Category: Light for Your House Plants and Flowers

Light is the most important thing for the growth of your house plants and flowers. Good light will help keep your indoor house plants and flowers healthy, green, and growing.

If you have a difficult time with your houseplants, the Snake plant is the plant for you. This plant is great for a medium to high light situation and will do well with minimal attention.

The Sanseveria Laurentii is the most common variety of Snake Plant, with a broad, yellow edge on the thick, sword shaped leaves. The center of the leaf is cross-banded with pale markings. There are different varieties of Snake Plants with shorter, wider leaves, some with thin, long leaves and many with varied color combinations.

Snake Plant is great for cleaning the air, converting carbon dioxide to oxygen during the night and is often recommended as a houseplant for use in the bedroom.

Watering Your Snake Plant

Watering Snake Plant – Snake Plant has rhizomes that store water, so stay more to the dry side with this plant. In low to medium light, allow pot media to dry down 3/4 of the way or more. In higher lighting, allow to dry down 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot depth. You may need some type of soil probe or moisture meter in a really full plant to check for water needs.

When you do water your Snake Plant it is best that you do not pour the water in the leaf rosette as it may cause them to rot. Water the soil only and use room temperature water.

Other Snake Plant Care

Snake Plant is a durable plant and high light is best to keep the foliage full. It will survive in lower light provided it is allowed to dry but will become thin and leggy over time. Temperatures should be kept above 50°F.

Snake plant has upright growth and a shallow root system and is best kept somewhat pot bound. It has thick rhizomes that store water for a long time. While you may be able to keep a Snake Plant that is in high-light slightly moist, in low light the roots will rot and the leaves will turn mushy and smelly. Low light will also lead to a thin, weak plant. You should err on the side of less water with this house plant. In winter months, you can allow to dry completely.

Snake Plant can be found in different sizes and colors. Some are shorter, with a rosette type of growth such as the Sansevieria ‘Hahnii’. Sansevieria ‘Superba’ is somewhat larger but with wider leaves than the taller varieties. The Sansevieria ‘Laurentii’ is the most common coloration. Snake Plant can be found with pale silver-green foliage as with Sansevieria ‘Moonshine’. The ‘Black Gold’ has a dark leaf center, almost black, with a gold leaf edge. The Sansevieria ‘Zeylanica’ is more of a light silver-green with darker cross bands or mottling of the leaf.

With the different growth types and unusual and beautiful colors, the Snake Plant has something for everyone who enjoys indoor tropical plants. And they are easy care, too! Keep your Snake Plant pot bound, don’t over water and place them in adequate light and they should be relatively trouble free.

If your Snake Plant does become root bound you can remove it from the grow pot and divide the plant to make smaller individual plants. Make sure when you do divide your Snake Plant that you plant the smaller plants into pots that fit them. Remember, Snake Plant is better pot bound. You can often place a cut leaf into moist sand or rooting media and get it to root and start a new plant that way. Have fun with your Snake plant.

While Snake Plant is usually about 2 to 3 feet tall, I have seen them at a height of 5 feet or more. This was a Snake Plant potted in a 14″ diameter grow pot in a very good light situation. It is unusual to see them that size indoors but it is possible to grow them that large.

Houseplant Care Question?

If you have questions about your indoor plants, you can send an indoor house plant question.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon as indoor house plant care information, pictures and more are being added all of the time. I hope that your tropical indoor house plants and all of your plants and flowers are happy, green and growing because that is why I started this site PlantAndFlowerInfo.com.

Indoor House Plants Care

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How to Light Up Your Houseplant’s Life

January 4, 2020

Laura G.

House Plant Care Light for Your House Plants and Flowers Pictures of House Plants Flowers Watering Your House Plant No Comments

A Few Notes About Light for Houseplants

Plants require light to produce food. Outdoors that is not a problem but for houseplants light can be quite limited.

I recently did a search for “houseplant care” and was surprised to see that the top, non-paid search result defined high light for an indoor plant as any light for more than six hours a day. Here is a quote from that result – “Houseplants typically require high light (six or more hours a day), medium light (four to six hours a day), or low light (less than three hours a day).” This is simply bad, and incorrect, information.

That gardener’s path is incorrect and I hope that if you find that website you will go on to other results as the person running that site is just making stuff up. He may have a few houseplants, or perhaps not, but…

First and most important, no houseplant should receive light for less than eight hours a day at the minimum. That is if you want your houseplant to be growing, not dying. Your houseplant requires light to produce food to keep itself alive.

