Many of us learn how to garden for the first time with houseplants. Potted plants, particularly in colder climates, add color, beauty, and fresh air indoors when chilly temperatures and wintry weather keep us inside. No matter where you reside, the advice below will help you make the most of potted plants in your house.
How Much Light?
How much light a plant will receive where it will be grown should be one of the first factors to be taken into account while choosing and cultivating it. The majority of houseplants require bright, indirect light, such that from an east-facing window. As long as the harsh sun’s rays don’t touch a plant’s leaves directly, especially in the summer, south and west windows also function nicely. African violets and other popular flowering plants need a little bit more light than ferns or ivy that are kept primarily for their leaves. Light offers the extra vitality that flowers need.
The Most Important Requirement: Water
The most crucial—and frequently most difficult—aspect of growing healthy houseplants is watering. Instead of drowning them to the point where their roots can’t breathe, err on the dry side. In the summer, use water more liberally. It’s time to water when the top 1/2 to 1 inch of the pot is dry. Water the plant thoroughly until the water drains out the drainage holes in the container’s bottom.
Don’t Forget Plant Food
Another crucial aspect in developing outstanding houseplants is feeding the plants. Your houseplants’ roots are restricted to a pot, preventing them from foraging for nutrients in the nearby soil. You have the choice. In general, giving your houseplants a weekly or biweekly dose of plant food made specifically for them, like Miracle-Gro Indoor Plant Food, will result in happy, healthy, long-lived plants that add color and life to your home. The summer is a crucial season to feed indoor plants because this is when they are actively growing and will benefit from the nutrients.
Do they sell indoor plants at Trader Joe’s?
A delightful surprise awaits you at Trader Joe’s every time. The grocery shop always has something exciting to offer, whether it’s new food releases every month, gorgeous greeting cards, or beauty products. Its impressive array of plants is one among the things I am most looking forward to. Houseplants are a product that is sold at Trader Joe’s along with flowers. While it’s simple to overlook the leafy greens on a crowded shopping day, you can usually find them out front or along the store’s perimeter. You won’t ever forget that Trader Joe’s offers plants after you’ve seen them. Its variety is a veritable gold mine of greens, including peace lilies, prickly pear cacti, bunny mini plants, and fashionable coffee plants—all for an unbeatable price. Even though I never intend to purchase a plant, I frequently find myself doing so because, “For that price, how could I not?” (At least, that’s what I tell myself.)
There is typically at least one plant that will be calling your name, even though the variety varies seasonally and from store to store. A few of TJ’s greatest plants are shown below; feel free to pick one up on your next shopping trip!
Visit Environmental Organizations and Garden Clubs
Seasonal sales are a great way to acquire plants for a discount or maybe nothing at all. These sales also provide inexpensively uncommon and exotic plants. Depending on how you approach the topic, you might even be fortunate enough to score a couple lovely specimens for nothing!
Request for a Plant as a Gift
On your special day, if your family or friends ask you for a present recommendation, suggest a plant. Additionally, you can accompany them to the nearby garden center and let them choose the plant for you that is within their gifting range.
Seeds
Seeds are inexpensive and are often even free. A genius technique to cultivate plants for nothing is to use pantry seeds. You may quickly grow your own plants by simply adding soil to a container, planting seeds, watering frequently, and placing the pot in a sunny location.
Look for Seedlings, Pups, and Offsets
Watch out for puppies and plant offsets when at a friend’s property. To start a new plant in your house, you can get them for nothing. Similar to this, you can get cheap seedlings of indoor plants like pothos, philodendron, and anthurium from various nurseries.
Christmas Functions
Churches often use potted plants as decorations for Christmas and Easter. Plants are given out to regular churchgoers when the celebrations are over. Therefore, you can ask for these potted plants without charge if you are a parishioner or a member of the congregation.
Estate Sales
Plants are less sought-after at yard sales and estate sales than jewelry, furniture, and household goods. Price drops significantly and some shop owners even give items away for free as they try to get rid of them before closing up shop and moving on.
Start from Cuttings
Cuttings are a fantastic method of propagating your own free home plants. You might ask your friends and neighbors whether you can take a cutting from their plants.
