HOUSEPLANTS
Posted on 13 July 2020
HOUSEPLANTS
Besides the most common choice for houseplants – succulents and cacti, there are a plethora of other beautiful choices for what one could have in their home or office spaces. These plants are relatively easy to look after, and you only really have to make sure they are well watered and require minimal sunlight. The opposite of the saying: “people are just houseplants with more complicated emotions” also holds true – so if you’ve managed to look after yourself all this time, houseplants should be an absolute walk in the park.
CROTONS:
Croton plants are popular because of their colourful appearance – one plant can have a whole range of yellows to greens to reds to everything else in between. Its vivid colours brighten up the home and are an excellent way to breathe life into a shared space, for example the lounge/common room.
The main thing to remember with crotons, is that they require a large amount of sunlight (about 6-8 hours a day), so make sure to situate it near a window or anywhere else with an abundance of the light the plant requires. A healthy plant will have more red and yellow leaves – green indicates the plant is in need of more sunlight.
FIDDLE LEAF FIGS:
These plants come in all different sizes, which makes it extremely convenient to have in your home. However, in saying this, it does mean that the final ‘evolution’ of a fiddle leaf fig is a small tree. On one hand, you should be mindful of this before getting a fiddle leaf fig, as you may have to move and repot it in the future. On the other, if your little plant has turned into a tree you definitely did something right.
Fiddle leaf figs are a little more work than other houseplants, and conditions have to be pretty perfect for them to flourish. They are, if you will, the ‘Karens’ of the plant world – can’t have too much sun, can’t have too little sun. Can’t be overwatered, can’t have too little water. And so on.
So the bottom line is: they're fussy. But when treated right, they can be the star of your home.
MONSTERA/PHILODENDRON:
Monstera, aka philodendron, aka the swiss cheese plant. They recently had their rise to fame, and you might have seen them around on the backs of people’s phone cases, as prints on shirts and quilt covers, etc.
They get the nickname ‘swiss cheese plant’ from the way their leaves have little holes punched through them, and originate from jungles where they could grow to many metres tall. As a houseplant, however, monstera plants are usually kept to a maximum of 1-2 metres tall. That said, they do still need quite a bit of space, so we never keep Baby (monstera plant) in the corner.
Additionally, as a plant from the jungle, you can imagine, monstera plants are used to a limited amount of sunlight. Keep them in an area with indirect sunlight, and you want to water them about once a week.
ANTHURIUM:
Anthuriums are popular for their coloured flowers, but also come with large, vibrantly green leaves too. The blooms range from white, to pink, to red, to purple, and come in sizes where the flowers are about the size of a 50c coin, to the size of a small dinner plate.
These plants will suffer if they are overwatered or if the soil retains too much liquid, as their stems can begin to rot. To prevent this, try a combination of standard potting mix and specialised orchid soil, or an otherwise more free-draining soil. Keep them in an area with no direct sunlight.
SNAKE PLANT:
Snake plants don’t like a lot of attention. Meaning, they barely need to be watered at all – soil must be completely dry before you water again, and water only very scarcely in Winter, and leave them in an area with indirect sunlight. Feeding them with plant food or fertiliser is optional, as they will grow and survive just fine if left alone.
So if you think that cacti and succulents are ‘overrated’, or just want something a little more different, these houseplants are an excellent starting place to work you way up from. Houseplants not only provide an amazing look to your house, but also, the feeling of having a thriving, happy houseplant is satisfying like no other!
- Hailey Paige Flowers xx
