House Plants

The other day I was spending some "quality time" with my neglected house plants.  The don't get regular time, sometimes I'm racing around before we leave on vacation, just dumping water in all of them regardless of their needs.  But every 4 months or so, I wonder around and talk to them, clean the dust of their leaves, pull dead or yellow leaves and generally give love.  And, while I have more houseplants than one might need, I know I have at least one reader that considers herself plant challenged, so I thought I'd talk about house plants in this post.  You too can grow plants!

 

The thing is plants don't only benefit from what you do, such as giving them water and a little plant food now and then, but you benefit from what they do.  Many plants are great at helping to clean your air for you.  Through the process of photosynthesis plants help to remove toxins, gases and pollutants from your air.  That is so much less expensive than the little machines that sit in the corner of the room and use electricity.  Common plants that help to remove toxins from our air, include: Snake plants, Peace Lilies, Spider plants, and Philodendron.  I'll point these beneficial plants out in the pictures below.

 

Now yes, thank you Mom, I was raised with plants around so that helps.  But we aren't all perfect.  My Mom has beautiful violets.  I can't grow violets.  I think it has something to do with my chosen geographic location, but that could just be my excuse. 

 

I am lucky to have great windows in my house perfect for plants, but that hasn't always been the case where I live.  Plants aren't as picky as we think, just move them around until you find the window or room with the best light.  The plant will tell you within a couple weeks when it's happy.

Fair warning, I am horrible at remembering the names of my plants.  So I am not pointing out every plant below.

 

In the picture below you can find a Snake plant and a Jade plant.  I have two jade plants and they are both very different.  I now have three pots of the snake plant because it just keeps multiplying!  The snake plant is very good for air quality and it can adapt easily to low light.

 

 

In the below picture you can see my other jade plant, many spider plants in the windows, and a Philodendron in the bottom right corner, which although you can't tell reaches to the floor.  I have lots of Spider plants because they multiply easily and are great for air quality.

 

Be careful with the below plants.  They will grow outward easily as this one is trying to do.  The first picture in this posting, is a similar plant and it used to be the with of my office.  I cut the outer branches and it's not happily growing up.  I am trying to build up the conviction to give this one a trimming and cut off the outer branches.  I always feel so bad, but the plant doesn't seem to mind and just shoots of new branches.

 

 

No idea, what this plant is, but it produces the most delicate little pink flowers year around.  I just moved it and it seems very happy in it's new home.  How can I tell, deeper green leaves and lots of flowers!

 

Some plants are very expressive.  They are handy for people like me who sometimes need to be hit over the head with a "Hello, I'm thirsty" look.  The top plant in the left of this picture is a Peace Lily.  I just moved it up there and it's very happy.  It has three new flowers.  I point it out because it is one of these expressive plants.  The leaves will fall down flat and it will look pitiful.  But you just give it some water, and within an hour or so, it perks back up and says, "Thanks!".

 

So I've commented about my Snake and Spider plants multiplying.  Unfortunately, they do take a bit of effort, they don't just re pot themselves.  But I probably don't put that effort into my plants more than once a year.  I'll go buy some bigger pots, pull the plants that are outgrowing their pots, gather all the Spider plant babies, and buy some good potting soil and plan for a couple sunny hours on the deck, repotting.

Below is how you can restart Philodendron.  When trimming the ends of it, because let's admit these plants can grow, just stick those cut ends in water.  They do not need or really want direct sunlight at this point.  Give them a month or two and they'll grow nice roots that can be potted.  Below you can see mine I have starting right now.  Those have been in the water less than 2 weeks and little root nubs are already starting. 

 

Here are a few tips from me on nonfussy (a word?) plant growing:

 

• When repotting plants:
• A plant will fill a pot with roots, while it's nice to give it a bigger pot. I sometimes also make the conscious choice to leave it, knowing that more space for roots, just means it will keep growing. So, if it's as big as I want it. I'll trim back the top of the plant and leave it root bound in it's pot.
• Spider babies are so easy to repot, just cut the babies from the mother plant and gently shove their roots in the ground. They'll take hold.
• When breaking up plants like Snake plants by the roots, it seems cruel as you pull the roots apart. But it's always been ok, and they love having more space.
• After repotting, always press the ground firmly around the roots and water thoroughly. Putting a little plant food in the water to help their transition doesn't hurt.
• Some people have serious opinions about the type of soil and plant food you should use, but here are a few things I've learned.
• Most plants are more patient than we think.
• Sometimes I remember to put a drop of plant food in my water container every time I water, sometimes I go months without feeding them.
• Organic soil is great, but you'll end up with more bugs in your house.
• Yes, some plants like to be watered more often or less often than others, but they'll tell you through drooping or brown tips on the leaves if something is wrong, and the world doesn't end if your spider plant has some brown tipped leaves. It's still clearing toxins from your air and perking up your room.

 Happy growing.