8 Houseplant Secrets You Need to Know For Healthy Plants All Year

1. Air Flow

Whether it’s from opening a door, windows with leaks, vents, fans, or space heaters, your home will most likely always have a draft in it. Regardless of the type of draft, houseplants do not like that constant airflow, as it will dry out their leaves.

Here’s why: Plants “eat” through photosynthesis, which is when they turn light into food. Plants have tiny pores called stomata, and when it’s time to go through the process of photosynthesis, they open their stomata to absorb light. During this process, as they open their stomata, they will naturally lose moisture in their leaves as their stomata are exposed to the open air. If you mix photosynthesis with a constant draft, it can really dry your plant out, and no amount of watering can solve this problem. It’s not like you can have a fan blowing constantly on your plant and then just have the soil soaked at all times and your plant will be fine. If you were to do something like this, the plant doesn’t move water from the soil through its roots and then through the stem and to the leaves fast enough to prevent water loss.

What you can do: Never place plants in an area with a high draft. All drafts are harmful to indoor tropicals, but definitely avoid vents, constant blowing fans, and space heaters. The additional heat from space heaters will rapidly increase the rate at which your plant dries out.

Drafts from opening doors are a little more acceptable as long as they aren’t being opened and closed often, thus creating a constant draft. Be cautious of under-door drafts, as these can be sneaky killers of houseplants if strong enough and your plant is close enough to the draft or in the draft’s line.

It’s important that when placing your plants near a window, the window isn’t pulling in air constantly, or else you’re almost putting yourself in a similar position as putting it in front of a fan. You might be able to stop a draft coming from your window by closing a window on the opposite side of the house that is causing this draft to occur. If you do not have a draft from the window and want to put it in front of the window to get a breeze during the summer, that is fine. This is acceptable, as most likely the breeze won’t be continually hitting your plant and will only come in spurts. If it’s coming from a vent, you can either close the vent or redirect it with a vent cover. The constant airflow from the vent will dry out your plant fast. This is a very common killer that isn’t widely known.

2. Rotate Your Plants

Imagine this: ocean waves gently crashing onto the beach shore, the sky is royal blue as the sun shines down and warms your skin as you lay on the beach. It’s a perfect day to catch a tan. As you’re laying on your stomach catching a tan, you fall asleep for a couple of hours. When you wake up, two things happened. First, your back is as burnt as toast left in the toaster all night. Second, as you walk back to the car, you wonder why you’re getting weird looks from people. You head to the bathroom only to realize that not only did you get burnt like a lobster, your front and your back are two different shades of skin color!

Yes, a bit dramatic and unlikely, but hopefully it gives you a visual of what that person would look like. The leaves of your plant are similar to you in the sense that they each need their own fair share of time in bright indirect sunlight. They don’t need turned as much as someone tanning, but the idea here is that each leaf gets an even amount of exposure to the sun. It’s good to get in the habit of rotating your plant about once a week, which is about how often you’ll need to water it, so it can be done at the same time to make it easy to remember.

3. Humidity

If there were ever a secret to be known with indoor tropical plants, this is the biggest of them. Humidity is very important to an indoor tropical’s health but also to their aesthetics. Not only those two, but it makes care much easier, as you don’t need to water as much. If an indoor tropical could ask for a perfect setting, it would be about 75 degrees with 75% humidity. Now, for us humans, that’s a little unreasonable, but plants are able to adapt to indoor environments. Try for a minimum of 60% humidity and then set the temperature to what you prefer. If you can get the humidity closer to 70%, your houseplant will love you.

You can find cheap humidifiers online (~$20). Just be sure to place them about 2 feet away from your plant. You don’t want the mist from the humidifier constantly hitting your plant, or it can cause the ends of the leaves to turn yellow/brown. If you’re not sure what your humidity is, you can get a cheap thermometer with a humidity reading for ~$10 online. This will be very helpful for your understanding of your plant.

4. Don’t Water Your Plants!

Have you ever been sitting around with every task you could possibly accomplish done? House is clean, groceries are in the fridge, yard is mowed, dishes are done, yet you still feel like you need to do something. People get like that with their plants. They want to take care of them. They almost feel like they need to be doing something with them, because if they’re not doing something with them, they are not caring for them enough and they will die.

