Buying Your First Indoor Plant? – Here’s What You Need To Know

Introduction

When it comes to indoor plants, there are a lot of factors that can affect how successful they are. While some of these factors (like light) might seem like common sense, others can be confusing. Here’s what you need to know if this is your first time buying an indoor plant.

Light is important

The first thing to consider is the amount of light your plant will need. You’re going to want an indoor plant that gets a lot of natural sunlight, because they thrive in full-spectrum lighting (also called artificial sunlight). In addition, you should keep your eye out for certain types of plants: cacti and succulents are known for needing more indirect sunlight than other houseplants. Be sure to check the tag on the back of your chosen plant—it will tell you how much direct daylight it needs.

If you don’t have enough natural light at home or work, opt for an artificial grow light instead! There are many different types available on Amazon, but I recommend choosing one that mimics natural daylight as closely as possible (most grow lights are blue/white spectrum)

Know what plants grow well with low light

The first thing to know about indoor plants is that there are a lot of them, and they come in all different shapes and sizes. So, it’s good to have a basic understanding of what kind of light each plant needs in order to thrive.

Low-light plants: These need almost no sunlight at all. They grow best in areas where the sunlight is very indirect or non-existent, like under a bed or behind furniture. These include ferns, spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), and African violets (Saintpaulia). Medium-light plants: These require some indirect light but can handle direct sunlight for part of the day without burning up too quickly or turning brownish/yellowish/greenish/blueish etc… You want these guys near windowsills where they’ll get some sun during the morning hours but not too much when evening rolls around so we’d recommend placing them somewhere between a north facing window and an east facing one if possible! High-light plants: These guys need lots of bright direct sunlight on most days during at least 12 hours per day with no room for shade whatsoever unless you live somewhere like Alaska where there isn’t any sun at all year round which would mean these would never grow indoors anyways because they’re tropical.. That being said if you live somewhere with seasons then please feel free to bring some high-light varieties inside during winter months; however make sure they’ve been acclimated properly beforehand by putting them outside for several weeks beforehand so as not to shock their systems when reintroducing them into indoor conditions after being outdoors all summer long!

Light sources and your plant

You may have read that a plant’s light source can be either natural or artificial. While it’s true that plants need both types of lighting, the latter can be more challenging to manage. The best way to go would be with natural sunlight as much as possible, because it gives your plant energy for photosynthesis and other life processes. If you live in an area where there isn’t a lot of direct sunlight—or if you’re just busy and don’t have time to water your indoor plants every day—then using artificial light is fine. However, keep in mind that these lights should be placed near where they’ll get plenty of daylight so they can mimic an outdoor environment (i.e., indirect sunlight).

If you’ve got too many lights shining on your plant or the wrong type of light (too bright or not bright enough), then this will cause issues such as leaf burn: discoloration caused by overexposure to UV rays from fluorescent bulbs over time!

Plant care

  • Watering: Soil should be kept moist at all times, but not wet or soggy. You can test the soil by sticking your finger into it, and if it feels slightly damp, that’s good! When you water your plants, do so in the morning. They will be able to absorb more water before they go dormant at night and won’t need any more until morning. The best way to water indoor plants is with a sprayer (like this one), which delivers water right where it needs to go without wasting any precious resources.
  • Fertilizing: It’s important to give your plant the nutrients they need so they can grow big and strong! Fertilizing comes in many forms including liquid fertilizers (which are great for seedlings) as well as granular fertilizers (which are perfect for older plants). Depending on what type of plant you have and what kind of care regimen you’re doing with them will determine which type of fertilizer you’ll use.
  • Pruning: This is an easy way to keep your indoor garden looking great! Pruning ensures that each individual branch gets enough sunlight while also keeping dead leaves from falling onto other parts of the plant where those dead leaves could cause disease or rot other areas on the houseplant over time.”

There is a whole lot that goes into caring for indoor plants, but learning how to keep them alive will make future plant purchases much easier.

Once you’ve selected your plant, it’s time to think about how much care it will need. The easiest way to make sure you’re buying a plant that won’t be too much work for you is by looking for plants that require little light, water and pruning.

Plants that don’t need much light are generally easier to take care of than those that do. This can be especially helpful if you have limited natural light in your home or office due to geographical location (for example: living in Seattle vs California). It’s true that some shade plants require more indirect sunlight than others but they should still be significantly less demanding than direct sunlight plants because they tend not to grow as tall as sun-loving varieties and therefore won’t shed their leaves like other tropicals do when deprived of adequate lighting conditions aka “sunlight deprivation syndrome” aka SDS/DDS/PDS depending on who you ask 🙂 With these types of greenery being more compact in nature they aren’t able to compete with other foliage on the same level so they tend not grow as large which means less maintenance overall compared with its full-sun counterpart! 🙂

Watering frequency depends greatly on how long each plant takes between watering sessions; some may only need refreshing every few days while others might require daily attention due to their thirstier nature (sometimes even twice daily depending on climate conditions). If possible try purchasing something with low maintenance requirements so there won’t be any surprises later down road such as needing weekly watering sessions instead once per month!”

Conclusion

You’ve done it! You have learned a lot about indoor plants and how to care for them. Now that you know what type of plants you want, where they should be placed in your home and what lights they need, there is no stopping you from having beautiful indoor greenery.

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