Matching Your Plant Choices to Your Time Commitments
Choosing the right plants for your indoor garden first means matching their required growing conditions to those your indoor garden spaces can provide, such as light and humidity levels. Then you’ll need to consider how much maintenance each plant will need and whether or not you have the time to commit to ensure the health of all your indoor plants.
Here are some of the tasks that will need regular or occasional time commitments, depending on the type of plant.
Table of Contents
Watering
In addition to light, water is a necessity for plant survival. Information on a plant’s watering needs is usually provided in terms of soil moisture levels; soil to be kept evenly moist or allowed to dry out – and how much – between watering. You won’t be watering your plants on a fixed regular schedule; the watering needs will vary depending on growing conditions and time of year.
You will also see some plants described as “drought tolerant” or “drought resistant.”
- Drought tolerant means a plant can survive without being watered for short periods but grows best with regular watering.
- Drought resistant, by contrast, refers to plants that are adapted to grow and survive in conditions with consistently low water levels (think cactus).
(NOTE: An outdoor garden plant described as drought tolerant will need more frequent watering in a pot indoors than it would growing in the ground outdoors. Soil in containers can’t store as much water and will run out of water for a plant faster than outdoor garden beds.)
Understanding a plant’s water requirements helps you figure out how much time you’ll need to commit to plant maintenance. Watering is a task that requires a regular time commitment, at least to check on a plant’s needs and then to water if necessary.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time checking and watering your indoor plants or you’re away from home a lot, you may want to look for plants that don’t need consistent moisture or are drought-resistant. Alternatively, you might consider the use of self-watering containers or other accessories to help you meet your indoor plants’ watering requirements
Humidity
The air indoors can be very drying for plants that prefer higher humidity levels, such as tropical houseplants. Indoor heating can be particularly hard on houseplants. To keep plants healthy, you may need to use a spray bottle to mist the leaves regularly. Alternatively, you can save yourself some time and set up a small cool-air humidifier.
Pests & Disease
Whenever you water your plants, it’s a good idea to take some time to check them for any signs of pests or disease. Catching problems early will make them easier to resolve.
Pruning
Some plants are fast-growing and need to be pruned – cut back – regularly to stay healthy and maintain an aesthetically pleasing shape. Others are slow-growing or need very little pruning or other maintenance to maintain a healthy shape.
Some plants will occasionally need to have old or dead foliage trimmed off. How much pruning and how often will depend on the type of plant and your indoor space. In researching different plants, you’ll see them described as high or low maintenance.
Repotting
Most indoor plants eventually outgrow their containers and need to be repotted. How often this task needs doing will depend on the type of plant and the growing conditions. Some plants grow best when they’re pot-bound (the roots fill the container) and don’t require repotting very often.
Maintaining the Foliage
Tropical houseplants with large glossy leaves get dusty over time. Too much dust can inhibit proper plant growth and also make the plants look dull. Plants with large glossy leaves will need occasional cleaning with a damp cloth to remove the dust and refresh the plant.
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