For well-intentioned plant parents, figuring out what your indoor garden needs can feel more cryptic than deciphering a text message from a flaky crush. But the good news: Plants are actually very easy to keep alive \u2014 so long as you keep these four simple principles in mind.<\/p>\n\n
I got my first plant when I was 19. Ten years later, some of my very first plants are still alive. But more have died than I\u2019d care to count. I teach a workshop called How Not To Kill Your Houseplants<\/em><\/a> and I always start the class by assuring participants that everybody kills plants. At some point, every professional botanist, horticulturist, garden center employee, plant amateur and serious collector has committed murder.<\/p>\n The truth is, it\u2019s unnatural to keep a plant alive in a small pot for years and years. In nature, plants have an entire ecological system to pull from \u2014 they can grab endless moisture and nutrients from the earth, grow in areas where the lighting conditions are ideal for them, and they don\u2019t need a human to remember to water them. Mother Nature takes care of that.<\/p>\n When plants are growing up in a greenhouse, they\u2019re hopped up on the best conditions which encourage accelerated growth \u2014 unobstructed light from all angles, appropriate water and fertilizers. Because the lighting conditions are so ideal, the plants are photosynthesizing quickly. For this reason, they require constant waterings \u2014 which they get in droves. After the plant travels from the greenhouse to a plant nursery, hardware store or IKEA near you, they\u2019re suddenly subjected to unsavoury (aka dark) conditions. By the time you bring the plant home, it\u2019s already been in shock for weeks and might show signs of distress before you\u2019ve even had a chance to demonstrate your plant care chops.<\/p>\n But with a basic understanding of light, water and soil, you can get your plants back on track and keep them thriving indoors for a long time.<\/p>\n Admit it: Sometimes you forget to water your plants. We all do. Here\u2019s the thing, most plants need water once a week. Some species are more forgiving if you skip a watering, while others will punish you immediately.<\/p>\n There are many exceptions to this rule. If you have a six-foot cactus, for example, you can potentially go months without watering it. Snake plants and zanzibar gems require water every two weeks or so. But as a general rule, most plants want to be checked in on at least once a week. Being a responsible plant parents doesn\u2019t mean your indoor garden should take up all of your free time. If you only have a handful of plants in ideal lighting conditions, they shouldn\u2019t need more than 15-minutes of love a week.<\/p>\n Sometimes, plant parents go in the other direction and kill their plants because they love them too much. Over-mothering is by far the most tragic cause of death. The truth is, houseplants are easy pets. If you find yourself watering your plants every day, you\u2019re overdoing it.<\/p>\n Overwatering:<\/strong> Overwatering is one of the leading causes of death for houseplants. Since lighting conditions are never as good in a house as they are in a greenhouse, the plant will photosynthesize slowly. When you water constantly, the plant doesn\u2019t have the chance to absorb water through the leaves. This can easily lead to root rot, mold, yellowing leaves, bacteria or bugs.<\/p>\n Underwatering:<\/strong> On the other hand, it\u2019s really easy to underwater your plants \u2014 either by skipping a watering or not giving it enough when you do. To give you a sense, imagine filling your plant\u2019s pot with one third of water. That\u2019s a safe estimate for how much it can handle (but you should always research your plant to make sure). For example, I have five-foot fiddle leaf fig tree<\/a> that I water every seven to ten days. When I do, I fill a wine bottle with water and pour the entire thing in the soil \u2014 sometimes more, if it\u2019s been particularly bright or dry out.<\/p>\n Putting the plant in a pot without a drainage hole:<\/strong> In the greenhouse, plants come in plastic growers pots with multiple drainage holes at the bottom. Many people think these pots are bad for their plants and place them into decorative pots (without a drainage hole at the bottom) as soon as they get home. When pots don\u2019t have drainage, the water has nowhere to escape after a watering. This potting method reduces root oxygenation and therefore, overall root health. Unless you\u2019re a pro, always have a drainage hole in your pot. I personally keep all of my plants in the plastic growers pots they came in and then place those inside decorative pots.