How to Have Happy Houseplants

Back in February, I got to chat with David Maxwell from BBC Radio Ulster's Gardener's Corner about how to have happy houseplants. 

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DAVID: "We are spending millions of pounds on house plants, and they are particularly popular among the young. After years working in an office, Roisin Horgan began her own business called the Green East in 2020. It's mission to put plants in homes and businesses up and down the country. 

It's based at the Banana block in East Belfast, a former industrial warehouse, where, yes, they do grow bananas alongside every house plant you can imagine."

Plants and your personality type

ROISIN "It's very important to match a plant to the type of person you are. I think to match it to your personality. If you're the type of person who wants to have a plant that you need to talk to, that you missed every day, that needs a lot of care, then that's one type of plant I advise. If you're somebody who's really, really busy and just wants a plant to sit in the corner and do its thing, filter the air, then that's another plant."

Benefits of having indoor plants

ROISIN: ""Having plants in the house improves well-being, improves mood, helps concentration, especially in an office environment. Whether it be a home office or a big corporate office, increases productivity by up to 20 %. Plants in the home can, believe it or not, reduce pain, increase healing time. It's bringing nature in."

Having plants in your home environment

DAVID: "I suppose like our gardens, our houses have a few different environments as well, don't they?

ROISIN: "Some of those environments are pretty hostile to plant life. We've got to get the right plant for the right room, really."

One of the most awkward spaces is often a hallway which doesn't have much light in it. 

"Hallways vary an awful lot with regards to the amount of light.

How much light do you have?

Where does the light come from?

Is it south facing or north facing?

"A good way to judge that without a compass is, is the sun in your hall all day long? If you were standing there, would you feel the heat from the sun? If you feel the heat, the plant will feel the heat. If it's a shaded hallway, you could go with a pothos. There are many different types of pothos on the market."

The golden pothos has a beautiful heart-shaped leaf and vibrant green colour. 

"This one has a small bit of variation on it. The variation will increase or decrease according with the amount of light that it's getting. They can hang, but you can also get them on a moss pole and they'll grow.

You can easily get 1. 6, 1. 8 metre pothos. They are fantastic for the corner of a hallway, something that gets light, some light, but is shaded.

They're easy to take care of. They want to dry out a bit in between watering. Basically, if you don't water all the time, it's okay. It is very important to feel the soil before you water, not water on a schedule."

Don't water because it's Saturday.

"Depending on the time of the year, the plants may or may not need it. But if you just put your finger into the top of the soil, it'll instantly tell you. Or pick up the pot. Dry soil is light, wet soil is heavy. So if a plant needs to be watered, it'll be much, much lighter."

How to stop your plant sitting in water

DAVID: "Quite often we have the actual pot that the plant is growing in set into something which is a little bit more decorative, that it's going to look nice just sitting in your house. But the water can gather in those, can't they? Because, of course, they don't have any holes. We don't want water all around the house. I've just lifted this one out and I can see that there's a few little stones down below there that maybe just holding that pot up slightly, are they?"

ROISIN: "That is a thing called leca," explains Roisin, "which is expanded clay. Leca is very, very handy for mixing in with soil to drainage. We would use it, as you've just seen, quite often in the bottom of pots. Under the nursery pot, which is the plastic pot that a plant comes in, and at the bottom of the decorative pot.

By having the nursery pot on the pebbles, on the expanded clay, that boosts the humidity. As you water in, the water will sit there and evaporate and boost the humidity of the plant.

People would often refer to it as a gravel tray or pebble tray. It's the same thing. The stone hold hold the nursery pot out of the water. A lot of plants don't like to have wet feet, so you hold that nursery pot up out of the water."

DAVID: "Just like ourselves."

ROISIN: "Yes absolutely, We don't like wet feet."

Do houseplants get lonely?

DAVID: "I'm wondering, with plants that like that humidity as well. Is it an idea, Roisin, to grow a few of them, maybe in groups? I say this to people sometimes. I say, I think plants get lonely. They like to grow with more than one plant just there. Sometimes you see that houseplant, don't you? That lone houseplant sitting, looking very sad, and looks like it needs a few mates, basically."

ROISIN: "Absolutely. Plants and pets are much better together in two or threes. It will definitely boost the humidity as the plant photosynthesises. It helps a lot with heat as well. So at this time of the year, in the winter, if you bring your plants together and group them, huddle them together, it will help an awful lot with those colder days.

Succulent Stars

DAVID: "A type of plant that has become so popular, I think particularly among younger people, are the succulent."

ROISIN: "Yes, absolutely. We would get, as you say, especially younger people, it's an entry plant. They're very, very easy. Succulents and cacti, primarily.

A very different location for those than we've just been talking about. They're not looking for humidity. They want a dry environment. They're good windowsill plants. Quite often, once it's bright enough, having a little etch of area beside your computer to boost that productivity is really nice. But they also like very little water.

So if you're very busy, maybe with small kids or very, very busy with work, they're really good. They They want to dry out in between waterings. When you're watering, you sit them into water. Don't water them from the top."

Don't dunk your succulents

ROISIN: "There was a big Insta and TikTok craze a while ago with succulents of putting them first into water and seeping them, don't. The air is way too moist here and too cold. You could get away with that if you lived in Florida, perhaps, maybe. But here you want to sit the plant into even a dessert bowl of water, let it have a drink for half an hour or so, and then put it back into its decorative pot."

Unusual houseplants

DAVID: "Now, just beside the succulents and the cacti here, there's a plant. It looks like a a conifer. I don't expect maybe to see that among house plants. What are we looking at there?

ROISIN: "That is Norfolk pine. They are one of my new favourites. Just got this in, and I've been looking for one for quite some time. As you say, it looks like a conifer, but it behaves like a tropical plant. They are so interesting, but very easy care, and just a little bit of difference in the living room. It wants bright light, bright light and humidity.

Getting the light levels right

DAVID: "We've talked a lot about light. What about artificial light? If you are in an apartment or a house that it just doesn't have, or the room that you want to put your plants in doesn't have a lot of light. Is there artificial light that you can put in that would really help?"

ROISIN: "There's a huge growth in the industry of grow lights, and we have a few of them dotted around. They're nice bright lights, LED bulbs, and they can really help. They're not going to completely change the aspect of your room if it's a shaded room, but they will help. If you've got a shaded room, then Pothos are very good or a parlour palm will respond well to that, but they'll respond very well to the lights as well."

DAVID: "It totally changes a space, doesn't it? I mean, you've got a lot here, let's face it, because you're selling them. But walking in from that door into an industrial building and into this corner just transforms how we feel, doesn't it?"

ROISIN: "Absolutely. They make a statement, they greet people, they soften the corners and the edges of a building or a room and they just make you feel at home."

You can listen to the full interview with Roisin on Gardener's Corner on BBC Sounds now.