Contents
Houseplant Care and Basics
How to Buy Houseplants
Houseplants and Light Conditions
How to Water Houseplants
How to Fertilize Houseplants
Temperature, Humidity, and Air Flow
Houseplant Pots and Repotting
How to Maintain Houseplants
How to Propagate Houseplants
How to Take Houseplants Outdoors
Common Houseplant Diseases
Common Houseplant Insects
Types of
Houseplants
Flowering Houseplants
Foliage Houseplants
Succulent Houseplants
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How to Maintain Houseplants
Houseplants require routine maintenance, which includes pruning, staking, and grooming.
Pruning Houseplants
Pruning, the removal of leaves or branches, helps revitalize plants and prevent disease. Pruning can be done by hand or with pruning shears. Quality versions can be bought for a reasonable price, are 6–9" in length, and have sharp blades and
rubber- or plastic-covered handles. Here are three easy pruning methods:
- Use your fingers to pinch off brown or dried leaves
- Use pruning shears to cut back ailing branches as close to the stem as possible. This helps make room for stronger, more productive new growth.
- Use scissors to trim dead or damaged leaves.
After pruning a diseased plant, always sterilize your cutting implement before using it on other plants. One way to sterilize scissors and pruning shears is by applying a household disinfectant, such as Pine-Sol or Lysol, or peroxide.
Staking Houseplants
Staking is the process of driving a wood or metal stake into the soil parallel to your plant’s stem. Staking helps to:
- Make plants with weak stems stand up straight
- Encourage a plant to grow in a certain direction
- Provide a platform for climbing plants, such as ivy
How to Stake Houseplants
- Select a stake that’s at least as thick as the plant’s stem.
- Insert the stake deep into the soil, parallel to and a few inches from the plant’s stem.
- Tie the stake to the plant stem with twine or a plastic twist tie. Make a figure-eight connecting the stake and the plant’s stem and tie a knot to hold it in place. Don’t tie the figure eight too tightly, as this will chafe the plant’s stem.
- Tie the plant to the stake in several places to secure the entire plant.
Grooming Houseplants
Over time, dead matter and particles of dust and grease accumulate on and around the leaves and stems of plants. This mars the plants’ appearance and can also clog the pores on the leaves, inhibiting growth. As part of the regular grooming of your plants, you should regularly:
- Remove dead or dying leaves from the plant or soil
- Wash leaves with a damp washcloth to remove particles or grease
- Dust leaves with a feather duster or dry cloth (dust clogs leaf pores and can block sunlight)
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