Basic care for your houseplants. If you are new to the world of houseplants, you may be wondering how to care for your new, green friends. Potted plants often come with instructions telling you to keep your plants "evenly moist" or to water a set amount at a certain interval.
Those kinds of directions are not very helpful as many things influence the watering of a houseplant. Some of those things 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 temperature and the time of year, just to name a few.
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. With over 30 years working in the interior landscape industry, I have the experience to help you with the basic care of your houseplants.
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.
On your houseplant care day 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.