A Beginner's Guide to House Plants
This is a beginner’s guide to growing house plants that will help anyone who is interested in adding plants to their home!
I have taken on a whole new wellness journey this year by using essential oils and that has also included adding lots of plants to our home!
This guide to house plants is full of tips I have learned the past few months to help all beginners have a green thumb!
I have never been good at keeping plants alive. I always over water or forget to water them or don’t put them in the right amount of light, however this has changed! A few months back, I started doing some research and was so eager to try out plants again!
I can happily say I have kept several plants alive these past few months and I am LOVING this new little hobby of mine! I have been sharing lots on my IG stories and have had lots of great response to my plant care tips.
I thought I would put together my tips that I have learned to help out even the most beginner of a plant lady! I have faith in you, if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!
CHOOSING PLANTS:
It’s important to do some research before going to buy a house plant. You want to make sure that you have a good spot to put the plant so that it will receive the proper lighting that it needs to thrive. Having a plan/idea of what type of plant you want will make you a much more successful plant mama!
If you don’t know the name of a plant when out buying one, you can use this app: ‘Picture This’ which you can take a photo of the plant and see what the name of it is to see if it would work in your home. I use it all the time so that I make sure I am buying the right plant.
Start out with easy plants to take care of that require minimal watering, fertilizing, or repotting. I just google a plant that I am interested in and see what the care facts are and most of the time it will say if it is an easy plant to take care of or not.
WATERING SCHEDULE
Get your plants on a watering schedule! It sounds funny, but it has helped me out SO much! I water my plants every Monday and this helps me not to forget to water them.
Most plants don’t need a lot of water. Over watering is one of the main reasons plants die. They don’t like soggy roots so by sticking to the watering schedule, you won’t overwater.
Depending on what size plant it is, I will water between 1/2 cup - 1 cup of water. My larger plants get a cup of water each Monday whereas my smaller ones get about 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of water. I will test out the soil before using all the water and if the soil feels nice and wet, then I won’t use the full amount of water I had planned on.
The key is not to overwater. This is hard because it’s tough knowing when they have enough water. I start out with less and if the soil doesn’t seem wet enough, I add a little more. I would rather under water a little bit than over water.
LIGHTING
Making sure plants have the proper lighting is so important! This is why research is so helpful so you know where you can put a plant you’re buying. For example, you don’t want to buy a plant that requires direct light and not have any good windows that provide that type of light.
Another good thing you will want to do is figure out the direction your house faces. You will want to know which windows are North, East, West, and South facing. This will help with determining where to place your plants throughout your home.
Once you know which windows face which direction, you can easily place plants throughout your home.
REPOTTING PLANTS
I haven’t had to repot many of my plants, but it is a good idea to repot in the spring before summer so that you are not disrupting their busiest growing season.
If you are going to repot, be sure to find a pot that is about 2” bigger so that the plant has adequate room to grow. You also don’t want to repot in a pot that is huge because it will overwhelm the plant. Use good soil when repotting too and water afterwards.
OTHER PLANT TIPS
I like to spray my plants every other week with my Thieves cleaner. This helps to keep fungus away which can cause plants to die easily. Order your starter kit here and add on the Thieves Household Concentrate.
Talk to your plants, HA! They love oxygen so talk to them when you are watering them!
If your pots do not have a drain hole, water a little less than you would normally with a drain hole. Many of my indoor planters do not have drain holes so I just water a little less to ensure the plant isn’t over watered.
If the pots have drain holes, I will water them in the sink and allow to drain before putting back in their space.
MY PLANTS
Pothos: I water every week with about a cup of water. The pot has a drain hole. It sits in a west facing window.
Dracaena: I water every week with about 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of water. No drain hole so I check the soil before adding more than 1/2 cup of water. Sits in a north facing window.
Pilea: I water every other week (usually) with about 1/2 cup of water. No drain hole so I check the soil before deciding if I will water that week or not. Sits in a north facing window.
Spider Plant: I water every week with about a cup of water. No drain hole so sometimes I will only water 3/4 cup of water. Sits in a south facing window.
Aloe Vera: I water every other week with about 1/2 cup of water. No drain hole so sometimes it gets a little less than 1/2 cup of water depending on how the soil feels. Very drought tolerant so a little water goes a long way. Sits in a north facing window.
Prayer Plant: I just got this cutie plant! It will be watered every week with about 1/2 cup of water. Has a drain hole. Sits in a south facing window. I mist the leaves with water every week too!
I am still a beginner plant lady myself, but this has become such a fun hobby for me! I love taking care of my plants and watching them grow. I even have Dominic ‘help’ me by looking at the plants and pouring the water in.
I hope this guide helps some of you keep your plants alive! Let me know if you try out any of these tips!
SHOP SOME OF MY PLANTS/PLANT ESSENTIALS:
What is your favorite plant?
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XO
-LA
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