7 Things Plant Experts Do That You Probably Don't

there are seven things plant experts do to their house plants that you probably don't and it's the reason why their plants look so happy and healthy and perhaps why your plants are struggling stay tuned till the end because i've got a bonus tip on a great way you can boost the growth of your plant for free soil composition is crucial for a happy plant and changing the soil of your plant at least yearly boosts the health of your plant in two key ways and it's something plant experts do first changing the soil of your plant and upbotting into a bigger pot prevents your plant from becoming root bound so a root bound plant will not have enough soil in the pot to draw up water and nutrients and will begin to look tired with yellow or brown leaves i do have a recent video on this topic if you wanted to know a bit more the second benefit is that you are changing the soil of your plant regularly which gives the plant a boost in nutrients that then allows the plant to push out lots of fresh new growth your plant soil degrades over time and loses vital beneficial bacteria nutrients for the plant so it's important that we change the soil periodically to keep it fresh and alive for the roots of the plant if you have a plant that you have noticed isn't growing as vigorously or is starting to develop yellow leaves check the soil and consider changing if you haven't done so in a while plant experts only water their house plants when their plants need it this is something that inexperienced plant owners struggle with or are ignorant about but plants need less water than you might think it always pays to check the level of moisture in the soil of the plant before watering it's like adding salt to your dinner before tasting you have no idea whether it needs it or not so before watering your plant just stick your finger two inches into the soil of the plant and if the soil feels wet leave it another few days and check again if you're repeatedly watering your plant when it already has enough water then you are over watering your plant and this will lead to root rot on the plant and probably plant death don't wait too long and put your plant through prolonged periods of drought as this will stress the plant out too if you're unsure how to tell whether your plant soil is wet or not then invest in a little moisture meter like the one i have this is a complete game changer for plant care and tells you exactly how wet or dry your plant soil is it's a cheap little device and really easy to use and i have an amazon link for the one i use in the description of this video plant experts know everything there is to know about their plants it is one of the main reasons why they have such success with their plants trying to care for a plant without knowing anything about it would be like trying to cook dinner in the dark you wouldn't have a clue what you were doing researching your plant will tell you whether it needs full sun like a j plant or be kept out of direct light like different backyards whether it needs constantly moist soil like califors or kept on the dry side like most succulents and whether or not they are hungry for nutrients like allocations without this research beginner plant owners make mistakes like putting peace lilies on a south facing window where it gets blasted by direct sun all day if you do this then you won't have a plant for long use google lens to identify your plant through pictures to get a full understanding of the care requirements for the plants you won't regret it pests can be a real houseplant killer pest wasn't really something i was aware of when i was just beginning on my houseplant collection journey and i'm pretty sure most houseplant beginners would say the same but it's something plant experts monitor regularly to keep their plants healthy the assumption here may be that bugs can only live outside and how can they possibly get into the plants in our homes well let me tell you that bugs are crafty little buggers and get into our plants in various ways for example spider mites are often on the plants we buy from the nursery and unknowingly bring them into our homes this is because they are so small they can't be seen with the naked eye only their very fine webbing can be identified with very careful examination so i experienced this recently in ikea i was just about to purchase a ficus audrey only to find webbing on the soil line and lower stems of the plants obviously avoided buying the plants spider mites and other sap sucking insects damage the leaves of the plants and if left unchecked can kill a plant as the population continues to grow and take over the plant so check your plants over periodically for bugs and act straight away if you see something suspicious this next tip might sound a little counter intuitive but it's one that plant experts do and that is to not fuss over your plants fussing over your plants includes moving them around your home constantly watering when not needed constantly pruning stems and fertilizing too often when i first got into house plant collecting i was pretty excited and this resulted in me fussing over my plants and having the constant need to do something to look after them i thought that if i wasn't doing something to my plants then i wasn't looking after them correctly just completely flawed thinking plants just want to be left alone much like you don't want to sleep in a different bed every night plants like to be settled in their spot and will drop leaves if they are moved around your home too often they obviously don't like to be watered and fertilized too much either pruning more than half your plant over a short period of time will really stress your plant out much like you would get stressed if someone cut off all your hair and you ended up looking like me so leave them to do their thing plant experts avoid putting their plants in full afternoon sun tropical plants are surprisingly sensitive and will burn when put in the sun much like me and you would burn if we were put in the summer sun all day without sun cream and plants don't have access to factor 50 protection like we do you may notice some fading of color of a couple of plants that you have on a west or south facing windowsill and this is actually the plant's foliage burning from the sun now most of our plants do hail from the tropics but the key thing here is that most of them live near the forest floor tropical rainforests where they get dappled sun throughout the day because they're overcrowded by much larger trees around them this means they are not used to having hours of direct sun beaming on them and will become very unhappy unless they are a succulent the rule of thumb is to keep your plants only in indirect sunlight i have found that morning sun is okay for my houseplants but i do live in sheffield where our climate means we don't get intense heat from the sun during the day even during the summer so it really depends on where you live in my previous tip i mentioned not pruning more than half your plants foliage but don't be mistaken your plant does benefit from some pruning just like you might benefit from a haircut every so often to tidy yourself up our plants are the same they need to tidy up to get rid of damaged leaves and stems and keep the plant free of mold and pests air circulation is important for plants to prevent rot and mold on the stems and leaves of the plant an overgrown plant with damaged leaves will be far more likely to develop problems than a plant that is trimmed and looking neat and tidy pruning also encourages stronger growth from the plants which may sound counter-intuitive if we cut the stem of a j-plant for example two new shoots will sprout where we made the cut and if we repeat this we end up with a really bushy j-plant with a nice thick trunk i do talk about this more in my how to prune a j plant video that you can check out after this this pruning trick will work for most houseplants where there is a stem that leaves grow out from such as philodendrons pophos monsteras and tradiscantias so don't be scared to make cuts on the plant the stem will grow back if you really want to boost the growth of your plant with beautiful thick glossy growth then consider turning your kitchen scraps into free plant foods i regularly reuse the nutrient rich cooking water from boiled vegetables pasta and rice for watering my plants this acts as a light natural fertilizer for your plants and is a free way to give your plants a boost in nutrients if you boil eggs every morning for breakfast the water you've used will be filled with calcium that will do wonders for your plants so don't throw it out keep it let it cool down and use the water when your plants need to be watered the great thing here is that you are giving your plants nutrients without the risk of over fertilizing your plants and burning the roots because you are using an entirely natural homemade fertilizer rather than giving your plants the harsh chemicals found in commercial inorganic fertilizer all of the tips i've mentioned here would count for nothing if you didn't know how to spot why your house plant has stopped growing so click on the link here where i show you five ways you can tell why your plan has stopped growing and what you can do about it i'll see you there and thanks for watching

Channel: Sheffield Made Plants

Views: 930,258

Keywords: houseplant care tips, houseplant care, plant care tips, plant care, plant tips, how to keep a plant alive, why is my plant dying, plant hacks, houseplant hacks

Id: Sl5FwMSFnP8

Length: 9min 30sec (570 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 02 2022