5 more valuable lessons learned in two years of house plants

I thought one post did the trick, but I have 5 more valuable lessons learned in my two years of house plants care.

5 more valuable lessons learned in two years of house plants

If you missed the previous five lessons, read it here!

Most plants will not work in your house.

Unpopular opinion alert! If you don’t want a hot and humid house, you probably do not want to have plants who need high humidity like ferns. No south facing windows? You don’t want to have plants who need all day sun like a kalanchoe. 

Bottom watering ROCKS.

Every plant owner deals with gnats at some time or another. They will drive you bonkers and make you wonder where you went wrong! It kind of just happens.

One remedy to help get rid of gnats from taking over your house is bottom watering. There are a few ways to bottom water, but this is my strategy:

Make sure the plants are in pots that drain. 

I prefer keeping my plants in grow pots. Those are the original, flimsy plastic pots plants usually come in when you buy them from the store. They have holes at the bottom perfect for draining.

When I need to repot a plant, I either buy a larger grow pot or reuse a grow pot from another one of my plants (I never throw away from grow pots)! Then I place the plant in a cover pot, otherwise known as a cachepot.

If I don’t place my plant in a grow pot, I make sure that the plant is in a ceramic pot with a drain hole at the bottom.

Create a pebble tray.

Next, I place pebbles on a tray. I buy bags of small rocks and cheap trays of varying sizes from my local nursery or hardware store. Depending on the size of the tray, I either place the tray inside the cachepot or beneath it. Then, I sit the grow pot on the tray of pebbles.

Pour onto the tray.

From then on, I water my plants by pouring water into the pebble tray at the base of the grow pot. That allows the plant to absorb the water from its roots. Furthermore, watering from the bottom keeps your plant’s top soil, where gnats like to breed often, dry. 

Grocery stores are a GREAT place to buy plants.

The best plants I have purchased were from my local grocery store. Check out your local supermarket or farmer’s market for new plants. Their selection is constantly changing!

Take advice with a grain of salt.

I’m sure there will be at least one person who just cringed at my bottom watering strategy. And that’s okay! I will not defend my watering method as it’s law, but others will. 

People are extremely defensive about plants and will get very angry at advice they disagree with. It reminds me of how passionate folks are about how to take care of puppies!

When it comes to specific plant tasks, take everyone’s advice (including mine) with a grain of salt and experiment to see what works best for you. 

You should probably stick with a pothos plant.

It is extremely hard to go wrong with the trusty and hardy pothos plant. Pothos plants are forgiving. Minimal watering, pruning, and overall maintenance is necessary. Throughout my journey of the last two years, I’ve tried many types of plants. But pothos plants simply fair best in my home.

No, they are not the most exotic plants, but the standard, dark green pothos just do the best in my house! For the most satisfying results from maintaining a healthy and thriving plant, you should probably just stick with a pothos.

What do you think about these 5 more valuable lessons learned in two years of house plants?

What do you think about these lessons? Are there any more you would like to add? Sound off in the comments below!

Sincerely,

Felicia.

This post does contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click on a link and purchase something.