KEEPING INDOOR PLANTS is widely known to be good for your mental well-being, as well as for improving your indoor air quality, and generally looking nice in your home.

However, it’s also widely known that it isn’t always an easy feat to keep those plants alive. I feel your pain, and in fact, if you had told me two years ago that I’d have nearly fifty plants thriving in my house, I’d have laughed out loud.

I was the most brown-fingered person you could meet, but through trial and error, and a bit of research, I’ve figured out a few tricks for minding and nurturing my plants.

I’m happy to share my tips to help you care for your green, leafy friends. Let’s have a look at how often you should water your houseplants, where you should keep them, and what indoor plants are the hardiest – to set you up for plant-raising success.

1. Follow the instructions, but don’t live by them 

A house plant will usually come with care instructions, but these are often not very informative or quite general. How you care for a specific plant will actually depend on the environment you have it in and the maturity of the plant, so don’t be afraid to tweak things if a plant isn’t thriving even though you followed the instructions.

Shutterstock / imnoom Shutterstock / imnoom / imnoom

If you have a house plant that’s not thriving, try moving it into a slightly shadier or sunnier spot, giving only small amounts of water frequently until you get a sense of how much it needs, or adding a little bit of liquid fertiliser occasionally.

2. Research your plant’s native climate – and replicate that

All plants need air, water, nutrients, and sunlight to thrive, but the combination depends entirely on the plant. One of the best ways to keep a plant happy is to research the climate it is native to and try and replicate that. Desert plants will want a lot of sun and not much water; rainforest plants like indirect light and high humidity.

Some plants like well-drained soil, while others don’t need any soil at all and take their nutrients from the air! Light, however, is crucial when finding a good spot for a new houseplant – the best place to put a new plant is out of continuous direct sunlight, but not in a north facing room.

Shutterstock / alexandre zveiger Shutterstock / alexandre zveiger / alexandre zveiger

If your plant turns yellowy and wilts despite proper watering, it’s probably getting too much sun. If it doesn’t put out new growth or starts bending dramatically towards the nearest light source, it’s not getting enough daylight. Ficus and dracaena are happy in most levels of light. 

3. Watch for these signs of over- and under-watering

Over-watering is just as bad for a plant as under-watering – brown tips on the leaves, soft brown rot at the base of stems, or fungus on the surface of the soil are all signs you are over-watering. If in doubt, place the planter on a shallow dish and pour water (room temperature rain water preferably) into the dish and let the plant draw up what it needs.

If you poke your finger into the soil up to the knuckle, it should be slightly damp but not squidgy, and should not be so dry that it comes away from the sides of the pot. 

4. Show them extra tender loving care

Nearly all plants like a little spray of water every few days. Some of the more delicate plants, such as ferns and orchids, like an even gentler touch – they prefer direct watering just occasionally with generous misting in between, and will do well in a humid environment such as bathrooms.

Plants with large flat leaves tend to collect a lot of dust, which prevents them absorbing sunlight properly, so a careful wipe with a damp cloth will do wonders. If your plant is a trailer or climber, be sure to position it appropriately – either in a hanging planter so that it can trail naturally, or by giving it a pole or trellis to cling to. 

5. Or find one you can leave alone

If your idea of indoor gardening heaven is the completely hands-off approach, then there are plenty of hardy indoor plants you can try. Succulents and cacti are naturally drought resistant thanks to their native climate, and they can tolerate both full sun or partial shade, so will do okay in most indoor spots.

There are also many leafy plants, such as peace lilies and fittonias, that will manage without much help for ages. They will simply have a big dramatic wilt every once in a while to remind you that they need watering.

For a really hardy all-rounder that’s happy in indirect light and is relatively neglect-tolerant, look no further than the calathea family – they come in a huge variety of beautiful leaf shapes and patterns so there’s something for everyone’s taste. 

And, remember: never give up hope on a plant, even a plant that looks like it’s ready for the compost bin might happily thrive again if you can give it the right care. 

Follow Gráinne @parsekus on Instagram for more home hacks and décor inspiration.

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