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Category: Healthy Houseplants Blog

Creating an Indoor Fairy Garden

If you love the magic of fairy gardening and want to replicate that magic indoors, it’s surprisingly easy.

(Happy Photos)
Indoor fairy gardens are a snap to create and equally easy to grow indoors, providing you use the right plants, give the gardens proper lighting and maintain them.

In the first in this series of growing magical miniature indoor fairy gardens, let’s talk about plant options.

Indoor Fairy Garden Plants

The type of plant you grow indoors for fairy gardens makes a big difference as to how well you’ll do with indoor fairy gardening. Keep in mind, also, that choosing plants that stay miniature is also important. If you grow plants that will soon outgrow the pot, you’re going to need to repot sooner than later.

When choosing your indoor fairy garden plants, look for plants that tend to stay small, such as Cuphea ‘La Chiquita’, pink polka dot plant (Hypoestes `Pink Splash’), mini succulents, such as various sedums, and herbs, like the many varieties of thyme, as well as rosemary. You can also go with baby palm trees, which will grow fairly slowly, but at some point will need to be replaced. The neanthe bella (parlor) palm is one good choice.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 19, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Boston Fern: Growing Nephrolepis exaltata

Grow Boston Fern for an easy-to-grow gorgeous addition to your indoor garden. Follow these tips for a healthy plant.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 19, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

What Soil do I use for My Houseplants?

What potting soil you use in your houseplants matters. Organic soil ingredients are vital to indoor garden success.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

When to Water Your Houseplants

When to water your houseplants can be confusing. These methods will let you exactly when to
water your indoor garden.
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When to Water Your Houseplants
One of the most confusing aspects of indoor gardening is knowing when to water your
houseplants. Sometimes it feels like you need a special degree to figure out when to water. The
decision is even more difficult if you know that the number one cause of houseplant death is
incorrect watering!
This article covers five different ways to check your houseplants to see if they’re reading for
watering. Use one of these test and you can determine if it’s time to irrigate your indoor
garden. When in doubt, you can use two or even three tests to figure things out.
Test houseplant soil with your finger
With the finger test you always have your tester handy. (Yes, pun intended!) Simply stick your
finger into the soil an inch to an inch-and-half deep. If it’s wet in there, don’t water. If it’s dry,
it’s time to water.
I like to use the finger test on plants in medium-sized containers. It’s not a good idea to stick
your finger into a small pot, because that disrupts roots. And big pots need something longer
than your finger. You want to check what’s going on down 4 to 6 inches in such pots.
Test houseplant soil with a wooden skewer
I really like this test, because I tend to drop moisture meters, and they break really easily. A
wooden skewer, on the other hand, is pretty hard to break.
Insert the wooden skewer into the soil. Stick it in 1 to 2 inches deep for small and medium-sized
pots and 5 to 6 inches deep in large containers.
Slowly remove the skewer and examine it. If there is no soil sticking to the skewer or it has a
little bit of dry soil that means that things are dry down there and it’s time to water. However, if
the skewer comes out coated in wet soil that means it’s not time to water.
If you discover for a large plant that the soil is dry up top but not below, water when more than
two-thirds of the soil is dry. If more than two-thirds of the soil is wet, refrain from watering.
Test houseplants with a moisture meter

A moisture meter gives you a scientific answer as to when to water. Such instruments employ
the use of electrical currents to determine the moisture content of a houseplant’s soil. You
simply insert the pronged end of the meter into soil and see what it registers at in terms of
moisture.
At times, moisture meters can read inaccurately. This occurs if the soil is high in salts. Salinity in
the soil can be deadly for a houseplant, so if you get consistently different readings, repot the
plant in fresh soil and retest.
The pick-up test
If you pick up your houseplant and it practically hits the ceiling, it’s time to water! When you do
water, note the weight of the houseplant so that you’ll know in the future when to water after
picking up the pot.
The eye test
Pay very close attention to your plants and you will soon note when they are flagging. This
refers to when the plants are about 12 to 24 hours from wilting. At this point, the leaves will
have a dull look to them. You will also feel as if something is wrong but may not be able to put
your finger on it until you do one of the other tests and discover that the soil is dry. When you
pass by a houseplant and something tells you that things aren’t quite right, pay attention. It
could be that the plant is crying out for a good drink!

