones (see point #3), so again, I suggest you do that.
If you have an actual house with a backyard, then you can do this with a hose outdoors, but being an apartment-dweller, the shower is my next best bet. Always make sure you turn the water temperature down to cold though (plants don't fancy hot showers like we humans), and don't leave them in there under the water for too long - a few minutes is definitely enough!! Also, only do this every few months, because if you shower them too often, you'll likely overwater them, which plant children don't fancy (see point #1).
(P.S. it is easiest to leave them in the shower for an hour or so afterwards to let them drain and the leaves dry a little before moving them back to their normal places of residence in your house!)
 |
| This is what a plant shower party looks like in my house; green, very wet, slightly crowded but FUN nevertheless (there are 11 plants in here - yes, the addiction is real!). |
Put simply, you gotta choose the right spot in your house for your house plants, and being indoor dwellers, in the direct afternoon sun is very likely NOT the spot. Indoor plants, by very virtue of being indoor plants, generally need less sun than their outdoor counterparts, and it pays to keep that in mind when choosing where they'll be living in your house. Most plants can survive, and indeed thrive, on just a few hours of sunshine per day, and some do not even need direct light. Most of my plants live in shady corners of rooms and only see the soft, early morning sunshine; conditions that they quite enjoy. That said, plants need natural light to grow, so you can't leave them in full shade all year round. The solution? Simply move them out for a sun bake every few weeks! This is very quick and easy to do, especially if you do my little pot in a pot trick (point #3 in this post).
I don't have a backyard, but I do have a very sunny balcony that gets the full force of the hot afternoon sun. In winter I move the plants into the direct light of this sun for a few hours every two weeks or so, and in summer I do the same, albeit for a little less time and less often (given the summer sun is much stronger). Doing this means I can keep my plants in the most aesthetically pleasing places in my house, yet still keep them happy with enough sun!
6. Holiday Watering.
Going on holidays is very lovely, in actual fact, so lovely that it's an activity I would DEFINITELY recommend. Unfortunately, most plant children do not agree, and to keep things harmonious, you'd do best not to forget them while you sun yourself on an exotic beach somewhere. Solution? Put them all in some large containers, give them a drink, give them a bit more of a drink and then leave them to sit in a little water at the bottom of the container while you're gone. Also, do this in a shady corner of your house.
It's not ideal to leave plants sitting in water because most don't fancy having wet feet (roots), but if you have no one to come and water them for you, this is your next best option. I only leave them with 2cm or so of water, perhaps a little more for bigger plants or if I'm heading away for longer. As soon as I get home, I take them out of the containers, give them a sun bake on my balcony, then return them to their usual homes, meaning I get a happy holiday and happy plants. JOY!
 |
| Here you can see the SMALL amount of water I leave in the bottom of the container. Hydrated plants make for a happy holiday! |
Finally, probably one of my favourite things about indoor plants is that generally indoors it is the foliage that speaks louder than the flowers. Sure, some indoor plants (lilies for example) will flower, usually quite profusely, but for most plants, it's the leaves that create interest and colour. You can get some truly crazy indoor plants, with purple leaves, stripes, different coloured undersides - you name it and it almost certainly comes packaged in an indoor plant!
It took me a while to change the way I looked at plant buying so as not to focus on the flower, as one typically does when outdoor plant shopping, but now I have a very lovely collection of colourful plants that I feel in no way lacks for the absence of flowers. You can even get the most out of foliage in just the one colour, by making sure you have different shaped and sized leaves, which is another trick I've also learnt as time has gone on.
My favourite plant for foliage is definitely my bright pink and purple Begonia, which also has crazy shaped leaves and is an intensely colourful to my house! For green foliage, I love my new Fiddle Leaf Fig, with its large, bright green circular leaves and my Bird of Paradise, which has ENORMOUS leaves that make for a very different and interesting addition to the interior of my bedroom! Palms are also great for some different foliage, as are Cordyline's.
 |
| Here's an example of where I've relied upon foliage to create colour; my Bird of Paradise, with its giant green leaves contrasting with a red Cordyline and a pink and purple Begonia. |
While I could quite literally chat all day about indoor plants, I might just leave you with these 6 tips today. Happy plant parenting!!!
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