adult(ed) EPISODE 10: TAKING CARE OF HOUSEPLANTS

“I’m a fake plant person”.

That’s what I would always tell myself. I will never be able to keep a plant alive, so I’m just gonna be a fake plant person. Some people just have the green thumb while others weren’t granted this gift. I had accepted what I though was my fate until it was time explore the subject of houseplants for an episode of adult(ed). Plants bring life into a home, they’re cute, and dare I say trendy. I knew this was something we needed to talk about and that Hannah Westby would be the perfect expert to guide us on this journey.

Give Me Something Low Maintenance

Hannah introduced us to some plants that any new plant parent can manage:
Pothos (These come in a variety of looks. From golden, to marble queen, neon and more)
Monstera (Thrives in bright to medium light, not good in direct sunlight)
Prayer Plant (This plant raises and lowers it’s leaves from day into night)
Rubber Plant (I’ve always heard this is a great lower maintenance alternative to a fiddle leaf fig)
Snake Plant (This plant can survive low light levels)

To Repot or Not Repot

One of the scariest things to me when it comes to houseplants is repotting. I don’t know why, but I’m afraid something will upset the plant or that it won’t have the best drainage. I’ve had plants drown because they didn’t have proper drainage and you can’t come back from terrible root rot! I will tell you this next tip has changed my life as a new plant mom. Keep your plant in the original plastic container it came in because it generally has much better drainage. Place it in a pot that you can easily pop the plant in and out of. When it’s time to water, take the plant out of the pot and bring it to a sink to water it and then let it drain there. Once it’s gotten some time to drain, pop it back into your stylish pot. It makes the whole process feel so much easier! Of course, eventually you will find your plant is thriving and may need a new home, but until then try this method out. It will also give yourself time to grow and become a confident plant parent who’s ready to repot.

Bug Off

One tip that Hannah gave when dealing with bugs and your plants is to set a small cup of apple cider vinegar near your plant to attract the gnats that are eating away at it. I additionally read somewhere that adding a little dish soap to the vinegar can help with trapping them once they are attracted to the vinegar. Thankfully there’s still hope to save plants from little pesky bugs before throwing it out!

Watch Your Fur Babies

Something I learned when I became a plant mom was that I needed to be mindful of where I put my plants and make sure my dogs couldn’t get to them. Not just because it would be a bummer for the plant if they got into them, but some common houseplants like pothos and monsteras can actually be harmful to your pet if ingested. So as you shop for your new plants, do your research or ask questions so you know what could be hazardous to your doggo.

So Many Ways To Grow

The crazy thing is we only scratched the surface when it comes to houseplants, but I hope you learned something new and walked away confident enough to get the houseplants you always wanted, but were afraid you’d kill. I have to say, it made me so happy when I ran into our guest Sterling a couple months after filming and not only were her plants still alive, she bought more! I even felt brave enough to get a monstera and some pothos that are currently thriving, so anything is possible.

We came. We Saw. We Adulted.