Calling All Green Thumbs: Caring for Your Trendy Household Foliage

Who doesn’t love a cute house-plant these days?? In a time when Fiddle Leaf Fig trees are trendy, and String of Pearls doesn’t always mean an expensive necklace, it helps to have a green thumb.

Everyone who comes to my house notices that I am a crazy plant lady. They all ask the same question: how do you keep these alive? My answer? It’s.Not.That.Hard!

So here’s my guide on how to add some green to your space, because we all can use some extra life in our home!

First, choose the perfect plant for your space. Lot’s of light? You lucky duck. No light? Not to worry.

For homes with limited light, choose a plant from the Pothos family. There are sooo many Pothos plants, so you’ll have plenty to choose from. In my experience, these are the easiest plants to care for. They don’t need a ton of water, and require very little light. This is a perfect beginner plant! I water my Pothos plants roughly every two weeks (I do this by watching them to see when their leaves begin to wilt, then I give them some water, and they’re good for another couple weeks!). No real watering schedule needed.

Another amazing part of being a Pothos owner is that they actually purify the air of toxins while they’re sitting there looking pretty. Amazing, right?

Other insanely easy plants to care for would be Air Plants, Cacti, and Succulents. These can get through anything. Forget to water them for a month? Still thriving! In fact, you don’t want to overwater these plants. Watering a Succulent or Cactus once a month is perfect. Overwatering these plants will rot the roots, so plan to keep the soil dry.

If you’re going with an air plant, there are so many fun ways to show these off in your home. Check out some of these inexpensive finds for showing off your littlest plants. I have these in my home and they are the cutest.

Going up in difficulty, let’s chat about the ever-popular Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree. I just HAD to have one of these. When I lived in my old place, my tree had a perfect home, with some indirect sunlight, and was thriving. In my new home, the tree has less light, and isn’t doing as well. These plants do come with some maintenance. For one, you need to actually dust their leaves so that they can breathe and grow. Every couple weeks you should also spritz the leaves with water to give them every life. Fiddle leaf’s need to be soak-watered as well. Every 10 days or so, you should put them in the sink/ shower/ outside and give them a ton of water (allowing the water to drain out of the bottom). Apart from this, put your beloved tree in a new pot annually, allowing the roots to breathe and giving the plant more space to grow.

This plant definitely takes more work, but isn’t it just the cutest in almost every space??

I also love to keep a small herb garden in my kitchen. I luckily have the perfect window-sill right above my sink, and these plants get the perfect amount of indirect sunlight. I always have a Basil plant, and this is surprisingly easy to keep alive! Let’s cover the care process for Basil. This plant should never be in direct light, so keeping it somewhere in your kitchen is perfect. I usually water mine every 5 days or so, and I know it’s time when the leaves start to wilt. When watering, put the basil into your sink and flood the pot with water. Allow to drain, and then put back into its home. When using some of the Basil, avoid picking off the top leaves on each stem, and instead use some of the leaves lower on the stem. Follow these steps and your herb garden will thrive!

This is just a short guide to some of the trendiest house plants of 2019, but believe me, I could go on and on! If you have any questions about how to care for a specific houseplant, please let me know (or consult our good friend, Google!). Best of luck with your new babies!