Caring for your houseplants (bonus points)

There is not too much involved in caring for your houseplants if you have the right houseplant in the right place. You need to water it semi-regularly (remember under-watering is always better than over-watering your houseplants). You will need to feed your houseplant on occasion too  (again less is more). To help your houseplant really shine it could use a little extra love. I feel that these things are not always needed, but are really like houseplant bonus points. Plus, they have the added benefit of spotting problems that your plant may have before it becomes a bigger issue.

Like everything in your domicile, houseplants could stand with a little dusting from time to time. Dust can prevent light from being absorbed by the leaves. In the sterile household environment (more sterile that nature anyway), that extra sunlight could help a great deal. The great news is that doing this is not that difficult.

Ways to dust your houseplants

Extra care for fuzzy or spiky plants
These plants don’t do well with overhead water or touch (like African Violets). The best way to clean them is by dusting off their leaves with a paintbrush. It actually is kind of fun and is a great activity for kids provided they can resist the spikes of spiky plants.

Give them a shower with the hose *
If you have access to a hose, put it on a gentle setting and then spray them down thoroughly. Then you can dry the leaves with a soft cloth (or not really). Let the plant dry out of the sun so that the leaves don’t get burn.

Set them out in the rain *
This has an added benefit of watering the plants with rainwater (which they LOVE) and it does the same to clean the leaves and remove dust, pollen, and debris.

Give your houseplants a shower in the actual shower *
Make sure that your plants get showered with lukewarm water. This would actually be a great use of water when you are waiting for the water to heat up for your shower. Just keep them outside of the shower during your shower so that they don’t get super hot water and soap on them.

Wipe down the leaves by hand
I find this method tedious , but it is fine for a small plant sturdy plant (like the snake plant). It is pretty easy though for plants with larger leaves. Take a damp cloth and gently wipe each leaf of your houseplant.

*Caring for your houseplants by watering overhead with a hose, in the shower, or in the rain, it is a good idea to wipe them off with a soft cloth after because sometimes getting too much water on leaves can welcome bacteria and fungi that can lead to leaf spot (black or brown spots on the leaves surrounded by yellow). Getting leaf spot is bad because it can kill an entire leaf. Know that this does not always happen, but “…an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” (Benjamen Franklin).

Groom Your Houseplants

Caring for your houseplants also means keeping them trimmed and looking their best. You may do this anyway when you see something that looks off about your plant, but essentially grooming means, getting rid of the spent booms, trimming off dead leaves so that your houseplant shines. You can do this with regular scissors, gardening shears, or if they are dry enough, you can often remove dead leaves by hand. Removing the old brown leaves prevents them from rotting. This is something that we like in nature, but attracts insects that break down organic material and I know I’m not looking to add those into my home environment.