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Secret to Watering Houseplants-Squeeze the Plant Pot

Secret to Watering Houseplants Squeeze the Plant Pot

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Learn the secret to watering houseplants so they thrive. Squeeze the plant pot when watering
to make sure the soil becomes saturated.
Secret to Watering Houseplants: Squeeze the Plant Pot
Have you watered houseplants only to watch the water rush right through and the soil doesn’t
get very wet? There are two possible reasons this is occurring.
Number 1—The plant may be rootbound, and there is no longer much soil in the pot. If that’s
the case, you need to repot.
Number 2—There may be fissures in the soil where the water is running through and out the
bottom of the pot without wetting the soil well. This results in excessively dry roots, which can
lead to root dieback and even death. You’ll also find yourself watering the plant again and again
just to keep it alive.
The solution?
Squeeze the plant pot. Of course, this is only possible with plastic pots. With ceramic pots,
you’ll want to pull the plant out of the pot and repot in the same pot with new soil—or a bigger
pot, if it’s time to repot.
Back to squeezing the plastic pot! When you squeeze the pot, you move the soil around and
break up the fissures. This allows the water to saturate the soil, rather than rushing out the
bottom of the pot. Squeeze the pot as you water. This will cause the soil to stay in the pot.
How will you know if it worked?
The soil will be saturated. The pot will be heavier. And the plant will be happier! You’ll also have
to water much less often.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Did You Know that Houseplants Sweat?

Yes, you heard that right. They sweat.
Of course, things are a little different when houseplants sweat. For one thing, their sweat
doesn’t smell like human sweat can. They don’t sweat out last’s night’s garlic heavy dinner. And
they don’t sweat salty sweat like we do.
But they do sweat.
You know how we perspire? Well they transpire.
So what’s the significance of all of this transpiring?
It turns out that the transpiring serves a function. It’s actually a necessary process that enables
houseplants to clean indoor air for us. You know—cleansing the air of toxins with names that
are hard to say or sound like they belong in a horror film (formaldehyde.)
In the transpiration process, when moisture passes through plant breathing pores (stomata),
plants release water into the atmosphere from their foliage. This has a suction effect that
causes the plants to constantly pull water up through themselves from the soil (or the water in
hydroponic situations.)
You may experience a plant transpiring when you see what looks like waters drop coming from
its tip or somewhere on the foliage. You might even wonder where the water is coming from
and even look at the ceiling. No worries! The plant’s just transpiring.
So why am I telling you this? Well, for one thing it’s really cool to know that plants do sweat. It’s
fun party talk.
For another, it’s good to know that you want your plants to sweat. When they do, they do a
really good job of cleaning your indoor air of yucky stuff.
That being said, it’s important to keep your houseplant leaves clean, so that the stomata can
stay clear, and the plant is able to transpire. This means cleaning the foliage on a regular basis.
No matter how clean you keep your indoors, plant leaves collect dust and even grease, when
the plant is near the kitchen.
Rinsing is the easiest way to clean your small and medium-sized plants. Transport them to the
sink and gently run water over the foliage. Small plants can even be picked up, turned over and
dunked completely in water. Secure the soil in place with a paper towel or rag and gently swirl
the foliage for several seconds.

