No matter your level of expertise when it comes to indoor plant care, we’re all still learning. We’ve been keeping indoor plants for years and still learn something new every time we add to our collection.
Today, we'll share with you some quick and easy indoor plant care hacks we wished we've known as beginners.
Repotting your plants
This depends on the growth of your plants, but we usually repot o replace the soil of our plants every 6 months. This gives the plant a fresh soil mix with added nutrients to improve their vitality and a bigger space for them to grow faster and bigger.
If you want to learn more about how to choose the right pot for your plants, read this Indoor Plant Pot Guide.
If you're interested in reading about plant food and the right soil mix for your plants, check out this Plant Food Guide.
Using moss in the soil
If you have moisture-loving plants like ferns, snakeplant, prayer plant, spider plant, parlor palm, and others, you can use moss such as Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Spanish Moss or other types of moss in their soil. Moss helps potted plants absorb and retain water and nutrients, which helps plants grow.
Aside from this, they make your potted plants look extra cute and attractive as they cover up the harshness of soil and create a more natural look.
Giving your climbing plants a pole
In their natural habitat, climbing plants climb trees to get more light—they literally grow towards the sun. Although letting our plants trail and hang can give our space a more beautiful aesthetic, growing down away from the light can also result in leggy growth and smaller leaves. You can purchase moss poles, wooden sticks or you can also DIY by tying together wooden sticks or dry branches in your house to make climbing racks. This way, there won't be much overlap in the leaves or foliage of your plants so they'll be able to get more or at least equal lighting.
Using a paper towel when repotting
Here's a little tip if you're repotting on a pot with a large drainage hole: Place a paper towel in the bottom of the pot first before you fill it in with soil. This will keep the soil from getting through the holes in the bottom of the pot. Don't worry because after a few days, the tissue would have melted already and the soil will have compacted and won't fall out anymore. You'll still have good drainage in place!
Giving your plants the right lighting
Plants differ on the type of lighting they need. If you're a beginner, it would be helpful to choose plants that are comfortable even in low-light conditions. We also love to give all our plants a good sunbath every weekend, just for a few hours to get some sunlight! If you want to know more about this, check out our Indoor Plant Lighting Guide where we give tips about the basics of indoor lighting and the lighting requirements of common indoor plants.
Keep your leaves clean
Even if you're watering or misting your plants regularly, sometimes the leaves will get left off and will remain covered in dust. Giving them a good clean using a clean soft microfiber cloth, duster, or sponge will help your plant to photosynthesize and filter the air better. Just don't use mayonnaise or anything to make them shiny, that's a plant myth and won't help at all your plants!
Removing dead leaves and branches
When you see wilted leaves or dormant stems, cut them away. It's fine to pluck dead leaves or stems with your hands when possible, just don't pull too hard or you may damage the healthy part of your plant. For tougher stems or to remove brown leaf tips and edges, use scissors or pruning shears. Cutting off these leaves allows the remaining healthy foliage to receive more nutrients and improves the plant's appearance. As much as possible, try to do this regularly as this really doesn't take too much time and would help the plants to thrive in the long run.
Check out and follow Gem's page on Instagram for more quick and easy plant care tips: https://www.instagram.com/alfie_n_gem/!
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