There’s been a huge boom in the desire for houseplants. I’m guessing the combination of quarantine boredom and how aesthetically pleasing a plant can make a space is to blame, and definitely fall into both categories. However, my plant-mom desires have always felt innate. I asked for bonsai trees as graduation gifts when I was finishing high school, and received three of them. None of them lived past my freshman year of university.
Since then, I would have one or two succulents in my room before I’d have to gift them prior to moving yet again for an internship, or before they’d die while I was travelling between school terms. Ivy eventually seemed to be the plant that did okay in each 4 month cycle, but I knew my digital nomad ways post-graduation would mean no plant ownership for a while. Then, I was forced home to my parents house, and got “demoted” to the basement room. This same room has been a revolving door for my sisters, extended family, and myself when we pop in and out of my hometown. It needed a lot of love to feel habitable, and the 2 tiny windows I was stuck with was a huge adjustment to make after putzing around lush rainforests and jungles. Then, I moved back to Kitchener-Waterloo, and was reunited with my much loved floor-to-ceiling windows, and plenty of sunlight and space to grow my plant babies.
I’d like to consider myself an expert of amateur plant ownership. Outside of specific plant care instructions per each species you have, there are plenty of things to consider when building your indoor jungle (yes, more than just watering and sunlight). Whether you’re new to plant ownership, or you’re a veteran plant parent, here are some tips and reminders to keep in mind, illustrated and explained using the plants of my apartment.
Bring the zen to your bedroom (bedside, if you want!)
This has been my favorite decor and space hack of all time. Feeling cursed with plain and bland white walls? Nothing contrasts them better than some greenery. I’m pretty sure we’re allowed to nail into the walls for our condo, but both my boyfriend and I have been too lazy to 1. Look into the rules around it for our building, and 2. Have been way too busy with literally everything else to put the leg work into decor searching. The result? A minimalist white space where my different plants are showcased.
I have a majesty palm tree, rubber plant, string of watermelons, and a snake plant in the bedroom. The mix of tall tree-ish plants and the bedside guys leave enough space for my fur step-son to run around, and also establishes some boundaries for him. String of Watermelon (and most String of X plants, for that matter) are poisonous to dogs, but Trunks would never dream of eating something off of our bedside tables or climbing on the bed to do so. Also, ALL PLANTS clean air, but palms and snake plants are notorious for being a good oxygen infusion for a room.
Plant rescues and acquiring plants on a budget.
I’ve probably spent $500 or more in the last 6 months getting plants, fertilizer, dirt, and pots. I’m betting only $250 worth of those plants are still alive. The thing is, plant parenthood does not have to be costly. There are a few plants out there that have a lot of caché and are for true enthusiasts, but if you’re resourceful, you can cop some quality trees for very cheap.
For example, my Fiddle Leaf Fig tree which is normally a very high ticket item, was only $35 off of a seller on Facebook Marketplace. It needed a lot of love to grow, and still does. When I asked James (my boyfriend) to pick it up for me, he straight up said “I don’t want this thing in our house. There’s not one green leaf on it.” After repotting it, misting the heck out of it, and giving it a good dose of sun, it’s definitely doing much better.
Beside the Fiddle Leaf Fig is a Thai Chilli Pepper plant, gifted to me from my friend Jenevieve’s mom. It was also really struggling and very rootbound when I got it 8 weeks ago, but if you look closely now, it’s growing a pepper that looks ready to pick. Chilli Peppers can grow year round and aren’t high ticket items, meaning they’re accessible, cute, and you might even get something edible from it.
And of course, styling your plants is important, but can get costly. The Japanese Fern in the sugar holder pictured above was gifted to me from James— little does he know I purchased the same plant before I met him for $7 at Walmart, which is definitely where he got this little guy from, too. The jar set was thrifted from a pawnshop for $5 and was missing a sugar lid. Works for us, because I don’t keep any refined sugar in the household anyways.
Be mindful of placement.
I won’t touch too much on sunlight here, as each plant requires something different, but something that killed my plants that I wish I was aware of before I got in this deep is humidity levels and perfecting placement.
I’m not sure why, but literally my entire apartment is drafty once I turn on the ventilation in the bathroom. For such a small space (around 750 SF), it boggles my mind that there are so many vents that I can’t get away from a breeze almost anywhere. My succulents (and rubber plant beside my vanity) don’t mind a bit of a breeze, but almost everything else I own is slightly tropical, meaning they prefer warm and humid conditions. Like mother like child, I guess.
Drafts and vents aside, there are a few ways to increase humidity around your plants. My two favorite ways are by using an essential oil diffuser— which I add a few drops of lavender oil to as a pesticide— and by placing plants close to one another (pictured in the office section). You’ll also see my Japanese Fern below in an ideal spot beside my kitchen sink and coffee-making station, so it gets lots of steam all day.
Functional Houseplants
I’ve killed many, many basil plants. I had a very successful herb garden a few summers ago when I was living in my university digs and they were out on a balcony, but haven’t had a ton of luck since— until now. Everything in this photo is either gifted or grown from seeds that were free or under $2. In the herb garden is chives, my propagating String of Watermelon, basil (grown from seeds), thyme (gifted to me from Jenevieve’s mother), and sage, also gifted to me. Above we have a Jamaican Bell Pepper plant, more propagations, and some cannabis plants grown from seeds we picked out of our stash. In Canada, it’s legal to grow two cannabis plants per person in each household that is over 19. I’m not hopeful that I’ll eventually harvest anything from them, but it would be nice to have even an ornamental cannabis plant.
I call these functional because they’re edible and won’t kill the dog if he gets into them, hence why I let them sit on the floor (with of course, the exception of the strings). In another world when I was backpacking around Nicaragua, ornamental plants seemed like the biggest waste, as food scarcity can so easily be solved by teaching people how to grow their food. I’m sure my edible plant collection will grow once I get some wins under my belt with my current herb stack.
Green up your home office.
This plant ladder beside my desk is the pride and joy of my apartment. Unfortunately, I recently had to let go of two Alocasia Poly’s because they were infested with spider mites, which can quickly spread to the rest of your plants. Despite the infestation, this little antique ladder serves as my shelf, Zoom background on some days, and of course, plant shelf. My morning routine usually begins with hanging out with the doggo, and then hanging out with my plants, making sure they’re tended to and doing well. It sounds crazy, but there have been multiple studies that show the mental and physical advantages of simply even looking at nature.
With a Canadian winter looming on the horizon and feeling confined due to working from home and literally nowhere else, it’s important to get the dopamine doses wherever we can.
Take advantage of faux plants.
If you’ve gone through all of this and are decided that being a real plant parent isn’t the route for you, go ahead and get that faux plant and fill your void that way. I’m not judging you, but prepare yourself for the eye rolls from real plant parents.
I got these fake Monstera leaves from Dollarama two years ago for a summer-themed party I threw with my roommates. We posed with them once, and I proceeded to use them as decor and photo props ever since. I truly thought I would have tossed them by now. Pros of faux plants: they never age (so you don’t have to re-pot them or deal with pruning), and they allow for you to experience having tougher or more expensive houseplants without the cost. Monstera’s can grow to be quite large, and they’re technically toxic to dogs, so I’m happy with my faux leaves for now.
I hope that this gives some of you the confidence to grow (or faux grow) your own indoor jungle, and for those who already have one, I hope it gives you some reminders or new ideas to inspire your greenery.