Larger plants that are more difficult to move can be cleaned in place. Wipe both sides of each
leaf down with a damp cloth. Use a material that is soft so that you don’t scratch the delicate
leaf surface. To kill off any latent pests, add insecticidal soap to your cleaning water.
Though they are hard to move, it’s generally a good idea to hose off large plants two to four
times a year. This can be done in the shower. Just make sure that the showerhead sprays gently
and that you use warm water. Tip the plant at a 45 degree angle, so the rinsing water washes
into the tub rather than into the soil. You can also let nature do the dirty work and shower your
plants in a gentle rainstorm. They’ll return to the indoors clean and rejuvenated. Just make sure
that they aren’t left in the sunlight!
In order to keep leaves breathing and transpiring, avoid leaf shine products. Although they
create a glossy sheen, they block the plant’s stomata and cut off transpiration, as well as light.
Think of it this way. Would you want to put a coating of wax on your skin? Homemade
concoctions such as cooking oil and mayonnaise also clog stomata and make a big mess, plus
attract pests!
Well, there you have it. Your houseplants may not be sweaty and smelly, but they do sweat!

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20221 Comment

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Could Your Houseplant be Suffering from Improper Soil pH?

Improper soil pH could be the reason your plants are ailing. Find out how to test houseplant
soil pH and balance the soil again.
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Could Your Houseplant be Suffering from Improper Soil pH?
If you have an ailing houseplant and have done everything you can possibly think of to help the
plant, but it still looks sick, suspect a pH imbalance in the soil. Referring to the soil’s degree of
acidity or alkalinity, a proper pH balance is vital to healthy plant growth.
Many houseplant problems aren’t affected by diseases or insects or insufficient fertilizer. It’s
actually soil pH problems—to acidic or too alkaline—that can cause plant demise. When pH is
too low or too high in the soil, nutrients can’t release to the plants. So you could be fertilizing,
but the plants aren’t getting anything to eat.
Soil pH in houseplants critical to plant health
Phosphorus is commonly hard for houseplants to pull out of soil. This nutrient requires a
neutral pH in order to become available to plant roots. Plants won’t photosynthesize without
sufficient phosphorus, which means they won’t root or flower.
Chlorosis is another common pH problem. It is particularly a problem on citrus trees growing
indoors. It’s actually caused by an iron deficiency, but often there is iron in the soil. The pH isn’t
acidic enough to release the iron for the plant.
Other nutrients that can become stuck in soil and cause imbalances and resulting symptoms
include calcium, nitrogen and magnesium. Soil pH imbalance can also cause problems with soil
microorganisms—all those little guys that help out and create a self-sustaining environment for
your houseplants. Tip burn is another problem that can be caused by improper soil pH.
How to fix houseplant soil pH problems
So what do you do about improper soil pH in your houseplants? First, it helps to understand
how soil pH works. It runs on a scale of acidity to alkalinity. The range is 0 to 14. Most soil pH
comes in between 4 and 8.
Neutral with soil pH is 7. Any readings above that are alkaline, and any readings below are
acidic. Many houseplants thrive in the 6-6.5 range. Citrus and strawberries like it even more
acidic—under 6. Some houseplants like the soil on the alkaline side. So it pays to find out what
your houseplant requires.

A point on the scale may not sound like much, but it is. It turns out that each point is
exponential.
Test houseplant soil pH
Most potting soils start out at 7—neutral. But over time with fertilizing and watering, the pH
will shift. Your best bet is to test your houseplant soil to see what you’re dealing with. Do this
with a soil test kit or with a pH meter. To test, take a few samples from a pot so that you get a
good overall representative reading. When using a soil test kit, always use distilled water, which
is neutral.
Adjust houseplant soil pH
If you find after testing that your soil pH is too high (alkaline), use soil sulfur to bring the pH
down. For soil that is too acidic, use horticultural lime. Follow directions when applying. Wait a
week and retest to make sure that the pH is ideal.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Indoor Gardeners: Do You Have GADS?

Indoor Gardeners: Do You Have GADS? You Can Grow That!

