If you grow houseplants, especially these days, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the gadgets, potions and gizmos that you’re told you need. I’ve been keeping houseplants for three decades, and I can tell you most of it is nonsense. I don’t know about you, but my life is too busy for nonsense. When it comes to what my plants need, there are five things I always have on hand.
A Plant Habit, Not a Buying Habit
Like so many hobbies, owning houseplants can get expensive quickly, which is silly because it doesn’t have to be this way. Caring for houseplants should be a pleasure, not something that stresses you out or costs an arm and a leg.
With that in mind, here are five things that have made my life easier, my houseplants look better, and so I always have them on hand.
Coconut Coir Bricks
As a lover of houseplants and a vegetable gardener, I’ve become increasingly concerned with using potting soil mixes that contain peat moss.
The harvesting of peat moss disrupts delicate peatland ecosystems, destroying a unique habitat that is home to countless plants and animals. These peatlands took thousands of years to create, and with every bag of potting soil, I was contributing to their destruction. Not a good thing. (You can read more about the downside of peat moss here.)
Around the time I gave up peat, I also started blending my own custom potting mixes for the different types of plants that I grow. Coconut coir is always the base I start with.
Coconut coir is easier on my back, too. Gone are the days of lugging a 40lb bag of potting soil up to the cash register. Now, it’s a 1lb block of compressed coconut coir.
Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi that attach themselves to your plant’s root system, basically functioning as extra roots. These microscopic fungi do amazing things for houseplants.
It’s funny, when I first learned about mycorrhizae, it wasn’t the huge buzz that it is now. I went to every garden center in my area looking for it and none of them had it. Few of them had even heard of it. So, I ordered this one from Amazon.
Wow, talk about a game-changer!
I bought it to try in my garden but decided to mix it in the water with a pothos cutting that was sprouting roots. (Back when I still did water propagation.) Within days, there were tons of tiny baby ‘roots.’ I knew right then this stuff was worth its weight in gold.
I use it every time I repot plants and propagate cuttings. I haven’t had to deal with root rot in ages. If you want to learn more about mycorrhizae and how it can benefit your houseplants (and your garden, too), click here.
Cute Dishes & Pebbles
I hate humidifiers. Yup, I said it. They spit white dust everywhere. If you don’t want them to be gross and covered in bacteria, you have to clean them every single week. To keep all my plants in the proper humidity range, I would need half a dozen humidifiers, which would need to be refilled daily.
Remember, I don’t have time for that kind of nonsense.
Instead, I put some of these pretty jade chips in small saucers (hello, thrift stores!) and add water. Then, I set my plant on top. It’s basically a personal pebble tray for each plant. (You can read about the method to my madness here.)
My plants are happy, and I don’t have to waste time cleaning and filling humidifiers.
Propagation Pots with Humidity Domes
Okay, granted, you only need to keep this one around if you enjoy propagating plants, which I do. I’m a huge fan of African violets, and they’re stupendously easy to propagate with leaf cuttings.
What I’m not a huge fan of is water propagation. The containers always end up looking gross, and it takes forever. I prefer soil propagation. I don’t have to plant the cutting once it starts to root, and I can leave it in the pot until the plant is well established. I find I lose fewer plants this way and end up with much healthier roots.
I stumbled across these great little nursery pots with humidity domes that go on top, and they are downright magical. Humidity is essential to getting cuttings to root. These little domes lock in moisture, but even cooler, they have little adjustable vents on the top. Magical.
A Good Balanced Fertilizer
I used to have multiple fertilizers in my collection. I would use this one if I wanted my plant to bloom. I would use this one only in the spring. I would use this one at a quarter strength every time I watered. Pfft. That was nuts.
When it comes to houseplants, even the blooming ones, balance is key. A good, quality, balanced fertilizer is all your plants need to do well. And yes, even be covered in blooms.
It took me forever to figure this out. Too much nitrogen and you end up with glorious foliage but few blooms. Using a fertilizer that has more phosphorous for blooms means you’re depriving your plant of essential nitrogen.
NPK – There’s a reason they’re called ‘the big three’: your plant needs all three of them.
These days, SuperThrive Grow (formerly DynaGrow) is the only fertilizer in my cupboard next to my watering can. It was recommended to me by a commercial African violet grower. My plants love it, and they look great. I love that I only need a ¼ to ½ teaspoon per gallon of water. At that rate, this 32 oz jug will last me until I die.
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