Houseplants for Beginners

Environmental factors can impact your plants in a variety of ways. This section covers temperature, humidity, and cleaning your plants.

House temperature isn't too important. Some plants love warmer temperatures, but if you are comfortable, your plant will be too. However, keeping plants close to windows, doors, or vents dramatically changes their environment. If you have a plant next to a vent, the dry hot air from a heater can fry your leaves, as can keeping a plant right next to a cold window.

Plant scorched by vent heat

Additionally, if you have a plant that has unexplained damage on the leaves, think about where it’s located. Could it be getting bumped by doors, people, or pets, causing damage?

In general, the temperature should be pretty stable where your plant is.

Most houseplants are native to tropical environments and love humidity. There are certain types of plants that really need it to be happy, like ferns and calatheas. A good rule of thumb with humidity is the thinner the leaf, the more humidity it needs. The best way to increase humidity is to use a humidifier. If you don't have a humidifier, you can slightly increase the humidity around plants by clustering them together, but this isn’t as impactful as a humidifier.

Plant near humidifier

You may have heard the myth that misting your plants increases humidity, but it doesn’t, at least not long term. There is a momentary increase in humidity while the water is still present on the plant, but once it evaporates, the humidity is gone. Additionally, pebble trays aren’t effective ways of providing humidity. The best way to increase humidity is with a humidifier.

50% is a good goal for general house humidity. You can get a handheld humidity detector if you don’t know how humid your house is. Some humidifiers also detect humidity.

Another important aspect of ensuring your plant is able to absorb enough light is by making sure the leaves are clean. This can be a tedious task, but it's an important one. Dust, dirt, and other debris build up on leaves over time. This interferes with the plant’s ability to feed itself through photosynthesis. You can give your plants a shower or use a damp microfiber cloth to gently wipe down leaves.

Showering plants

Wiping plants

Keep in mind that there are some plants with sticky or fuzzy leaves, like African violets, that don’t like getting their leaves wet. For these, you can use a mushroom brush or even a dry paintbrush.

Mushroom brush

There is no set rule about how often to clean plants. If you notice dust, it’s a good idea to clean them. You can also clean all of your plants in the spring to ensure they're off to a good start for the growing season. Some people will use mayonnaise, milk, vegetable oil, or other household products to clean or shine their plants’ leaves. This is not recommended because these products can clog the stomata on the leaves, which are similar to our pores.