Lesson 1: Selecting the best houseplants for YOU
Seductive and High Maintenance: 10 popular plants to avoid
You see these in stores and they sure look good. In Safeway, at Home Depot, and your corner nursery, they are in the prime of their lives. But don't be fooled: these fine foliage favorites will only wilt, dry out, or grow gangly once installed in the home. Save these plants for later houseplant adventuring. Remember: the greenhouse environment is perfect for finicky plants. Once they leave that moist, warm haven, they are, most likely, already on the decline.
1. Asparagus Fern
Unless you live in a humid environment, this one will drop endless little spiny leaves all over the floor. An intermediate-level plant requiring bright light, plenty of water, frequent repotting into tight containers and regular grooming.
2. Maidenhair Fern
This most delicate of ferns is not a good choice for beginners. It needs a high level of warmth and humidity, moist soil and low light. It will not tolerate being moved or EVER drying out. Using a humidifyer might be your only option for keeping this baby moist and happy. An advanced-level houseplant.
3. Most Ferns in General
Some beginners have great success with frond-bearing foliage. I've noticed these tend to do best in humid climates - or when hanging in a bathroom that people shower in. If this plant lives in a bright location, get misted several times a day and is well-watered, it will thrive. But for most beginners, the ferns need a little too much attention. Boston Ferns are situated on the easier end of the scale, while Staghorn Ferns are considered more fussy.
4. Prayer Plant
I love this plant. Really, I do. It's so cool how the striped leaves fold up each night, like hands in prayer. But it's a fussy favorite. Save this purchase until you've a bit more growing experience under your belt.
5. Polka Dot Plant
Cute, or cutsey, depending on how much you like pink polka-dots. These are nice and bushy when you buy them at the nursery, but too quickly grow scraggly. They also need plenty of humidity, are fussy about light requirements (too much shade and you lose the spots) and have variable temperature requirements, plus a dormant period. Just say no to this difficult pink purchase.
6. Zebra Plant
Yes, gorgeous, with white-on-green veined leaves and a showy sunshine-yellow flowering bract. But it's a very difficult houseplant, once outside the conservatory. Page 67 of your text describes its inevitable fate: destined to "become leggy and leafless." Even the experts have trouble with this one.
7. Norfolk Island Pine
Lots of people swear by this tree-like plant. And it does tolerate the occasional dry period. It just gets my goat with its growing habits. Norfolk "Pines" get tall and skinny and always seem to lean over in a very awkward manner after its first season at home. They drop their branches with regularity, making cleanup a chore. And finally, once this plant gets ugly, there is no chance of pruning it back for a more elegant look. It just stays ugly.
8. Aluminum Plant
Like the Polka-Dot Plant, this one gets leggy inside of a season, but it does have less stringent growing requirements. An intermediate-level plant that hates to dry out.
9. Ficus benjimina (Weeping Fig)
Attractive, tree-like and available everywhere you look, this tree is still trouble. For one thing, it hates to be moved. As soon as you take it home, it drops its leaves. If you don't water it enough, it drops its leaves. If you move the pot at all, if it's in a draft, in the dark or having too much sun, it drops its leaves. Wait until you have a little more plant experience under your belt before adopting this one. Or get a good vacuum cleaner.
TIP: All that said, the fig is actually a pretty easy plant ONCE you find the perfect location for it, leave it there, and mist regularly. Don't let the soil dry out (or it will...you guessed it...drop more leaves).
10. Poinsettia
Often considered a throwaway plant after the holidays, you CAN turn Poinsettia into a year-round houseplant with proper care. The effort required to keep it happy can be trying, though: it grows leggy and unattractive before long. Also, there are very specific steps to undertake (involving dormancy periods and moving it around a lot) if you want to see it flower again. Not for beginners.
