How to Care for Indoor Plants: A Room by Room Guide
Most indoor plants do not die from neglect. They die because they are in the wrong room. Light and humidity change a lot from one part of a house to the next, and a plant that is thriving in the bathroom can be quietly giving up in a bedroom ten metres away.
I get asked about this constantly at the shop, usually by someone who has already killed two ferns and is not sure why. So here is how I think about it, room by room.
The bathroom and kitchen
These are the easiest rooms to keep a plant alive in, and most people do not realise it. The humidity from showers and cooking suits a lot of tropical plants that struggle everywhere else. Ferns in particular stop crisping at the edges once they are somewhere humid.
If your bathroom has a window, it is close to ideal. Peace lilies, ferns and pothos all do well there. If there is no natural light at all, that changes things, and you are better off with something that tolerates low light rather than fighting it.
The living room
This is where light matters most, because living rooms vary so much. A north-facing room with big windows is bright and even, and almost anything will be happy. A room that only gets a bit of afternoon sun is a different situation.
The trick is to match the plant to the light you actually have, not the light you wish you had. A fiddle leaf fig needs plenty of bright indirect light and will sulk without it. A ZZ plant or a snake plant copes with far less and forgives you for forgetting about it. If you are not sure how bright a spot really is, hold your hand up on a sunny day. A soft shadow means bright indirect light. No shadow means low light.
The bedroom
Bedrooms are usually darker and cooler than people think, and they often have the curtains drawn for half the day. That rules out the light-hungry plants. It does not rule out plants altogether.
Snake plants are the obvious pick here. They handle low light, they barely need watering, and they are one of the few plants that keep releasing oxygen overnight. A pothos trailing off a shelf works too, and it tells you when it is thirsty by drooping, then perks back up within hours of a water.
Watering, the part everyone gets wrong
More indoor plants are killed by overwatering than by anything else. The roots sit in wet soil, they cannot breathe, and they rot. The plant then looks thirsty because the damaged roots cannot draw water up, so people water it more, and that finishes it off.
The fix is simple. Put your finger in the soil to the second knuckle. If it is damp, leave it. If it is dry, water properly until it runs out the bottom, then let it dry out again before the next one. Most indoor plants would rather be a bit dry than sitting in a puddle.
If you want something that will genuinely cope with a busy household, come in and tell us which room it is going in and how much light it really gets. We will match you to a plant that suits the spot, not one that looks good on the day and dies in a fortnight. You can see what we have on our indoor plants page, or order through our Manly flower delivery for same day delivery around the Northern Beaches and next day across wider Sydney.
How to Care for Indoor Plants: A Room by Room Guide
How to Care for Indoor Plants: A Room by Room Guide
Most indoor plants do not die from neglect. They die because they are in the wrong room. Light and humidity change a lot from one part of a house to the next, and a plant that is thriving in the bathroom can be quietly giving up in a bedroom ten metres away.
I get asked about this constantly at the shop, usually by someone who has already killed two ferns and is not sure why. So here is how I think about it, room by room.
The bathroom and kitchen
These are the easiest rooms to keep a plant alive in, and most people do not realise it. The humidity from showers and cooking suits a lot of tropical plants that struggle everywhere else. Ferns in particular stop crisping at the edges once they are somewhere humid.
If your bathroom has a window, it is close to ideal. Peace lilies, ferns and pothos all do well there. If there is no natural light at all, that changes things, and you are better off with something that tolerates low light rather than fighting it.
The living room
This is where light matters most, because living rooms vary so much. A north-facing room with big windows is bright and even, and almost anything will be happy. A room that only gets a bit of afternoon sun is a different situation.
The trick is to match the plant to the light you actually have, not the light you wish you had. A fiddle leaf fig needs plenty of bright indirect light and will sulk without it. A ZZ plant or a snake plant copes with far less and forgives you for forgetting about it. If you are not sure how bright a spot really is, hold your hand up on a sunny day. A soft shadow means bright indirect light. No shadow means low light.
The bedroom
Bedrooms are usually darker and cooler than people think, and they often have the curtains drawn for half the day. That rules out the light-hungry plants. It does not rule out plants altogether.
Snake plants are the obvious pick here. They handle low light, they barely need watering, and they are one of the few plants that keep releasing oxygen overnight. A pothos trailing off a shelf works too, and it tells you when it is thirsty by drooping, then perks back up within hours of a water.
Watering, the part everyone gets wrong
More indoor plants are killed by overwatering than by anything else. The roots sit in wet soil, they cannot breathe, and they rot. The plant then looks thirsty because the damaged roots cannot draw water up, so people water it more, and that finishes it off.
The fix is simple. Put your finger in the soil to the second knuckle. If it is damp, leave it. If it is dry, water properly until it runs out the bottom, then let it dry out again before the next one. Most indoor plants would rather be a bit dry than sitting in a puddle.
If you want something that will genuinely cope with a busy household, come in and tell us which room it is going in and how much light it really gets. We will match you to a plant that suits the spot, not one that looks good on the day and dies in a fortnight. You can see what we have on our indoor plants page, or order through our Manly flower delivery for same day delivery around the Northern Beaches and next day across wider Sydney.