Light is measured in intensity and foot candles and lumens are used to describe the light intensity. I have a light meter that measures light intensity but you may not need this type of tool for your plants at home. The meter is much the same as one that a photographer might use to make sure photographs look their best. You may not use a light meter but it is a good idea to know about light intensity, how it is measured, and how important it is for a healthy, growing houseplant.

Low light, medium light and high light fall between 25 foot candles to 250+ foot candles. Low light is at the lower end of that measurement and high light at the upper end. As an example, I have a sliding glass door that faces to the north. The light meter gives me a reading of about 185 foot candles just inside the door on an overcast day. A perfect spot for most houseplants (except my pets would eat them), bright light no direct sun.

When I step back from the glass door about 5 feet, I get a reading of about 40 foot candles, on the same overcast day. When I step outside the glass door onto the patio, same overcast day, I get a reading of 360 foot candles. That is a big difference. Just a note, this picture is not where I measured the light levels. Although, it does show houseplants in nice lighting.

While you may not be able to measure the light intensity in your home, suffice it to say that providing medium to bright indirect light is going to be best for just about any common houseplant. Pick the brightest spot with indirect light. For the most part, your houseplant will not need direct sunlight. Indirect sunlight will be fine.

Duration is the length of time your plant is exposed to light each day. This is called the day length or photoperiod. The amount or length of time that houseplants require light is 8 to 16 hours a day. Medium to high light is okay for just about any houseplant for a minimum of 8 hours. That is if you want to keep them growing and looking good.

Light quality is the next consideration. Sunlight is composed of different wave lengths or colors. It has all of the colors, or light wave lengths, that plants require to survive, thrive, and grow. These colors are the light spectrum. You can see many of those colors in a rainbow. Some are more essential to plant growth (blue and red) and may not be present with some types of artificial light. So indirect sunlight is easiest and best for assuring your plants do well. And it doesn’t cost you anything. Use either lights made for growing plants or cool white fluorescent lights if “real” light is not available.

There are many things that affect the natural light indoors, like the size of your windows, the time of year, cloudy, overcast days and even lots of trees growing outside of your windows. Keep these things in mind as you find a well-lit place for growing your indoor houseplants! If you have any houseplant care questions, you can send them my way. Thanks for visiting www.PlantAndFlowerInfo.com

Indoor House Plants Care

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Best Ways to Keep Your Houseplants Healthy

December 10, 2019

Laura G.

House Plant Care Light for Your House Plants and Flowers Pictures of House Plants Flowers Watering Your House Plant No Comments

If you are new to the world of houseplants, you may be wondering how to care for your new, green friends. I care for indoor tropical plants each day as an interior landscape account manager. The plants that we use in interior landscaping are picked for their durability and appearance. If you need some suggestions for a good choice for a houseplant, take a look at this list of easy to care for, hardy houseplants. More about basic houseplant care below.

You may find instructions that come with a new houseplant telling you to keep your houseplant “evenly moist”. Sometimes you will be told to water this much at a certain interval. Pay no attention to those kinds of directions as many things influence the watering of a houseplant. Some of those things that affect watering and water use of your houseplant are the size of the plant, the size of the pot, the soil mix, the health of the plant (thin and barely alive or full, lush and growing), the light in which you have placed your houseplant, the temperatures and the time of year.

I cannot know all of those things about your particular houseplant but I can give you basic steps you can follow that should be, for the most part, all of the care your houseplant requires.

The first part of good, basic houseplant care is to pick a day each week when you will take a little time to check on your houseplant and give it a little attention. Care for your houseplant on the same day each week.

**Houseplants Peperomia, Fittonia, Birds Nest Fern**

So it is the day for your houseplant care and the first thing you should do is check to see if your houseplant needs to be watered. Most plants will be fine if you allow the soil to dry half of its depth or more. So feel down half the depth of the soil. Is it dry all the way or is it still pretty wet or moist? You can use your fingers or a moisture meter. I use both at work, often relying on a moisture meter if the pot is larger and harder to dig down into.

If you decide that your houseplant requires watering, grab your watering can and make sure to water thoroughly. You can immerse the entire pot and root ball into standing water until all the air has been displaced from the soil or you can top-water using a watering can. When using the top-water method, make sure to wet the entire soil mass. Water should drain out of the grow pot through the drainage holes. Houseplants should always be planted in containers that have drainage holes. Then allow plant to dry down as much as possible without causing it to wilt. Room temperature water is best.

Next, remove all yellow and brown foliage. If you have brown leaves, spotted leaves, yellow leaves or leaves that are starting to turn yellow at the stem, remove them entirely. You can use scissors or pruners if you need to but many times you can remove leaves and stems with your hands. Woody plants may need pruners or scissors. If leaf tips have turned a little brown or black, you can trim them with clean, sharp scissors.