When it comes to watering your plants, the need to feel like you have to do something occurs too often with plant parents. If the soil for your plant is wet, there is a high chance you don’t need to do anything (depending on the plant, of course)! It is much better to err on the side of your plants not needing water than needing it, especially if it’s only been 4–6 days. If you’re not sure if it needs water in a 4–6 day timeframe, don’t water it! Only water it when you are absolutely certain it needs water, and then give it a thorough watering.

5. Soil is The Foundation

We’re back at the beach for this example! Instead of laying in the sand, we’re going to imagine building a house in the sand. We don’t have any tools that will allow us to get deep into the earth or any water or tools to help us compact a nice house. We have to use the sand and our hands. That’s it. Now imagine trying to build the house. If you were lucky enough to get walls up, the first gust of wind would knock your house right over!

What does this have to do with plants? Well…the soil that you use is the foundation for the success of your plant. Cheap soil is like building your house’s foundation in sand. You need bedrock! You need soil that is nutritious, fits your plant’s needs, and will allow your plant to grow big, healthy, and strong. If you’re thinking of getting Miracle-Gro or are already using it, I’d suggest looking at alternatives. It’s important not to be cheap here. Look at Rosy Soil, Fox Farm, and Jack’s. They all have a houseplant soil that is nutritious and very good overall. They’re a little pricier than what you might be used to seeing, but it’s important to build a strong foundation! Heck, if you want, you can make your own soil! Most houseplants prefer an airy, well-draining soil.

6. The Sun Changes

Throughout the year, as the earth rotates around the sun, the angle of the sun coming into your home changes. During the summer, the sun sits higher in the sky for long periods of time. During the winter, the sun sits at a lower point, even at peak daylight, for shorter periods of time. It’s important to know this for a few reasons.

The first reason is that your plant won’t be getting as much natural light during the winter compared to the summer. The days are shorter, so the hours of total light your plant gets will be significantly lower. Artificial light becomes very useful during the winter. Artificial light has become very cheap—not only to buy but also to run. There are also multiple different types of lights that are both beneficial and visually pleasing.

The second reason it’s important to understand that the position of the sun changes is that a spot that might be perfect during the summer because it’s bright, indirect light could actually turn into a spot that’s bad during the winter, as it is now a very low-light spot in your house. Just take note during a day that you’re home of how the light changes where your plant is. Look at the light every 1–2 hours to see how it changes. It’s important for your plant to get about 8 hours of good light a day. The more, the better, but use 8 as a baseline.

7. Get Clean

Often a task overlooked, or not even known, is that cleaning your plant’s leaves is very good, as it removes dust and dirt that are covering the leaves’ stomata, thus making photosynthesis more challenging. It’s especially important in the winter to clean their leaves, as there is already a struggle to get light. Make it easier for your plant by cleaning their leaves. It will also give your plants a nice shine. And lastly, an underrated part of cleaning your plants’ leaves—it’s actually very therapeutic. They always say that taking care of a plant is taking care of yourself, and after doing a nice job cleaning your plant’s leaves, you will feel that.

8. Be on The Lookout

Pests such as thrips, spider mites, and scale like the winter because it’s generally a time when people’s homes become less adequately equipped to support a plant. As the airflow increases, temperatures swing, light decreases, and it becomes drier, plants can become a target for these pests. It’s important to maintain the right environment for your plants during the winter so they can thrive. A weak plant is a prime target for pests.

Look, pests are pests. They will challenge you at some time during your plant ownership, and it can happen during any part of the year. They’re not something to be scared of, as there are many different remedies to get rid of them. They are just something to keep an eye out for. Wiping your plant’s leaves alone decreases the chances of pests. Putting your plant in the proper conditions will also decrease the chances of them. If you take care of your plant the way it needs to be taken care of, you will really decrease your chances of having pests.

Wrapping Up

Taking care of houseplants isn’t just about watering them, it’s about creating the right environment. Factors like drafts, light, humidity, soil, and pests all play a huge role in how well your plants thrive. By paying attention to these details, you’ll not only keep your plants healthier but also make plant care easier and more enjoyable. At the end of the day, the better the conditions you provide, the more your plants will reward you with growth and beauty.

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