Not everyone has access to a yard or has the time to tend to a garden. Having a few indoor houseplants is an easy way to incorporate nature into your house or apartment, and is less time-consuming as well.
Lauren Williams, marketing and event coordinator at Meeting Green, shared with The Post and Courier that caring for indoor plants offers several benefits, including relieving stress, increasing productivity and improving air quality.
“I think everyone can benefit from being responsible for and caring for another living thing, even if it’s just a plant,” Williams said.
Christopher Burtt, the urban horticulture extension agent for Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties with Clemson Cooperative Extension and a gardening columnist for The Post and Courier, said that while there are many different kinds of indoor plants, the good thing is that most are easy to take care of.
Here are a few tips Williams and Burtt recommended for those interested in getting indoor plants.
Meeting Green offers a variety of plants and flowers for budding gardeners.
What plants should I start with?
When choosing indoor plants to buy, Burtt said snake plants are arguably one of the easiest to grow. He added they don’t grow very big or fast, so they’re easier to maintain.
Native to West and West Central Africa, snake plants are accustomed to drier, desert-like climates, Burtt said.
“You can stick it in your closet and forget it for a month, and chances are it’s still alive when you take it back out,” he said.
Williams suggested the ZZ plant, which she wrote is also forgiving when it comes to lighting and watering requirements. She added ZZ plants can tolerate less light than many other indoor plants and they even thrive when forgotten about.
Guadencia Hernandez waters plants at Meeting Green on June 26, 2024.
Williams added that pothos are a great option because there are many different varieties with different foliage colors and patterns, making them a versatile choice. When most people think of indoor plants, they’re most likely picturing a lush pothos trailing from a shelf, she shared.
Burtt said pothos are usually hanging plants, so they’re typically placed in a hanging basket.
He added Monsteras are one of his favorite indoor plants, because they have a cool leaf design. Williams wrote Monsteras are not only popular, but also easy to care for.
Having a few houseplants is an easy way to incorporate nature into your home.
Tips for taking care of indoor plants
Burtt said the first thing anyone should do when buying a plant is determine the sunlight needed for a plant, whether it be direct sunlight — where the UV rays make direct contact — or indirect sunlight — where there is plenty of light but there is no direct contact.
A wide variety of plants, flowers and gardening tools can be found at Meeting Green.
Williams noted it’s important to thoroughly water your plant, saturating the entire pot and seeing water come out of the drainage hole at the bottom. She warned against overwatering plants, because when the soil is wet the plant is susceptible to root rot and more prone to pests.
“Reviving a plant that has been consistently overwatered is much harder than helping one that has been underwatered, where the simple fix is just to increase watering,” Williams said.
Burtt said if you’ve never taken care of an indoor plant before but decide to get one, he recommends repotting it in a slightly bigger container. It provides an opportunity to check out the roots and look at the overall health of the plant, he said.
Burtt said pet owners should be sure to check and make sure any plants they get are not harmful to cats and dogs. He said the ASPCA has a good website that lists all toxic and nontoxic plants.
