Plant Care 101: Indoor Houseplants
Welcome!
This is the first part of a series we have put together to help you on your path to keeping your houseplants happy! This post is intended to give you a solid foundation and equip you with some knowledge that will continue to grow as you learn through future discussions, experience and experimentation.
Feel free to leave comments and questions below, or reach out to us via Socials and we’ll do our best to help ya. Let’s get growing!
Tropical Plants
A majority of the indoor houseplants we encounter in the hobby are tropical or subtropical, and are found naturally around equatorial zones. We want to do our best to match our care to the zones our plants come from:
Many of the indoor plants we keep originate from the tropics and subtropic zones
Additionally, many tropical plants kept as houseplants are from the lower levels of their environments - referred to as Understory or Forest Floor.
These environments can generally be described as receiving a bright dappled light, warm temperatures, and higher humidity. Oftentimes, canopies in rainforests diffuse the sunlight. This is what we want to think of when we refer to indirect light. It’s plenty bright, but our plants aren’t getting a tan from the sun.
That all said, the key takeaway here is that the greenhouse-grown plants we buy aren’t typically accustomed to direct sunlight. Oftentimes, it can be too harsh and can even sunburn or scorch the leaves of these plants. An exception to this tends to be morning light from the sunrise (eastern windows), which is more gentle. We want to achieve the brightest diffused light possible for optimum growth. A great strategy we recommend is to use a linen curtain to diffuse the direct sunlight.
Cacti & Succulents
Typically coming from dry deserts & arid high altitudes, Cacti & Succulent plants will require the brightest, most long-term light you can give them. Some of these plants not only tolerate but will require varying amounts of direct sunlight. As a result of these traits, these plants are often used in outdoor features and landscaping. A succulent arrangement in a bowl or a low & wide planter can make a fun project! When kept indoors, these plants can be challenging and will need to be placed in bright windows, or even given a supplemental grow light if kept without sufficient light.
Plants from these groups will also have very different and varying water requirements which we will touch on later.
A collection of succulent plants, including cacti, from the Jardin botanique d'Èze, France (Berthold Werner, Wikimedia)
Another distinguishing characteristic is how tolerant some of these plants are of the high-low temperature swings associated with being out in the elements. Our warmth loving tropical plants won’t have a great time outside in the cold, but some plants are more tolerant of cold temperatures than others.
Some plants are more tolerant of lower light levels than others. We’ll discuss light tolerance and requirements in more detail in a future article, but hopefully this gives you the gist of light needs for plants.