<\/p>\n Blindly following watering instructions:<\/strong> I realize I just told you most plants needs water every week or so. Don\u2019t listen to me, or anyone else, until you\u2019ve checked the soil. When you read care instructions, it\u2019s assuming you have the perfect lighting conditions. But how much light your plants gets is the major determinant of how quickly the moisture in the soil will absorb. You must check soil moisture before giving it a meal. If the top inch of soil still feels moist since your last watering, it\u2019s likely not ready for more, and may have gotten overwatered. No plant likes to be soaking wet for an extended period of time. Some like to be moist at all times, dry out completely or dry out halfway between waterings. The best rule of thumb? Put your finger in the soil to assess the moisture levels.<\/p>\n Using freezing cold water:<\/strong> Plants like room temperature water. If you use freezing cold water out of the tap, it can shock the roots. A good trick: Fill your watering cans the night before you water.<\/p>\n Failing to evenly saturate the soil:<\/strong> To keep the air flowing in the soil and around the roots, and to cleanse any chlorine or bacteria build-ups, it\u2019s important to water the soil evenly. This can be done by watering the plant from the top, slowly pouring the water over every square inch. Or, if your pot has a drainage hole (which it should), you can fill a larger bowl with water and place the pot inside it. The plant will suck up the water from the bottom through the holes in the pot. If there is water left in the vessel after an hour or so, be sure to dump out any of the remains so that the roots don\u2019t sit in water for an extended length of time.<\/p>\n Unless you have a low light plant (I wrote a detailed list<\/a> of my favorites), most plants require direct or bright-indirect light.<\/p>\n Not sure how to read your light source? I wrote an in-depth guide <\/a>but here\u2019s the gist: Cacti and succulents are desert plants and love direct light. This means there is nothing obscuring the light source, it\u2019s likely in a south- or west-facing window and they get full sun (the sun rays fall directly on the plants for at least six hours a day). Tropical plants usually like bright, indirect light. This means the plants are in a bright room but the rays of light are filtered. For example, when a tropical plant is growing in a greenhouse, there is a sheer fabric that lines the roof of the greenhouse to protect them.<\/p>\n If you have a particularly dark room and the plant requires bright, indirect light \u2014 it will never thrive in that space. While plants are certainly beautiful design objects, your interior sensibilities should not determine plant placement. Maybe you really love the way the succulent looks on your end table, but it actually wants to be on the window sill. There is no room for compromise here \u2014 unless you want to replace your plants every few months.<\/p>\n Every plant needs water, light, air and soil (with the exception of airplants and a few other varieties) to survive. How much you give each plant will vary from species-to-species. While this article is designed to give you a fundamental understanding so you can troubleshoot, it\u2019s important to do your own research to figure out what your plant likes. Does it want low light or direct light? Does it prefer the soil to stay evenly moist or dry out entirely between waterings? My tip is to get the name of the plant (pothos, for example) and simply type \u2018pothos plant care\u2019 or \u2018pothos houseplant 411\u2019 into Google. With these tips and the help of your favorite search engine, Diana Moss will be thriving in no time.<\/p>\n Plants are actually very easy to keep alive \u2014 so long as you keep these four simple principles in mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":193259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2019-06-11T20:10:55Z","apple_news_api_id":"7dbe6daa-193c-4bd5-861c-d102ae63b723","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2019-06-11T20:16:13Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Afb5tqhk8S9WGHNECrmO3Iw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/u48r14.digitalhub.com\/sections\/09b86915-7d2b-3acd-915b-b215002d01b7"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11115],"tags":[11113,11112,11157],"coauthors":[10245],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/how-not-to-kill-your-houseplant-light.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: @marienova\/Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nHere\u2019s the thing: Indoor plants aren\u2019t designed to stay alive forever<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: @plantbabystudio\/Instagram\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n1. Plants die because of neglect<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Watering my plants from the bottom in baking pans and pots. Photo: Jenny Morris\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n2. Plants die because of improper watering techniques<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: @tribeandus\/Instagram\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n3. Plants die because they don\u2019t get enough light<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: @cordovagardens\/Instagram\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n4. Plants die because you haven’t researched the species\u2019 requirements<\/h2>\n