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Start an indoor garden The joy of houseplants

© Patrick Perkins / Unsplash

Your Challenge

Start an indoor garden by introducing a houseplant or two to your home.

Start with plants that are easier to care for. For example: 

  • Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum)
  • Snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata)
  • Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii).

Snake plants and spider plants don’t require much watering and are quite tolerant of neglect. The peace lily will let you know when it needs water as its leaves will droop. Then they’ll bounce back once it’s happy.

To reduce your houseplant footprint, you could ask to take cuttings from friends’ and family’s houseplants and propagate them. Plants such as spider plants are very easy to propagate as they produce dozens of ‘babies’ each year, which can easily be snipped off and planted into soil

Another tip is to keep your pots. When you repot a plant, save the pot it came in. These pots are always handy if you start propagating your own plants – and it avoids waste.

Always make sure your houseplant soil is peat free. Our peatlands are protected habitats rich in biodiversity. We need to move away from peat-based soils and composts to protect them. Peat-free compost is widely available.

Why you're doing this

Adding a houseplant to your home will bring you closer to nature, and improve the quality of the air around you.[1] It’s also been shown to reduce stress. Caring for houseplants is a great hobby that teaches you practical skills, educates you about plants around the world, and gets you away from your screen. 

How you'll make a difference

People who feel connected to nature are more likely to take action to protect the environment.[2] Having houseplants can be a first step in helping people feel this connection and ultimately helping to protect our planet.

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Sources

[1] Han, K-T, and Ruan, L-W, (2020) ‘Effects of indoor plants on air quality: a systematic review’. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 27, 16019-16051 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08174-9   

[2] Mackay, CML, and Schmidt, MT, (2019) ‘Do people who feel connected to nature do more to protect it? A meta-analysis’. Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol.65, 101323. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494418308557  

[3]  Anatomical aspects of Ficus Lyrata (2015). Annals of West University of Timişoar https://biologie.uvt.ro/annals/vol_18_2/AWUTSerBio_December2015_107-114.pdf