Houseplants

Lesson 2: Field Trip: Let's Go Shopping

Your Personal Assignment: choose the best plant in the store and bring it home safely.

Habitat, Sweet Habitat

How Much is that Plant in the Window?

Yucca, Howie Deutch, Suite101 Garden Adventures

Most people buy plants that catch their eye at the store. By now you are thinking about how much care-giving you want to offer your plants, and that should influence whether you buy that gorgeous Anthurium or Zebra Plant.

You also need to consider the unique habitat you offer. How you live, where in the world you live and even the micro-environments throughout your home all matter to the houseplants you pick.

It's a very good idea to be armed with an understanding of the environment you will provide BEFORE you go shopping.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

It's a fact that different plants have different needs. After all, some hail from the moist jungle and others live in dry deserts.

Even in the jungle, there are variations between plants growing from the shady forest floor (ie: Pothos and Monstera), and those who grope for the sun along the branches of the tallest tropical trees (ie: Bromiliads).

Obviously, light intensity is important to photosynthetic life. Each window of your home faces a compass direction that certain plants really thrive in. Even darker, windowless corners, can be made into plant havens with proper, supplemental artificial light - usually grow-bulbs or florescent lights (see your local nursery for details on artificial plant lights).

Some Like it Hot

Temperature fluctuations within areas of your living quarters can affect many plants adversely. These microclimates are important to identify when considering where to place different kinds of plants. For most homes, southfacing rooms, the kitchen and the bathroom are the warmest areas of the home, while seldom-used guest rooms, dens and northfacing rooms might be the coldest. But all this depends on the home in question, how high you keep your thermostat, whether you keep windows open all day or turn the heater down at night.

When placing plants in your house, consult your text for that plant's individual needs. Some plants like to live in a certain band of temperature - whether that's warm or cool - and cannot tolerate much deviation. Other plants are sturdy enough to handle any temperature fluctuation you give them.

Some like it Wet

Humidity is another consideration: do you live in a cold climate with centrally-heated homes? Do you live in the dry areas of the Southwest or California? Or a perpetually warm and moist environment, like the southern states of the US?

This factor will determine what kinds of plants might be most worthy of your consideration. Folks from arid California and Arizona often kill their plants through neglect, whereas, along the humid East Coast, people are more likely to overwater their plants to death.

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