When I read Carol Michel’s book of gardening essays, Potted and Pruned: Living a
Gardening Life, I was relieved. I finally had a name for an affliction I’ve had since the age of
seven when I met and fell in love with a coleus.
It was the 1970s and there were houseplants everywhere—so it was in a drug store that I
spied the velvety, burgundy beauty. I bought it with my allowance and brought it home
where I taught myself to propagate. Many coleuses later, I branched out to oodles of other
houseplants.
By now you’re probably wondering if I’m ever going to get back to GADS, which as far as I
can tell, just about every indoor gardener has. As a matter of fact, my reminiscing right now
and wandering away from the topic at hand is a symptom of this disorder.
This clever term coined by Michel stands for Garden Attention Distraction Syndrome
(GADS). As Michel says at the beginning of her chapter on GADS, “Perhaps you’ve just
cleaned up your houseplants, and like a good gardener, you tossed all the trimmings and
the potting soil from that long-dead plant you finally decided will not revive itself into a
plastic tub to haul out to your growing compost pile. As soon as you step outside, you see a
giant weed and wonder why you never pulled it….”
If you only garden indoors, GADS will have you jumping from houseplant to houseplant.
One moment you may be repotting a pothos, but a trip to get pruning shears has you
sidetracked by a plant that looks like it might have mealybugs. And then there’s the
dracaena that’s leaning and the pink polka dot plant that needs pinching, and—you get the
picture.
Michel’s book was inspired by the popularity of her long-standing gardening blog, May
Dreams Gardens. She found that readers enjoyed her humorous approach to gardening and
tongue-in-cheek revelations about the gardening life and the gardeners lucky enough to live
the green life.
The cover of the book is fashioned after early 20 th century books that had few pictures but
were full of useful information. “The title of the book, Potted and Pruned, refers to how I
gathered some of my best blog posts, potted them up and published them into a book,”
says Michel.

Each of the 36 chapters in Michel’s book are chock full of garden humor. In Chapter 6,
“Frass,” Michel talks about how delighted she was when she discovered the meaning of this
word.
“… I’ve been like a five-year-old who just learned a new word, a new cuss word. Frass is the
fancy word for insect poop. Once you know that word, the uses for it just boggle the
mind…frass is a gardener’s secret cuss word and has many uses. For example, imagine you
walk out to the garden and find that rabbits have eaten all the green bean seedlings again.
You can yell out, ‘Frass!” and no one will know you’ve just cussed.”
Then there’s Chapter 7, “My Phases of Houseplant Care,” which will have you grinning and
giggling. Although you’ll most likely have a jolt of GADS as you read and struggle to recall if
you watered the philodendron in the living room—at which point you’ll go to check, but
end up admiring an African violet that’s budding up….Oh, GADS, here we go again!

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

How to Measure Houseplant Humidity Levels

Learn how to measure the humidity in your indoor garden with a hygrometer. Sufficient
humidity is important for lush, healthy growth for your houseplants.
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How to Measure Houseplant Humidity Levels
Many houseplants come from the jungle floors. This means they thrive in high humidity.
Trouble is that most homes range from 40% to 60% humidity. While 60% isn’t too bad, 40% is
on the dry side. Some humidity-loving plants, like maidenhair fern, won’t do well in such dry
conditions.
What is humidity?
Humidity is vapor in the air, which consists of suspended water. The term “relative humidity”
refers to the percentage of moisture in the air sampled at a specific location, taking into
consideration the total amount of moisture that particular air can hold without the vapor
becoming fog or rain.
A reading of 50% humidity indicates that the air sample contains half of the moisture it can hold
before the moisture condenses and becomes visible.
How humidity relates to air temperature
The amount of water that the air is capable of holding is not constant. It’s directly related to air
temperature. When the temperature is warm, the air can hold more moisture. This means that
warm air can hold more humidity without leading to rain. That is why warm, tropical areas are
so high in humidity even when it’s not raining.
A temperature of 75 degrees F matched with 50 percent humidity—an ideal scenario for
houseplants—carries more humidity than a temperature of 52 degrees F and 50 percent
humidity.
Humidity for houseplants varies by region
If you live in a dry, hot area of the U.S., such as the southwest, your indoor air is likely to be dry.
On the other end of the spectrum, humid areas of the country, like the Deep South, have more
humidity.
The weather will also affect humidity levels. Moist, rainy days will create humid conditions,
whereas dry, windy days can create parched conditions indoors.

