Prevent Potting Soil Fires in Your Houseplants

Several years ago I read that certain types of fabric can be quite flammable. That came as a surprise to me, and I wondered how it was possible that we could be walking around unaware that the clothes on our back could so easily go up in flames.

I have to admit not really believing it was possible until I saw a robe my mother was wearing ignite in less than a second. She simply walked past the stove where I was heating up a pot of water for tea. The flame was so quick and insidious that she didn’t understand initially why I engulfed her in the kitchen rug. Fortunately my quick thinking meant the only damage was her robe.

So when I heard recently that potting soils can and do light on fire, I took notice. It turns out that in Canada, the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) often responds to fires caused by potting soil fires. In the United States in Colorado Springs, in one year the community sustained losses of more than 3 million dollars because of potting soil fires.

Potting soils on the market today contain very little real dirt, but instead potentially flammable materials, including peat moss, wood chips, vermiculite and polystyrene. While these products allow for moisture retention when they’re wet, when they dry out they become highly flammable. Even worse, some types of fertilizers are oxidizers, which results in the fire growing super-fast.

That means if anyone uses a pot full of dry potting soil as an ashtray, for instance, the cigarette can smolder and cause the pot to burst into flames. Plastic pots also melt.

To prevent a disastrous fire in your houseplant soil, keep the following tips in mind:

•         Avoid letting potting soil go completely dry. You don’t want to overwater your houseplants, because that can lead to root rot, but bone dry is not recommended for the plants or your fire safety. Soak your houseplants when they approach dryness, which means when the top two inches of soil has dried.

•       Opt for clay pots, as they contain fire better than other types.

•       Provide ashtrays and encourage smokers to use them to put out cigarettes and not the potted plants.

•      Keep houseplants away from flammables like cleaning products, aerosols, solvents and fuel.

•       When storing potting soil, dampen it periodically to ensure that it doesn’t become dried out.

•       Remove dead plants from pots immediately.

•       And lastly, you might want to check your fire insurance policy to make sure that a potting soil fire would be covered. If you don’t have insurance or your insurance company can’t guarantee coverage if one of your houseplants lights on fire, check with your broker or get home insurance quotes online. 

Growing houseplants offers hours of endless fun, so avoid making the experience a nightmare by keeping an eye on your potting soil.