If you are having trouble with your house plants, try some of our tips below:
- Ensure your plant has the correct light. Most plants are either positioned in too dark or too light a position. Most house plants like lots of indirect light. So next to a north, east or west-facing window or further away from a south-facing window.
- When plant’s leaves fall off or are turning a bright yellow and then falling off, it’s easy to assume that it’s dying or dead – but it’s often just suffering from a chronic lack of watering.
- To revive plants, the first step is to soak them, buy sitting them in a pool of water, consider using a bucket, sink or bath depending on the pot size. You should leave the plant sitting in water for a couple of hours to ensure it has had a good drink.
- Drain away the water and allow the plant to drain excess water before re-positioning back in it’s location.
- Keep watering thoroughly and regularly for a week or two, checking that the soil is damp beyond the surface, but not too wet.
- If your plant develops dirty yellow leaves with brown marking, it is probably too wet and you should do what you can to allow the water to drain away from the pot and dry out. Most plants like to be kept moist but not wet during the growing season and slightly drier in the dormant season (typically winter).
- Fleshier plants, such as geraniums should start sprouting new leaves within a fortnight of re-wetting.
- On woodier plants, you can check if the plant is still alive by cutting into the bark and if you can see green tissue, then it is still alive. If it hasn’t then it is unlikely to be saved.
- Don’t feed plants when they are dehydrated or in a state of shock, wait until they have been re-wetted and stable.
- The harder you prune a plant the more it will respond with new growth. Use this rule to shape your plants.
- Always carry out the main prune of your plants in Spring, when the response time of new growth will be at its quickest.
- Carry out additional lighter pruning thereafter to maintain shape and remove dead or diseased growth.
Most importantly, enjoy your indoor house plants.
