Home Edit: Beginner’s Guide to Indoor Plants
Who’s ready to learn the 411 on indoor plants? I’m sharing all the details you need to keep indoor plants surviving and thriving in your home. I’m talking about my favorite 7 indoor plants, how to assess your space and the best spots for different plants.
Plants not only reduce CO2 levels, increase humidity and improve health, but they can also be a great way to add some life into your home decor. I love adding plants to bring color and texture into our apartment. I’ve had some plants for a couple years now and I’m just now feeling confident enough to keep buying more, knowing that I can keep some alive.
I am by no means an expert, which is why this is called a “Beginners Guide to Indoor Plants.” I’m still in the trial and error phase and learning as I go. If you have any tips for me, leave them in the comments!
*Some of the below links are affiliate links and are at no additional cost to you. I have only included links to products that I have used myself and would recommend to others.*
Where should I put my plants? Think big and small. Do you have a window sill? Keep smaller ones on a window sill. Space on a bar cart? Put one there!
Bookshelves, sides of TV stands, bathroom counters (if enough light), and on the floor are all great spots to put plants. I keep an aloe vera on the kitchen counter to help any cuts or burns I may get from cooking.
General rule of thumb before we begin: if the plant starts to get brown spots/leaves, it’s probably under watered. If it’s yellow, it’s probably over watered.
Now it’s time to start prepping to get your plants:
Assessing Your Space & Yourself
1. Find the location(s) that you want a plant to be. Look how much sun that spot gets. Is it a bright window or a dark corner? Is there a lot of space for a big plant or do you need something small? Think vertical space: can the plant trail down the spot, like a photos or do you want it to just grow upwards, like a snake plant?
2. Assess your temperatures and drafts. Is it front of an AC unit or big open window? What’s the average temperature of your home? Some plants, like mass canes don’t do well in colder temperatures, so if you’re someone who keeps it super cold, stay away from those plants.
3. Check out the humidity of your home. Some plants have stricter humidity levels they can tolerate/prefer.
4. What is your maintenance level? Are you willing to put in work? Do you travel a lot? Think about your daily routines and that will help you determine the kind of plants that you should buy. Snake plants are able to be neglected, so they would be great for someone who travels a lot. I find the peace lilies need to watched over a bit, so perfect for someone who is home throughout the week.
Buying the Plants
1. Depending on the location (sunny/shady), determine what kind of plant you can have in that spot. Peace lilies prefer lower light while kalanchoes prefer bright light.
2. If you’re up for it, get a variety of plants. Sometimes it’s a guessing game with certain kinds of plants. Because I have such a hard time keeping succulents alive, I tend not to buy too many of those (even though they are so easy!).
3. Make sure the plant is in good health before you bring it home. Plants that are damaged, have bugs, holes, mold aren’t going to set you up for success.
Caring for the Plants
1. I highly recommend having a plant watering tracker. I keep a section of my bullet journal that I track it in. It’s a great reminder to help you from over or under watering your plants.
2. Keep an eye on your plants. If one isn’t doing well, move it! Sometimes a plant may do better someplace else.
3. Check out the weather. On gloomy days, there is often a bit of sunshine towards the afternoon, so I will move some of my plants that need sunshine towards a window that gets that afternoon soon.
4. Make sure you are getting the right kind of pot for your plants. Pots should have a way to drain excess water to prevent root rot and other problems. Lots of pots sold at non-plant stores don’t have this so make sure you check before you buy.
5. Don’t get discouraged. There will most likely be some plants that don’t do well and that is OKAY! I had two different varieties of palm plants and I completely killed one of them. The other one is completely flourishing and doing fine. Don’t give up a plant until you have tried a couple varieties. I find that sometimes it really just is trial and error!
7 Easy Indoor Plants
Pin this image to save for when you are heading to your local nursery or nearest plant store! I included watering and lighting suggestions as well as some facts/important info!
Looking for some more helpful tips for your plants? My mom got me these when I started to really get into my plants and they have been so helpful. They share tips about what to do when the plant is looking *insert problem here* and how to fix it, benefits of the plants and more! Get the Houseplants for a Healthy Home here and the How Not to Kill Your Houseplant here! Both are currently on sale too!
Let me know what plant tips you guys have for me in the comments below! I love learning new ways to care for my plants and finding new plants to put in our apartment! I hope you guys enjoyed todays blog post!
-Camille Grey-
Shop The Post
2 Comments
Jenn
First off, you look absolutely adorable in these pictures lol I love how you did your hair with the bow and everything. Also you totally made me wanna get some plants. I’ve been wanting to put a little garden outside but I’m scared I’ll let it die lol I also LOVE succulents. But im scared about those too. Like how are you supposed to care for those?! Haha
CamilleGrey
Thank you so much!! I have such a hard time with succulents because they don’t require a lot of watering, so I always end up over watering them. I would check out @gypsytanhome on Instagram, she gives so many good plant tips!