Besides being pleasing to the eye, houseplants have a lot of benefits. Not only can they help with maintaining indoor air quality but they can even improve your mood.
If you’re looking to add some living greenery to your space but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few pointers.
Keep Things Simple
There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to grow Japanese orchids, but if you’re a houseplant newbie, then you’ll want to opt for low-maintenance plants in the beginning.
The very first thing you’ll want to take into consideration is watering needs. Drought-resistant plants like succulents, pothos, burro’s tail, sago palm, or various cacti will still flourish… even if you space out on watering them. Not only will these plants thrive with little watering, but they’re not particularly picky when it comes to artificial lighting too.
Consider Kids and Pets
Many indoor plants are toxic. So if you have small children or curious pets, then there are a lot of houseplants best not brought into your home – or make sure they’re on a high shelf if you do.
Plants like lilies, sago palms, cyclamen, dieffenbachia, and oleander are toxic to pets and humans and can be deadly. Oh, and skip all cacti – those needles hurt!
Instead, opt for non-toxic but still beautiful plants like African violet, spider plant, Boston fern, venus flytrap, or a prayer plant.
Consider Your Space
Small plants like zebra haworthia can flourish on a cramped office desk, but other plants need room to stretch out. Choosing the right plant for the room in your home is important.
A kitchen windowsill is great for herbs as it will have the natural sunlight they like, and they’ll be conveniently within arm’s reach for cooking. Ferns will thrive in bathrooms because of the moist conditions, while larger plants, the fiddle leaf fig will, or monstera, work better as a focal point in dens or living rooms where there’s room to grow.
In spaces such as children’s rooms or a guest room, it’s best to opt for plants that don’t need a lot of attention and are non-toxic.
Choose the Right Location
Picking the right room for certain plants is key, but once you’ve selected a room, there’s still the matter of where in the room. Some plants like a little sun, and others like a lot of sun… sorta like people at the beach.
An easy way to determine an ideal spot for any houseplant is the shadow test. Once you know what sort of lighting your particular plant variety thrives on, hold your hand about 1 foot above the potential surface area and spread your fingers (make sure it’s a sunny day when you do this). If the shadow is dark and defined, then the area receives direct sunlight. If it’s less pronounced, then the area receives more indirect sunlight. If there’s almost no shadow at all, then it likely doesn’t get much sunlight ever.
Adding houseplants to your indoor space is a fantastic way to give any room a more natural vibe. If you’re looking for the perfect home for your houseplants, check out the available inventory of homes in the Caliterra community and reach out to us today.
