Your Quarantine Guide to Window Plants
Stay connected to nature by growing (and not killing) some houseplants
By Hannah Dove
As the days grow warmer little by little and you long to feel the dirt between your toes, you feel nature calling out to you from behind the glass. Some may say they have the opposite of a green thumb, that they couldn’t even keep a cactus alive, but the truth is that you keep yourself alive and growing every day. Plants only need what you yourself need: some light, some water, a steady temperature, solid humidity, good ventilation, food, and a place to grow. Just as too much or too little is never a good thing, excesses or deficiencies of any one of these elements can prevent a plant from growing indoors properly. Here are some tips to get started:
Don’t actually put “window sill plants” directly on the window sill: Indoor plants are sensitive to sudden, brief changes in temperature, just as we are. Putting them on vents or other heated areas is also ill-advised.
Just as our skin gets drier in the winter, so do plants’ leaves: all plants benefit from an increase of humidity in their area, whether it’s from an artificial humidifier or from placing them in a shallow cistern of water.
Just as we need to keep up our hygiene, we need to groom our plants in order to keep them nice and healthy. Don’t be afraid to prune areas that seem brown or shrunken, and be sure to “pinch off” your plants (removing about an inch or less of new growth to promote healthier plants in the future).
Be aware that while you may take Vitamin D supplements, your plants oftentimes need supplements of their own—diluted fertilizer helps, but make sure only to fertilize from March through September
Finally, there’s no need to rush into having the most difficult-to-tame plant—get a feel for your environment and choose a plant that works with you instead of against you. Only have indirect sunlight? Get an aloe plant. Don’t have dirt? Get an air plant. House at 70 degrees? A bromeliad is the one for you.
You may feel disconnected from nature as you watch the tulips pop up or feel the air become warmer. Houseplants grow with you and help show that even as things remain up in the air, there’s always something to keep you grounded. Treat your plants the way you want to be treated, and they’ll reward you with a blossoming friendship, hopefully for years to come.