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A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

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Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#21

Post by seltzered_ »

I get why these houseplants are popular recommendations, there's a bunch of various talks that reference these as good for helping with air quality. That said, I wonder if it's really good advice to buy exotic indoor plants - there's plenty of native plant salvage[0]/restoration groups that could probably help you find something you can nurse indoors and plant outside later, may help one learn about things native to your area too. These groups usually do a couple sales a year so just get on their mailing lists and be ready to pounce.

[0] example of one group in central WA: https://www.nativeplantsalvage.org/

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#22

Post by istorical »

markdown wrote: post #6
packetlost wrote: post #4

Man does Notion chug on large header images... it's not only me, right?

What stupid, idiotic developers they have. Only the top 200 pixels of that photo are used on the page, yet they load this 4.5MB monstrosity: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518531933037-91b2f5f229cc... I mean, it's not hard to write code to crop the photo and only send the necessary portion over the wire. I should send Notion a bill for the four unnecessary megabytes. Not to mention 2MB of javascript :O WTF?

guidelines for HN comments:

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Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#23

Post by oasisbob »

AirMax98 wrote: post #18

Water X times a week is generally not good advice, as many factors such as humidity and light can affect soil moisture. You will pretty much always need to get your hands in the top 1”-1 1/2” of soil to evaluate moisture.

Another school of thought is that plants aren't generally damaged by casual overwatering, but that many houseplants aren't thriving because of poor-draining soil mixtures or being left with wet feet.

If you fix the poor soil, you don't need to worry as much about overwatering because they aren't suffocating every time they're watered, creating a perched water table in the container.

Peat-heavy mixes also have a nasty habit of going hydrophobic when they dry completely - it can be a difficult problem to fix.

A bonzai grower called Tapla wrote a fantastic series of posts on the Gardenweb forums about the importance of drainage in container soils. I'd encourage anyone interested in this stuff to check them out - they've been instrumental in keeping my indoor trees alive.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#24

Post by every »

every wrote: post #5

Definitely the Dracaena trifasciata (snake plant, mother-in-law-tongue). The only way to kill it is with over watering. Once a month is plenty. They have been discovered in closets still thriving after months in the dark. Green, alive and near zero maintenance. This is your plant...

Also, they apparently love being root-bound. No need to keep repotting them to larger and larger vessels. They are essentially the tailor-made plant for every black thumb...

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#25

Post by AirMax98 »

Plantlover69 wrote: post #14

Here's a tip I learned from taking care of house plants for the last year and half. 'Note that when you buy a plant, it usually comes in a "potter's pot" which is a small plastic container meant for temporary use. Ideally, you'd buy new pots (terracotta or ceramic) and re-pot your plant with additional soil.' Instead of repotting into a new pot, keep the plants in the "potter's pot" and sit that in a nice decorative…

Ceramics have different properties than plastic — terra cotta, for instance, wicks more moisture. I don’t disagree with you but it is a point to consider.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#26

Post by EricE »

EarthIsHome wrote: post #13

I'm interested in growing potted plants indoors that yield food. I think my apartment is perfect for it: corner apartment with larger windows facing east, south, and west. Does anyone have a good resource for growing food indoors?

Herbs are great to grow indoors year round - search for articles on them and many will refer to other things you can keep indoors. An aunt had a miniature lemon tree she pruned and grew indoors year round. She pollinated the flowers with a model paint brush - always amused me.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#27

Post by minitoar »

ShiftedClock wrote: post #11

Information about toxicity to pets would be useful as well. If you have pets this it's something you should know about, as many common house plants can seriously harm or kill pets if they ingest the leaves, which can happen when you're away from the house, for example.

Yes, Lilies are exceedingly toxic to cats...if you have cats, do not allow them near lilies.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#28

Post by tomcam »

pengaru wrote: post #15
tomcam wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the hardiest edible plant? I love the whole indoor plant idea but want to be practical too.

I suspect Basil is at least in the running, everyone I know who starts growing Basil at home ends up cloning it endlessly and gifting them for lack of space. Aloe is another I've seen follow a similar pattern.

Sold! I love basil. Thank you.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#29

Post by tomcam »

metiscus wrote: post #16
tomcam wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the hardiest edible plant? I love the whole indoor plant idea but want to be practical too.

My rosemary has survived wanton neglect that many other herbs etc have died from. It just keeps on growing.

Fantastic, thanks

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#30

Post by rriepe »

tomcam wrote: post #8
rurounijones wrote: post #2

I have always wanted the room in which I work to resemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NwD7VjxZ_A but never had the time or green thumb. This simple 1 page guide is a good way to start a new year resolution to making the room more green.

She’s delightful but how on earth is her apartment not filled to the brim with bugs?

Fly traps?
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