ndoor Plants Or morons > From moron to moron, let's talk about adding greenery to your indoor space Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager f a person impulsively buys a plant from IKEA, and it dies less than a week later because you don't know the first thing about owning a houseplant, did it even exist? Life is full of philosophical questions. There are a number of cheeky articles about the topic. The Economist published an article in 2018 titled, “Instead of houses, young people have houseplants.” Fun wordplay aside: ouch. The year before that article, the Washington Post published one titled, “Millennials are filling their home—and the void in their hearts—with houseplants” Now, | can't guarantee that houseplants will fill “the void" in your heart or satiate those of you thirsty for houses. In fact, some of the touted benefits from houseplants, such as they help purify the air in your living space, have been recently disproven. (A Drexel University study released last year found the ultimate air purifier is having a few open windows, which you'd need almost 700 plants to reap the same benefit.) However, houseplants provide a few tangible benefits. They look great. They add a fresh tinge to otherwise drab rooms. You reap self-satisfaction at not only keeping something alive, but watching it grow under your supervision. | can't point to any official studies to back me up here, so you'll have to rely on my personal testimonials. Houseplants are fucking great. And while indoor plants are a fantastic hobby to adopt, they also come with a thousand idiosyncrasies. The more you learn about plants, the less you'll realize you know, but here are a few areas worth covering before you invest in indoor greenery. I'm a man of efficiency in life, so most of these upkeep tips reflect that. | probably don’t take enough care of my plants, but my name ain't Poison lvy, so deal with it. Here are a few tips to keep those stemmed babies alive: Mist your plants every few days. | joined the misting club a year ago and have noticed a considerable improvement in almost all of my plants. Since most houseplants are considered tropical, the idea here is recreating the humidity of those warmer climates. A few good sprays in the morning will coat the leaves, while doing it earlier also gives them a chance to dry off. Remove browning or dead foliage. Plants naturally go through cycles, and sometimes an otherwise healthy plant will spawn yellowing or brown foliage. There are a few reasons why you should remove these bits. Most importantly, there's a chance that something is attacking the plant, and you want to remove any chances of spreading the cause. The plant is also still providing nutrients to that area, even when it's on death's door, so physically removing this will prevent wasting energy. Feed your plants. |’m not talking about feeding your houseplants table scraps, but rather a liquid plant fertilizer. Houseplants have a limited environment since they're pot-bound, and you need to reintroduce nutrients to the soil. Liquid fertilizers are cheap and easy to use: Just mix them in some water, and then add to your plants. Some folks online argue that this should be done weekly or bi-weekly, but you can probably get away with once a month. Check the roots. A relatively new concept to me, roots can actually be a solid indicator for a plant's overall health. If roots are growing, then the plant is doing well. Given a larger environment, this would mean the plant is flourishing and healthy but if the plant is confined to a pot, rampant roots can end up overwhelming the plant. Root-pruning refers to trimming a plant's roots and repotting it. This also gives your plant a chance to get bigger. Buy plants for the space that you have, not the space that you want | get it. Vancouver loves its dingey, semi- illegal basement suites. You know who doesn't love them? Most plants. You see, plants need natural light to perform photosynthesis, which is essentially how they make their food. Some plants can scamp by on small amounts of light or even prefer darker areas, but the majority require at least a few hours of indirect light. If your home has south-facing windows, then this is perfect. South-facing windows provide the most opportunity for sunlight and the majority of plants will thrive here. East-facing and west-facing windows are attractive second options, as either provides at least a few solid hours of direct sunlight, assuming the windows aren't blocked on the exterior. The real struggle comes with north- facing dwelling, which happens to be the direction my own windows face. Just because your apartment faces north doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to the fake plant lifestyle. However, you'll have to be a lot more strategic and attentive than your lucky south-facing counterparts. If your windows have blinds or curtains, make a habit of opening them daily, so enough light comes in. It's also better to place plants closer to windows, as opposed to the opposite side of the room. These few metres of variance can make a big difference. If you're not sure whether a spot gets