Given that many houseplants require high humidity—and some much more than others—it
pays to measure the humidity level in your home for houseplants. That way you know if you
need to humidity your indoor garden.
Using a hygrometer to measure humidity
A hygrometer (humidstat) can be used to accurately measure the humidity level of your home.
This instrument measures moisture in the air. Find them at some nurseries, hardware stores
and online.
Hygrometers measure temperature and humidity, which gives you the relative humidity of your
home. Older types of hygrometers were mechanical and rudimentary, but newer ones are
digital and run on batteries. They don’t need to be independently calibrated and usually
function with an error of 1 to 3%, depending on product quality.
Digital hygrometers are portable and can be placed throughout the house to get an idea of the
humidity levels in various areas. When testing, get a good overall representative reading by
testing the air in the room and then the air right near the plant.
Whenever you move the hygrometer, give it at least an hour to register the new temperature
and humidity level.

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments

Healthy Houseplants Blog

Winter Chores for Your Houseplants

How to keep your houseplants healthy this winter. Find out about proper lighting and
watering and how to keep plants humid and thriving.
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Winter Chores for Your Houseplants
True, your houseplants aren’t going to feel the same effects of weather as their outdoor
counterparts. They aren’t buffeted about by high, cold winds in winter or buried in snow. But
houseplants do know that the weather has turned. And they will require different treatment
during the winter months.
Here’s how to ensure that your houseplants thrive this winter in your indoor garden.
Ensure good lighting
Winter days are short, so it’s important that houseplants get the right amount of the correct
lighting. Without sufficient light, houseplants will look okay for a while, but eventually they’ll
run through the light that they had stored up and start suffering and eventually look terrible.
Light-starved houseplants drop flowers and fruit first and then start dumping lower leaves.
Eventually, you’ll have this weird looking plant with just the top foliage.
Concerned that your houseplants are getting enough light this winter?
It’s easy to fix the problem. Add full-spectrum lighting to your indoor garden. Full-spectrum
lighting comes in bulbs and tubes. When growing with full-spectrum lighting, place the lights as
close to the top of the plants as possible. Although avoid leaf burn by keeping the light about 4
inches from the top of the plants.
Humidify
Many houseplants come from the jungle floors. Imagine turning on a big heater in the jungle.
Things would look parched and dried out very soon—wouldn’t they?
Heaters dry out the air for houseplants, causing leaf tip burn and leaf loss, as well as slower
growth. It’s important to counteract the dry air with more humidity. This is especially important
for plants that like high humidity, like African violets and maidenhair fern.

To humidify your houseplants, place them on humidity trays, mist them and/or group them
together. Houseplants sweat, humidifying one another. That means the more houseplants in
your indoor garden, the more humid everything will be. Like a greenhouse.
To see how to set up a humidity tray, watch our video on the topic.
Check for pests and treat
Often in winter, houseplant pests tend to settle in and start snacking. To combat this, check
your plants thoroughly on a weekly basis for pests such as mealybugs and scale. Treat
mealybugs with isopropyl alcohol or insecticidal soap. Treat scale with neem oil. Then rinse the
dead pests off of the plant. If you want to see what mealybugs look like and how to get rid of
them, watch our video on the topic.
Watch watering
Many houseplants die in the winter months from too much watering. The soil remains soggy
and wet and the houseplants succumb to life-threatening fungal disease. Symptoms of fungal
disease include distorted, small new leaves, plants seeming to grow smaller in their pot and a
squishy plant base, as well as smelly, black roots.
Only water when the top one to two inches of soil has dried out. If you’re unsure, wait another
day to water. This applies to most houseplants. (Maidenhair fern is an exception. It needs to be
kept moist, but not soggy.)
Soak plant soil well when you water.
Have faith
With a little extra attention, your houseplants will survive the winter months in your indoor
garden. As a matter of fact, they’ll likely thrive!

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Healthy HouseplantsSeptember 9, 20220 Comments