Home Remedy for Taking Care of Houseplants

Books make great pots

Taking care of houseplants does not have to be a chore. Three minutes of tending them a couple of times a week and you are sure to have lovely houseplants. Houseplants need five basic things: sunlight, water, fertilizer, pest control and room to grow. The following steps will help you use home remedies to care for your plants.

Things You'll Need

• Grow light
• Watering can
• Wicking material
• Kitchen sponge
• Dish soap
• Large pot or bowl

Instructions

1. Expose your plants to filtered light, such as sunlight in windows. Some gardeners, however, with not enough windows to spare, insert grow bulbs into regular lamps for the necessary light. Grow bulbs are inexpensive and can be purchased at any home improvement store.

2. Water your plant regularly. Use a watering can to keep your plants moist but do not overwater. If you are away from your house quite a bit, water your plants by filling a container with water, then running wicking material down from the container into the plant's soil.
   Another solution is to place new kitchen sponges at the bottom of the pot. The sponges hold moisture in the soil. The amount of time between each watering can increase because the sponges are releasing the moisture as needed.

3. Fertilize and control pests. One of the easiest home remedies for pest control and fertilization of your plants is to use dish soap. Not only does soap contain phosphates, essential to plant growth, but spraying your plants with a solution of soap and water helps keep a variety of insects at bay. Dish soap even kills some plant fungi and diseases.

4. Re-pot your plant into a bigger pot once it has outgrown its old pot. Failing to upgrade to a larger pot once your plant has outgrown its old pot will cause the plant's roots to become root bound.
   Use old cereal bowls, plastic containers, old cooking pots or coffee cans to pot your plants. Even vases can be filled with soil and used to re-pot plants. Anything around your home that will hold water can be used. Even an old rubber boot can make a great pot for the right plant.

References

• Museum of Unintended Use: Plants in Boots
• Professor House: Watering Houseplants