HOW TO BE AN ADULT

How To Buy Plants And Keep Them Alive

Jan 9, 2017 @15:53 PM

·Updated: Jun 28, 2019 @07:21 AM

Plants are great. You're going to want to own a plant and keep it in your apartment. Why? They can clean the air, increase productivity and most importantly, they will cheer you up. Honestly, when has a plant ever made you feel grumpy? Yeah, exactly.

But even though they'll never run away, cry or make a mess — plants are still a handful. It's not always clear which ones to buy, where to put them or even how to keep them alive.

Thankfully, within the last 10,000 years or so, humans figured out how to care for plants. And Christopher Satch, the in-house plant specialist at The Sill, is here to pass along that knowledge to you. You're an adult, you can do this.

Figure Out Your Environment

The first step of plant ownership is knowing yourself, or at least knowing your own apartment. Light, temperature, humidity — just like us, these are things that plants care about. But mostly, figuring out where the sun shines in your apartment is paramount to successful plant ownership.

If it's not really clear where the the light is, Satch has a neat trick that requires nothing more than a hand.

"If you think you really have no idea about light hold your hand up to the light," he says. "If it makes a really crisp, clean shadow, you have really bright light." The fuzzier the shadow, he explains, the less light there is. Which is not necessarily bad — there's a plant for just about every kind of light — you just need understand that you can't put a plant that requires a lot of light in a low-light spot.

Apart from light, you also want to identify places in your apartment where the temperature stays relatively constant. "Plants like it where you like it," says Satch. "So if you don't like being next to your window because it's drafty, your plant probably doesn't like it next to your window either."

So go around your apartment. Do the hand trick. Find a place where the light is good and it's not too cool. There, you've found a place to put a plant, which really is half the battle.

Figure Out Which Plants Want To Live In That Environment

Now that you've got a spot or two picked out, it's time to go shopping. Satch recommends heading to your local nursery in person, but if you must shop online he advises buying from a place that other people you know have bought from. (Satch, who works at the TheSill.com recommends the TheSill.com) This is the internet, after all, who knows what you'll get.

There will be a lot of plants, it might get overwhelming. But it's going to be okay. Just remember that spot and how much light it gets. All you need to do is find a plant that will be happy in that spot. Before you head anywhere, you can use HousePlant411's handy Plant Wizard, to at least give you a rough idea of what you should be looking for.

"The idea is to recreate their natural environment," says Satch. If you can recreate its natural environment it will flourish as much as possible."

Once you see a plant you like, look at the label. If there's a plant name, Google the plant name to see if its light and temperature requirements are the same as that spot in your apartment. Heck, if you're feeling adventurous you could even tell someone who works at the shop what your apartment is like and they'll probably find a few options that work for you.

If there's no help around and it's not immediately clear which plant is which, Go Botany has a helpful plant ID key you can walk yourself through.

Keep looking until you find a plant that you like and that will also feasibly live in your apartment. The latter part is very important. If you buy a plant that you love but cannot offer enough sunlight, then it will die. And you will be sad. Let's avoid that.

When you do find a cool plant that works for your place, make sure it's in good health. Look at the plant. If it doesn't have any bugs on it and it has a few green buds, it's good to go. "Even if it has a couple of slightly damaged leaves towards the bottom, as long as the new growth is pretty healthy looking the plant is going to grow," says Satch.

Plants aren't consumer technology, and every apartment is different, so it's hard to recommend A Pretty Good Houseplant. And we want you to find a plant that speaks to you! That said, Satch says that a snake plant is a pretty foolproof option. "You can usually put them in a dark corner and they'll do pretty much okay," he says. "They won't really grow but they won't really die either." Again, if you'd like to see a near-complete list of what might work in your apartment, check out HousePlant411's Plant Wizard.

Now Keep That Plant Alive

You've found the right plant for the right spot. The only thing left to do is to make sure the plant gets the right amount of water. Chances are if you've looked up how much light the plant needs, you probably already know how often you should water it.

But we understand that sometimes it's not really clear if your plants needs water. Simply put, you should only water when your plant needs it. When does your plant need water? Well, Satch has a trick.

"What a lot of people should know is that they should feel the soil before they water," he says. "The top layer of soil is a big liar." While your plant's soil might appear to be bone dry, it still could be moist underneath. So stick your finger in there, dig around. If it's wet, don't water.

Satch also points out that, yes, even succulents need to be watered once in awhile. Buying a succulent does not exclude you from watering them.

Just like when you should drink water when you're thirsty, you should only water when the plant's soil is dry. There are however, exceptions to this rule, which you should read this handy guide to watering by Colorado State University.

And Keep It Happy

That said, plants are living things and they have ways of letting you know if something is off. If the plant isn't getting enough sun or is in too drafty of a spot, it'll start to blanch, or loose color. Which is fine! Just move it to a spot with more light and keep it out of areas that dip below 65 F. Even plants that haven't been watered in a while and look a little dried out can usually be saved if you give them a good drenching and stick them in the sun.

The only time you can well and truly mess up is by over-watering the plant and causing root rot — which is largely irreversible. "You'll notice that your leaves are turning yellow, and succulents turn mushy," says Satch. "It's dying from the inside out that's usually overwatering and root rot."

If moving the plant or changing watering habits aren't helping. Give Kenyon College's plant troubleshooting table a look.

Outside of watering and sun and temperature, the most important thing, Satch stresses, is to treat your plant like a friend. "A lot of people think of their plants as objects. and they are not objects," he says. "As soon as you think of our plant as a little friend, there's just this level of attentiveness that is unsurpassed."

So just pay attention to your plant. Become pals with your plant. It'll make you happy.

FAQ

What about repotting? You didn't say anything about repotting.

I didn't! And, honestly, that's because you shouldn't really have to worry about repotting right away. For those who are worried, you really only need to repot your plants once a year — if only to give them some fresh dirt and new fertilizer. As with most things, listen to Martha Stewart when it comes to repotting.

You also didn't mention anything about fertilizing. What the heck?

Like repotting, fertilization is only something you have to worry about down the line. The University of Illinois recommends fertilizing only once every few months between the Spring and Fall. Like, watering, you should only fertilize when your plants needs it, as too much can kill it.

I have a pet, will that limit what sorts of plants I can own?

Sadly, yes. Some houseplants are toxic, so before you settle on something, double check with the ASPCA's plant toxicity database to make sure it's safe for your pet.