Some of the greatest plants that grow quickly from cuttings include English ivy, pothos, monstera, spider plants, and philodendrons. You may even give the cuttings to other gardeners who enjoy them!
What Is The Best Indoor Plant To Clean The Air?
The parlor palm, Boston ferns, and ivy are the greatest indoor plants for purifying the air. In addition to effectively producing oxygen and eliminating airborne contaminants like formaldehyde and benzene, money trees, snake plants, and Areca palms also do so.
What Are The Best Low-Maintenance Indoor Plants?
The peace lily, snake plant, cast iron plant, pothos, air plants, and philodendron are some of the greatest low-maintenance houseplants. Beginners and those who frequently travel or are away from home should choose these hardy indoor plants.
What Is The Easiest House Plant To Grow?
The spider plant, pothos, snake plant, aloe, English ivy, and philodendron are among the easiest houseplants to grow. These easy-to-grow indoor plants are great for beginners because they don’t require much expertise or work.
Where Should I Put My Houseplants Indoors?
The optimal location for your home plant will depend on the specific plant, but finding that information is simple. To learn whether your plant will thrive in direct sunshine, indirect sunlight, or reduced light, simply search the name of your plant. Assess the amount of sunlight, the direction your windows face, the usual temperature, and the humidity in your space. Most plants thrive in rooms that are around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and have light coming in from windows facing west, east, or south. There are, however, many exceptions. For instance, tropical plants prefer the heat and humidity, whereas plants with large, thick leaves thrive in areas with adequate shade.
Should indoor plants be placed near a window?
Houseplants are not only attractive and decorative but also provide many advantages for your home. Your indoor plants can boost your health, remove toxins from the air through air purification, and, if you have them in an office or classroom setting, they can help you concentrate better.
How can you maximize the potential of your plants? The positioning of your houseplants within the home is one of the secrets to keeping them healthy.
In general, plants can endure warmer or colder conditions, as well as short-term water surpluses or shortages. However, if you want the finest results from your plants, you must put them in an environment where they will have access to water, nutrients, and the proper climate to survive.
How then can you imitate their natural environment? In order to get the most success out of your houseplants, our guide will show you which plants to place where in your house.
Which rooms work best?
Your indoor plants all share the same trait. Each plant will require a different quantity of sunlight, but they all require it.
Place your indoor plants carefully; don’t just set them down. It doesn’t necessarily follow that a plant is best for your houseplant just because it matches the decor of a particular room in the home.
Consider the following: Which room in my home receives the greatest sunlight? What side are my windows facing? My heaters aren’t here. What is the inside temperature in my home on average?
With that, you can begin to determine which regions are ideal for placing your houseplants.
Types of plants
Your plants will need sunlight, as was already said. Some species will benefit from as much shade as possible, but others may require continuous partial or full shade.
Keep in mind that your plants do not require direct sunshine at all times of the day because this can burn the plant’s leaves and roots.
The majority of plants will thrive in a window that faces west, east, or south. Therefore, avoid placing too many plants in front of windows that face north.
Of course, some plants need full or partial shade for the most of the day.
For instance, flowering and foliage plants, including some fern and lily kinds, typically do well with both artificial light and little direct sunlight.
Therefore, if you position your foliage plant a few feet away from your South-facing window, it will be in the best possible position. Make sure your foliage plant is kept out of the midday sun or when there is direct sunshine in the room if your windows face west or east.
Large, thick, meaty leaves on plants have a tendency to thrive in the shade. These plants include, but are not limited to, jade, stonecrop, and zebra plant.
Plant care
Your indoor plants could require more maintenance than your garden. It’s always best to do a little study on your plants, whether it’s to find out how frequently to water them or what kind of environment they want.
Around 70F (20C) is a good temperature for most houseplants, however others only do well in colder climates. For instance, cyclamen like it between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 15 degrees Celsius), and Cineraria much cooler. You may need to maintain a steady temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit if you have a bonsai tree or other tropical indoor plants (20C).
When positioning your plants close to a heat source, exercise caution. The majority of home heating systems create an environment that is too dry for most potted plants. In the winter, central heating will produce a warm, arid environment. For indoor plants, this will be nearly inhospitable.
