The Beginner’s Guide to Houseplants

The Beginner’s Guide to Houseplants

There is no doubt that plants are having a serious moment lately, and #PlantLife has spread like wildfire on Instagram and Pinterest. Adding plants is one of the simplest and most affordable ways to instantly upgrade your home décor, and of course, it’s completely natural and sustainable, which we love!

 

If you’ve been wanting to get in on the trend and add some greenery to your space but have been wary to start, then this is the post for you! We’re taking all of the guesswork out and showing you how easy it is to accessories your own home with plants.

Consider the light in your home

Some plants thrive in direct sunlight, whereas others do better with less light, so the first thing to consider when you’re choosing plants for your home is what kind of lighting you’re working with. If you get tons of natural light, you’ll want plants that love light, but if you’re working with a darker space, choose plants that don’t need as much light.

Choose low maintenance plants

When you’re just starting out, the best way to ease into being a plant owner is with some low maintenance plants, and luckily low-maintenance doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing on style- some of the nicest looking plants (in our opinion at least!) are also the easiest to care for.

Some of our favorite low-maintenance plants are spider plants, pothos, snake plants, aloe vera, and bird of paradise. What makes these plants so easy? They flourish in most conditions and don’t require much watering- basically, you’ll have a hard time killing them, so if you don’t exactly have a green thumb, these are the place to start.

One the other end of the scale, these are some of the most high maintenance plants that you’ll likely want to avoid in the beginning: fiddle leaf plants, Boston ferns, cheese plants, and calatheas.

Don’t over-water

One of the biggest mistakes new plant owners tend to make is overwatering. While every plant has different water requirements, most don’t need nearly as much water as you may think. Overwatering your plant can lead to root rot, which (as the name suggests) is when the roots literally rot from being too soggy, causing your plant to die.

As a general rule, wait until the top 1-2 inches of soil is dry before watering (usually every 7-10 days, depending on the plant and your climate).

Grow your collection

Once you’ve managed to keep some plants alive, you can begin to grow your collection! You can do this by buying more plants, or you can play around with propagating the plants you already have. Pothos and spider plants are particularly easy to propagate and are a great starting off point.

Grow your own

Want to take your plant skills to the next level? Growing your own plants from seeds can be a little tricky, but it’s also super fun and rewarding! You can purchase seeds or use seeds from your kitchen- avocado pits and lemon seeds can be saved and actually grown into plants!

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