My plant room This is probably my favorite place in my house. It’s full of sunlight and teeming with more than 30 plants, ranging from baby crown of thorns to giant bird of paradise whose leaves threaten to touch the ceiling.
Maintaining a large plant collection can take a lot of time and energy, but I’ve figured out how to streamline the care of so many specimens and make sure the plants get what they need. Here are my tips for managing lush, leafy houseplants.
plant selection
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A big reason I chose the house I live in is that this room has a large bay window and southern exposure, which is ideal for light-hungry indoor plants. But it took some time to figure out which plants would thrive in this bright, sunny spot.
many varieties of it Prefer shady conditions Still struggling, I placed them at the opposite end of the room from the big, bright window. Some have adapted, but I passed others on to fellow gardeners.
Also consider the temperature when you populate your plant room. I’m fortunate to have extra space, but because I have a separate bedroom and home office, heating and cooling my plant room to ideal levels year-round is not cost effective. My plants need to be able to handle 90°F temperatures in the summer and 60°F temperatures in the winter.
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arranging plants
Shelving is your friend! There are two vertical shelves along the bay window of my plant room, which hold sun-loving plants like African milkweed and fiddle leaf fig props. Lower cabinets are ideal for plants that thrive with bright indirect light.
In the back of the room, no more than 10 feet from the window, I have a corner shelf for plants that prefer moderate indirect light, like philodendronsSatin pothos, orchids, and bird’s nest fern.
Large specimens like Monstera, Rubber Plant, etc. bird of Paradise Sit in cash pots directly on the floor or on low plant stands around the perimeter of the room as per lighting requirement. I reserve ceiling hooks in a sunny window for light-loving trailing plants like succulents.
plant room gear
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I’m not the kind of indoor gardener who relies on fancy gadgets moisture meter Or hygrometer. I use plastic takeout containers and cans for watering (more on this in a minute), basic grow light bulbs mounted in an old floor lamp for my calamansi tree in the winter, and takeouts repurposed as saucers. I use container lids. You don’t need a lot of fancy gear to help your plants thrive!
Watering, Fertilizing and Replanting
Watering a large plant collection takes a lot of effort. I laid down a small tarpaulin in the middle of the room to protect my hardwood floors. I fill about a quarter of a 30-gallon storage bin with water and place it on the tarp with the other empty bin. During spring and summer, I will add half the recommended amount of liquid fertilizer to the water once a month.
I place each plant in a watering can using a combination of top and watering down Pour water from a pint container onto the soil in each pot. Once the soil is saturated, each moves to an empty litter box before returning to its cache pot or saucer.
When I’m done with everything, I’m left with a little water, which I throw out. This process takes a little more than an hour but it reduces the amount of water I need and the distance from each plant to the water source. I water weekly in the summer and about every two weeks in the winter.
Repotting happens like this. The tarp goes down to reduce mess. I use bins to carry or hold multiple plants at once discarded potting mixWhich I will reuse to enlarge the soil in outdoor ornamental plants.
pest management
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My biggest pest problem in my current plant room is fungus gnats, which I have dealt with first Using BTI This bacteria is safe for your plants but kills fungus gnat larvae before they can develop in the soil.
This is usually less of a problem after I bring plants in from my veranda in the fall, as I have learned to check and inspect new plants carefully to catch any pest problems before they affect the rest of my collection. Can. I use sticky traps to monitor progress after treating the soil for pests.
