Hard To Kill Houseplants
If you think you can't look after houseplants, or if your houseplants die on you, don't despair.
You don't necessarily have black fingers instead of green ones. You may have the wrong environment in your home for the plants you chose, or you may just have picked plants requiring specialist care. Just like people, some plants are very easy-going and put up with any sort of treatment, while others require waiting on hand-and-foot before they are happy.
Some plants may experience a period of stress when you bring them home - just as we find moving house intensely stressful, so do they! Don't panic if leaves or flowers drop, but treat your plant normally and wait until it has settled into its new spot. It should soon recover. If you want more general advice about caring for plants in your home, our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page might well have the answer you are looking for.
Remember, the key to success is simple - find out where your houseplant originates from, and try to provide those conditions as best you can. You can find out more about your plant in our Plant Fact pages. Or choose houseplants that are suited to the conditions you have in your home.
-
Hot dry sunny rooms – best plants for these places
-
Dark cool rooms – best plants for these places
-
Overwatering– too liberal with the watering can? These are the plants for you
While most plants and flowers like a little sun, a little rain, a little warm, a little shade, some have changed over many years to grow in extreme weather conditions.
Some plants can grow in very sunny hot dry areas - like deserts and savannahs - and some can grow in very shady warm wet areas - like rainforests and jungles. Although they like the extreme conditions they have adapted to, some of these plants and flowers can be grown indoors, if you look after them as if they were in the wild.
We hope this will encourage you to try houseplants.
Here are some foolproof plants to try, which always put on a good show :
Hot, Dry Sunny Room
Conservatories are notoriously hot, dry and sunny; but other rooms in your home might offer these conditions as well. For plants with large, flat, green leaves they can prove problematic – but for plants that are specially adapted to desert conditions your home might well suit them perfectly.
These plants like a warm sunny place, with lots of light and air; some don't even mind central heating. Kitchens are often good spots if the plants are placed away from cookers or boilers. They often don't mind the cold (as temperatures in deserts can fall below freezing), but they really hate having wet roots. So although you should not forget to water them, they like their soil to be full of sand or grit to help the water drain through.
These plants originally come from areas like South Africa, Australia, and Mexico.
Dark, Cool Room
Many plants that come from jungle areas adapt to these conditions – living in the crowded canopy, or even on the forest floor, access to light is limited.
These plants like humidity - moist air - around them, so stand the plant in a dish filled with pebbles. Keep the pebbles wet so the water can rise up as steam around the plant in the heat of your room.
Most do not like sunshine as they normally live on the floor of the jungle, so find a semi-shady spot for them which isn't draughty or cold. A warm bathroom may be ideal! Most tropical plants like to be watered regularly, but some - like orchids - live in tree branches and prefer dryish roots.
What all of these plants like is damp leaves. Rainforest plants should be misted or sprayed with water often to keep their leaves damp.
These plants come from countries like Malaysia, Brazil and Hawaii.
Overwatering Plants
There are plants that naturally thrive in boggy, swampy, waterlogged areas, or which really object to drying out, and some of these make fine houseplants for those of us a little heavy-handed with the watering can. If you overwater your plants – or even if you don’t, but fancy growing something a little different – these would be ideal for you.
A good tip for any plant that likes a damp soil is to ensure the soil remains “sweet” by adding a little charcoal to it. A couple of spent matches, a chip from a cold barbecue coal, or the end of a drawing charcoal stick will do the trick.