Take notice of your indoor house plant’s appearance as you care for it. Does it droop a little or seem to be not so green and healthy looking as the week before? Or is it looking good, no spots, no brown tips and no yellow leaves?

Think about the last time you watered your plant. Did you have to water the week before? Or was the soil still wet or damp? Did you water it anyway? Or was the soil so dry the plant was beginning to wilt?

Watering your plant is very much a cause and effect event. If your plant is looking good – green, shiny and healthy looking – then you are doing the right things. If it is wilting, yellow or spotted, not much new growth, you need to review your watering habits and make adjustments.

You will know if you are doing the right things by the way the plant responds to your care. Remember, every plant is different. Only you can tell if your plant needs to be watered.

Indoor House Plants Care

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After you have watered your houseplant and cleaned it up of brown, yellow or discolored leaves, you can gently wipe the leaves with a clean, dry cloth. This may or may not be necessary and you can tell by looking at your plant if it needs cleaning. It is a good idea to clean or dust your houseplant’s leaves occasionally.

The last thing you should do as part of your basic houseplant care is turn the entire plant half a turn. This will help promote even growth on all sides as a plant will orient the leaf surfaces towards the major light source.

Over watering is a big problem but insufficient watering or letting your plant wilt on a regular basis is not good for it. This will most likely cause browning or spotting of the foliage over time. Be sure to check your houseplants on a regular schedule. Pay attention to visual signs such as mild wilting, browning tips, etc. and you will soon learn how to gauge when your plants require watering.

Basic Houseplant Care Other Things to Note

When you water your plants, always water thoroughly.
Water should be as close to room temperature as possible.
Plants should always be planted in a container with drainage holes at the bottom.
Aerating the soil before you water is very beneficial to the root system.
Make sure that any excess water is discarded when you are finished.
Many plants are in a stage of no or very slow growth in the winter and should be allowed to become somewhat drier. Some plants may not need to be watered at all in the winter months, after a good soaking in the fall.
If the heat is kept exceptionally high in the winter, it is also possible that your plants may use and need more water in the winter months.
Some plants use more water temporarily as heating systems are turned on in the colder months.
As the daylight changes throughout the year and as temperatures change, your plants water use will change accordingly.

Watering & Houseplant Care
A Few More Things….

A house plant that is set next to an air vent is going to require more frequent watering than one that is not.
Plants that are in a new environment often use more water as they acclimate to new conditions.
A plant with an abundance of foliage is going to require much more moisture than a very thin or sparse plant.
If your plant is in a plastic container, it will stay moist much longer than a plant in a clay or wood container.
Watering is very relative to the light that your plant receives. Finish this page and then read about the importance of good lighting for your houseplant’s health.

All of these things should be considered as you perform your weekly basic houseplant care. Hope these tips help you to keep your indoor houseplants green and growing.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon as houseplant care information, pictures and more are being added all of the time. If you have questions about your houseplant care, you can visit my contact page. I hope that your indoor tropical houseplants and all of your plants and flowers are happy, green and growing because that is why I started this indoor house plant and flower care website, PlantAndFlowerInfo.com.

Do Your Houseplants Look Great? Great Houseplant Care

September 10, 2019

Laura G.

House Plant Care Light for Your House Plants and Flowers Pictures of House Plants Flowers Watering Your House Plant No Comments

Working in the interior landscape business for more than 30 years has gotten me lots of questions about how to care for indoor potted houseplants. Customers ask about their own plants at home. Why does my plant have yellow leaves… what causes brown leaf tips…how come the new growth on my plant is dying…I water my plant everyday but it still isn’t doing well…how much should I water my house plant?

It can be hard to diagnose every indoor plant problem when you do not have access to the plant itself. So, I generally find myself asking them questions about how they care for their plants. Most often, the problems are solved by changing watering habits or by moving the plant to a better light situation. Often doing both of those things makes a big difference.

In almost every instance, changing the way people look at watering and lighting for their indoor plants gives them positive results with their houseplants.

I care for indoor plants as my job and I know that there are not many plants that I care for that always use the same amount of water or need watering on a rigid schedule. Many different things influence a plants water use.

Customers turn off the lights, leave the lights on, turn off the air conditioning, turn up the heat, close the blinds, open the blinds, and sometimes move the plant to some undisclosed location! All of these things, and many other things, influence the way you need to water an indoor plant. But hopefully, most of these things won’t happen to the houseplants in your home.

There are many things to consider when you are watering your house plants. Read more about watering properly for good results with your indoor house plants…