FAQs
What are some good beginner plants?
When choosing some of your first plants, it's best to consider three questions:
Can I give it the environment it needs (light, temperature, humidity, etc.)?
Is it affordable enough that I won't be upset if it doesn't make it?
Do I like the way it looks?
As a beginner, it's sometimes hard to answer the first question, but try to use what you do know. If you know you won't have anywhere it can live near a large sunny window, then avoid plants with high light needs. If you're in a desert climate and the humidity in your home is generally pretty low, avoid starting out with moisture-loving tropical plants.
Considering above, some generally affordable plants with rather broad care needs, which we commonly recommend for beginners include:
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata)
Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum)
Many types of philodendron
What plants will do well with low/no light?
All plants need light to survive, but some can do just fine with very little light, or even with only your everyday house lighting. Some of the most recommended low light plants in our community include pothos, snake plants, ZZs, prayer plants, heart leaf philodendron, Chinese evergreen, and peace lilies.
I have pets, and I'm worried they'll eat my plants. What should I do?
The ASPCA maintains an excellent list of plants and their toxicity for cats, dogs, and horses. We generally reference their site for understanding which plants may or may not be a problem for our pets. Generally speaking, it's best to stick to non-toxic plants until you know for sure your furry family members won't try eating your plants. See the ASPCA's list here.
I just found a mushroom in my plant. Should I be worried?
You should be excited! While not plants, mushrooms (and fungi in general) are fascinating, and they play a critical role in decomposing dead plant matter to unlock nutrients that would otherwise be inaccessible for your houseplants. Generally, the occasional mushroom is a sign of healthy, living soil, and you should not be worried about eradicating them; however, if you see them regularly, or you see a “fuzzy” fungus growing on the surface of your soil, it's probably a sign that you're watering too heavily, too frequently, or your plant's soil/container has insufficient drainage. The excess moisture that fungus strive in can promote root rot for your houseplants over extended periods.
How often should I water?
Unfortunately, this is a question that no one can answer for you, and you should be immediately suspicious of any person, website, or plant app that recommends watering on a time-based schedule. While others' experiences can give you a general idea of what to expect, there are far too many variables that impact the time between watering, and your schedule will likely look a little different than anyone else' schedule. Container size/shape/porosity, planting medium (e.g. soil), plant size, root ball size, lighting, airflow, temperature and relative humidity levels all play a role in how soon your plant will need another drink – so it's best to learn to understand when YOUR plant needs water.
Some plants will begin to “faint” slightly when they need water, and this can be a tell-tale sign to water soon. With some plants, you can get a sense of how damp the soil is simply be lifting the container to see if it feels lightweight, or you can put a finger in the soil to see if it feels damp an inch or two beneath the surface. Most, but not all, houseplants like to dry out pretty well between watering, and we see far more plants suffer from over-watering than under-watering. Some of our members also like to use soil moisture meters to better quantify the moisture levels under the soil, but they are certainly not a necessity.
What are all these little flies/gnats, and what should I do about them?
Ah, fungus gnats. They're a nuisance, but rest assured – they're most likely bothering you more than they're bothering your plants. The best way to get rid of them is to break their reproduction cycle, since a lone fungus gnat can lay hundreds of eggs. The good news is, this isn't that hard to do, and there are many ways to keep them in check. We like to promote the least drastic approach, which is to simply allow the soil surface of all your plants to dry out, and remain dried out, for a week or two. The adult gnats need a moist place to lay their eggs, and without that, their larva will not survive to continue the annoying cycle. You will probably still need to water your plants while the surface remains dry, though, and the simplest way to do that is by bottom watering – set your plant's pot in a larger container with an inch or two of water, and allow the plant to soak up water from the bottom for 10-20 minutes.
Yellow sticky traps can also be good for catching the adults before they have a chance to lay eggs, and some people like to use a physical barrier on the surface of the soil such as sand or cinnamon. Watering with mosquito bits, or incorporating them into your soil, can also help keep them at bay. These approaches can all be used independently or all together. Some people will recommend more drastic measures such as spraying the foliage with neem oil; however, we find this to be generally unnecessary, and if you're not careful with sunlight exposure after using neem oil, you can actually burn your plants. Since the fungus gnats are unlikely to cause harm to your plants, we prefer to avoid the risk altogether. Save the neem oil for pests that do more damage such as aphids, thrips, and spider mites.
When should I re-pot my plants? How big of a container/planter/pot?
This can also be a tricky question to answer, since it's different for every plant. If you're able to carefully remove the plant from the pot to inspect the roots, that's a great first place to start. Over time, your plant’s root system will fill its container and begin to take over the space. If you see more roots than growing medium when you lift the plant from the container, we would consider the plant “root bound” and most likely ready for an upgraded container. Note, though, that some plants, like snake plants for example, are happy to be a little root bound, and they don't need to be rushed into a larger container when roots become visible. Another clue that it might be time to move up to a larger container is if you find that you're needing to water your plant every day or two to keep it happy – the roots are probably out of room and sucking all the moisture from the soil as soon it gets a drink.
As for what size container to move up to, it's better to go up one size at a time, rather than jumping multiple sizes to a much larger container. When there are large areas of soil that your plants roots have not yet explored, those areas will remain damp for longer than the rest of the plant, and it becomes easy to over-water. Keep this in mind for any plants you've moved into larger homes recently – they probably won't need water as frequently as they did before.
I just got this plant, but I don't know what it is. How can I identify it?
There are a number of plant identification apps available in both the Apple App Store and in the Google Play Store, and many have been used and recommend in our group. (Snapchat even has a built-in feature now that allows you to touch and hold the screen to identify plants.) However, we love to keep it simple – if you use Google Photos, the “Lens” feature does a great job of performing an image search that will help narrow down the options to ID your plant. Just know that with any app, they will not always be correct, and the it will be hard to get reliable results with poor quality photos. Try searching multiple photos, from different angles, to see if you get repeatable results.
If you're still not sure what you've got, ask the group! We have a lot of knowledgeable members, many of whom probably have the same plant you're trying to identify. They might also have some good care tips and advice to help keep your newly-identified plant healthy and happy.