How to create a low maintenance houseplant care routine
Simplify your indoor plant care routine
Consider your lifestyle and a plant's basic needs so you know what type of routine you can commit to.
Before you decide on the type of indoor plant to bring into your home it’s important to consider your lifestyle so you know what type of routine you can commit to.
Even for easy-care plants, at minimum you will need to spend a few minutes every 7-10 days checking in on them and watering if required.
This guide will cover a few of the things to think about before committing to indoor plants then provide a checklist of key plant care steps.
Contents of this Houseplant Guide
Consider your lifestyle
Simple plant care checklist
Growing Plants
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How often are you are home?
If you are a frequent traveler you may prefer to keep fewer and hardier plants unless you are open to finding someone who can care for them in your absence. At minimum, you’d want to be home (or have someone available) at least once every 10 days.
Who else is in your household?
If you have a partner or a roommate then you may be able to share the tasks associated with caring for your indoor plants, if they are up for it. If you have pets or small children in the household, an added consideration is having to keep an eye out to make sure they aren’t touching or consuming the plants.
How fussy are you likely to be?
While some people are pretty hands off almost to the point of neglect, some love to over care for their houseplants. You need to understand where your personality falls on the spectrum because there are houseplants suitable for the extremes and everywhere in between.
Easy indoor plant maintenance
Weekly to Biweekly
Checking the foilage to make sure leaves aren’t browning or wilting because of overwatering, too much or too little sun, lack of humidity, or some other issue.
Checking the soil to see if it is time to water the plant. Some plants like to completely dry out, while others always want to be kept moist. Checking the top inch of the soil is better than just blindly watering each week.
Monthly
Inspecting the plant for any signs of insects, mold, or disease that could be deadly to the plant and even spread to other plants in your home.
Regularly grooming the plant including pruning to remove dead leaves and brancjes and wiping dust from the leaves of the plant.
Rotating or moving the plant to a different spot in the home if you notice that its current positing is not ideal. A common case is a plant starting to lean because it’s not getting enough light and it is searching for sun.
Annually
Repotting indoor plants is typically done annually at the beginning of spring to help encourage the natural state of growth that takes place during this time.
For those who choose to fertilize, it’s also advisable to feed plant during this high growth period (do this with caution).
Evaluate your green thumb status: if you feel you’ve been doing a good job with your current collection of houseplants you may be ready to graduate to a few more advanced specimens!