You can either periodically mist your plants with tiny water droplets or pack or group moss between the pot and its attractive container to create a microclimate around their leaves. The warning indicators will be seen when your leaves are completely dry or discolored and the soil appears to require watering.
Where in the living room should indoor plants be placed?
Since you want to keep the plants where they have the best chance of surviving, placement is just as critical as the plants themselves. This entails making sure they receive enough light and humidity, and aren’t too close to heaters, air conditioners, or vents.
Shelf Life
Don’t call them “the plant shelves” when you decorate your shelves with plants. Instead, think of them as shelves with plants added to them.
Plants that are placed in contrast to your books and trinkets give aesthetic texture. As they can hang down to lower levels, trailing plants are a shelf favorite because they draw the eye downward.
This is Going to Look Great On The Mantel
If your fireplace is just decorative, make it a place for plants to live. Make the base of the planter with larger plants, and the mantle with smaller plants (Modsy suggests a large philodendron or monstera.) To give your fireplace a more lived-in appearance, add more personal items like books, flowers, bowls, and artwork.
Small Table
Turn a table into a home for a plant if it is too big to fit on a shelf but not quite big enough to be left on the floor.
Plants make excellent centerpieces for dining tables, coffee tables, and end tables.
Window
Another excellent location for plants is near windows. They not only permit you to decorate from various angles but also provide a plenty of natural light.
For instance, set up a sizable plant on the floor in front of your window or hang a plant from the ceiling. Make sure the plant you use can withstand a lot of sunshine. Aloe vera, Jake, African milk bush, and snake plants are recommended by Modsy.
Plant Nook
Everyone’s living room has that one uncomfortable space where a larger piece of furniture just doesn’t fit. Because it’s ideal for plants, that is!
With a bigger floor plant or a combination of smaller plants in different heights and pots, you can turn an inconvenient location into a cozy plant nook. Use a bar cart to transform it into a corner shelf if you don’t want all of your plants to be crowded together on the floor.
Bonus Plant Tip: If you have a reading alcove, you can use multiple smaller hanging plants or big potted plants to make it into a secret garden retreat.
What kind of plants can I buy at Trader Joe’s?
Trader Joe’s plants are known for their freshness. Freshest quality, greatest rates. These are the tenets of TJ’s plants and flowers, according to Maggie Meccia-Vogt, category manager for plants and flowers, who was interviewed on a 2019 episode of the TJ’s podcast titled The Plants & Flowers Edition. Put it in, then take it out. I believe that this has been the secret to our success and the reason we have such a large following of devoted plant and flower customers: if something can’t sell in our stores within 24 hours, it doesn’t belong in our… businesses.
It is the same to offer perfectly ripe produce or meats that have just been butchered to have healthy plants that look beautiful and fresh. There is an additional layer for Trader Joe’s, and Meccia-Vogt believes that it has to do with how customers there view plants in general.
“We make every effort to keep the section as current as we can. I think the majority of our clients purchase items for personal use at home, which is completely different. She clarified in 2019 that it takes a much more distinctly European approach to flowers. If you go to Europe, and I was driving through residential areas in Germany from Holland when I saw that every window had flowers and plants in it. Do I want to spend the money on something for myself? is a common thought in the US.
Flowers are frequently associated with special occasions or wonderful gifts in the minds of Americans. Customers at Trader Joe’s don’t believe that: “I believe I often count at least one out of five grocery carts contain flowers and plants. That is something that no other retailer carries. Meccia-Vogt noted that not everyone is seen wheeling plants and flowers throughout the store in their carts.
Fun Fact
The Carnations and Baby’s Breath Edition podcast’s Episode 13 mentioned that carnations and baby’s breath were two of the most popular plant products.
My prolonged visit to a place in Central Texas confirmed that view. In order to make room for the upcoming round of fresh-from-the-grower types to set up shop and impress visitors, monsteras, succulents, and a plethora of roses popped out from most carts roaming the store.
But if you don’t receive the leafy plant you want on your subsequent visit, don’t worry: Every day of the week, fresh flower and plant deliveries are sent to Trader Joe’s, according to the podcast.