Bringing some of the outdoors in: Indoor plants
While we are all waiting to thaw out, I thought I would put up a few articles on indoor plants. In this one, we will cover the basics. Before everyone starts to clamor about which kinds of plants they can have, we need to review the most important items:
1) Light. The first and the the most important thing to know is what kind of lighting do you have? Which directions do your windows face? Different plants need different amounts of light...
2) Watering. An important thing to remember is to never water your plants on a schedule, always make sure the soil is dry before you water again. throughout the year plants will need differing amounts of water, and sometimes in different parts of the house too! The less light you have the less water your plant will use. Also, if a plant is in its dormancy cycle, it will use less water. Sometimes what happens is people will water a plant too much, and then its roots will rot. Then people will water the plant even more because they see it dying, and the plant is shriveling up, but that is because it has no roots! And sometimes, if you leave the plant alone, it will recover if you let it dry, but sometimes this isn't possible.
3) Potting. Potting plants depends on the type of plant you are potting. Most plants will tolerate a terra cotta pot with a drainage hole. It is better to not pot a plant in a pot which is too big for it, and never in one that is too small. I will say more in individual articles because it is so variable, dependant on the type of plant.
Some plants that are easy that take very little care and will handle a wide variety of lighting conditions:
Sanseveria
there are several types of this plant. it can range from very tall to very small, and variegated and non-variegated, and if it gets crowded enough in the pot, it will bloom best thing to remember about this plant is to not water it too much
Jade--
(Crassula Ovata) will tolerate many conditions, although it prefers high light
Pothos (Scindapsus)
There are a few kinds of these, Satin Pothos, Marble queen, Plain green... these are all really nice for inside and can take a lot of water. This is really a good plant to start with!
Philodenrons (and also Monstera)
There are hundreds of these, they are all pretty! But stay away from the variegated ones at first, like Pink Princess, etc. They not only tend to be more expensive and rare, but need humidity tricks which although are easy... are maybe too much work when you're just working on getting the hang of plants in general.
Cane/Angel Wing Begonias
These are pretty and can grow to a decent size, and if you give them the right conditions they will bloom.
African Violets
(Saintpaulia) Some people will argue with me on this. I don't think they are hard but they will want a North or East facing window, and don't be afraid of them. Just make sure you water only when the soil is dry. If your plant wilts a bit, no big deal. Just don't let it get too dry so that it wilts and the leaves begin to die. The problem most people have is they keep watering this plant until it rots or they put it in too much sun and it fries. If you only have South or West facing windows, this is OK, but a plant like this will want to sit maybe a foot or two back from the window.
Tradescantia/Secretsia/Zebrina (Wandering Jew)
These plants can take a lot of abuse and will die back from the base up, and if this happens, just replant those stems from the live part and water like normal!
Schlumbergera Truncata (Thanksgiving Cactus) and X Buckleyii, etc.
This was the first genus my mom ever let me take care of! It's easy, it doesn't want blazing sun all day but can take a North, West, or East exposure, and can also take a Southern one if you sit it about a foot or so back from the window.
Aloes
I'd go for A. vera, it's useful and easy taking any exposure.
Dracaena
You already have one if you think you have "Lucky Bamboo" which is neither lucky nor Bamboo! It's is actually a Dracaena, and will die a slow death if left in water.
Spider Plants (Chlorophytum)--
These are fantastic, will take almost any conditions for light.. and will eventually begin to make babies. For some reason people think you have to remove these plants, but you don't. If you have kids, it's kind of fun to let them have their own.
Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily)
Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema)
Syngonium or Nephthytis (ArrowheadVine)
Have children? All of these plants except the Sanseveria, the Aloe and the Jade can be rooted in water (the Dracaena can but you'd have to cut off the entire stalk and that's not a good idea. Also, the African Violet is only rooted by a leaf). Rooting is super easy with the Pothos, and that's fun for kids because when you need to trim your plant or if a piece breaks off you can tell them it's theirs and let them watch it root on a window sill in a clear bottle or glass, and you can teach them a little something about plants! Just remember when it has made roots to plant it in some soil and keep the soil barely moist for a few weeks. The plant will need to adjust to the drier conditions of soil, but it cannot live forever in just water.
Remember, South-facing in the Northern hemisphere is the brightest light. Full sun is up against a South facing window (and the oposite is true in the Southern hemisphere). Medium light is 6 inches to 1.5 ft away from the window. low light is 1.5 ft-3 ft away from the window. Beyond 3 ft from a South-facing window is too low of light for plants. That doesn't mean you cannot have plants further than that from a window. What it means is that your plant will die a slow death from that point. If you want plants to live in other parts of the house, you can keep them for a week or a few weeks depending on the plant, in a low-light spot and then rotate them out to a higher light spot. You cannot just thrust a plant that feels it's been in the dark into the sun again, they need to adjust or they will burn (like us). This is why it's better to just understand your light and then work with it.
No plant is easy or hard. Every plant merely has certain requirements that fit the environment from which it came. So never feel bad if someone says "oh this is easy" and it dies on you! A house is like a death trap for a plant. They are usually too dry, low air circulation, the plants are rarely kept in the exact way their roots want to be, and they are at the whim of our watering them. Lighting is never exact. This doesn't mean that a plant cannot survive in your house for as long as it would, or longer than in the wild, but it means many plants are just not capable of being "kept" and it just takes a certain amount of paying attention to get them where they need to be.
One trick is to start out small. Small plants have an easier time adapting to your house and conditions. Some plants will ONLY survive if you buy them small because bigger plants have usually been kept in a greenhouse and cannot make the change and will slowly die. The same will work if you get a plant from a large grower, even if it was kept in a nursery, it was used to those conditions and your house is a different place, so start small (this is also true for planting outside, for example it's better to get a 5-gallon tree than a 25-gallon tree because transplanting can kill or stunt a larger tree severely).
Starting in the next few articles, I will cover a few of the popular and not-so-popular indoor plants I think most people can have success with with little effort. See you then!
By Ameera AlAmmar
