How to Help Indoor Plants Thrive

Plants give a certain ambiance to a home. Indoor plants that are large fill a blank wall nicely while trailing ivy appears to move slowly as it grows across a table gracefully and certain flowering plants make a dramatic decorating statement with little effort on your part. In order to achieve large deep green leaves, strong stems and beautiful blooms indoors, you need more than a green thumb. You need to make your plants thrive.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Indoor plants
• Windows for sunlight
• Pots for plants
• Watering container

1. Educate yourself on everything you can find out about indoor plants. You will want to know which plants are best indoors and which ones should never be considered. Your education will come from websites, magazines, books and professional gardeners. It's time-consuming but worth it if you want your indoor plants to thrive.

2. Learn about potting soil and fertilizer additives, as they affect your indoor plants. There are plants that need only specific soil and fertilization mixtures while others can take anything you have available.

3. Water appropriately if you want your indoor plants to thrive. Both over and under watering of your indoor plants will make them have yellow leaves and a host of other problems resulting in the death of the plant. To see if your plants need to be watered, check the dirt 1/4 of an inch below the surface daily. If it is dry, you must water.

4. Embrace light for your plants' sake. Most of the time, plants must be close to a window to receive adequate sunlight. Lighting is different in every room of your home and affects indoor plants differently. Plants can thrive in the kitchen and die in the den. There are several plants that will do quite well in darker areas. Boston Fern, Mother-in-law's Tongue and Chinese Evergreen are among those that can thrive in less light. This is great to know in winter months or if your house is naturally dark. Patio plants are generally outside plants in the summer and indoor plants in the winter.

5. Check your plants often. Use a magnifying glass, if necessary. You need to be on the lookout for tiny spiders and mites. They'll look like a speck moving slowly on your plant. If you have an infestation, you can buy predatory mites that eat the offending mites that have taken up residence on your plants. These "good mites" do not harm people and will stay on the plant, not wandering through the house.

6. Control aphids and the sticky substance they secrete with a thorough wash using a soft brush and insecticidal soap. The affected plants can be treated with a natural insecticide called pyrethrin. Aphid predators are also available from garden centers to rid indoor plants of these pests.

Tips & Warnings

• Tropical plants do well in a bright airy home, but you should do some research to see which ones do well in low light.
• Do your research. There are a lot of blooming plants that will not do well at all inside.
• Be aware that there will be some mislabeling at garden centers. The more you already know, the better.
• Over-fertilization will cause an aphid infestation.

Resources

• The University of Missouri website on controlling infestations in plants.
• Purdue University shows how plants offer balance in size and color.
• Colorado State University gives tips on watering indoor plants.