11 Houseplant Essentials to Keep Your Houseplants Lush & Healthy
Your home should be your safe haven — the place where you feel relaxed, happy, and at peace. Nothing adds more beauty and comfort to our homes and offices than pretty foliage!
Bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, home offices… there isn’t a space that a houseplant can’t vitalize. All you need is sunshine and water, and you’ll have a pretty little oasis to help you feel balanced and blissful.
Because we keep our homes spick and span, we think our houseplants are immune to common garden pests and diseases. Unfortunately, fungus gnats, mites, powdery mildew, and black spots can find their way to your beloved houseplants—especially if you’re regularly adding to your collection. It’s easy to miss infections on new plants, which then introduces mildew, insects, or blight to your surrounding plant babies.
The quickest way to prevent this from happening? Quarantine your new potted plants in a corner that’s far away from your other houseplants. Keep an eye on it for 1-2 weeks to make sure it’s healthy and disease-free before introducing it to the rest of the gang.
Then, keep your plants healthy and strong by fertilizing them during the spring and summer months to boost their “immune system” and help them overcome diseases and pests more easily.
To keep your plants in tip-top condition, we’ve compiled a list of all our favorite indoor gardening supplies.
1. Slow release fertilizer
There are hundreds, or maybe thousands, of different types of fertilizers on the market. To add to the confusion, gardeners are advised to fertilize different plants along different schedules during different times of the year.
That’s why we’d recommend slow release fertilizer. If you’re concerned about your fertilizer washing away during waterings, a slow release formula will release a small, steady amount of nutrients over a course of time. You can either mix fertilizer thoroughly into the potting soil or sprinkle a thin layer on top of the soil.
You can use slow release fertilizer on your outdoor plants, too.
All the large fertilizer companies, such as Scotts, Schultz, Miracle-Gro, Osmocote and Vigoro, have their own lines of slow release fertilizer.
Our recommendations:
Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food Plus Outdoor & Indoor
Schultz All Purpose Slow-Release Plant Food
2. Houseplant fertilizer
To give your flowering and foliage houseplants the royal treatment, pick up a fertilizer specifically formulated for houseplants to keep nutrient levels consistent, preventing nutrient stress from over or under-feeding.
Our recommendations:
Joyful Dirt Organic Premium Concentrated Houseplant Food and Fertilizer
3. Sticky traps
If your houseplants are infested with whiteflies, fungus gnats, blackflies, thrips, fruit flies, or midges, you can use stick traps to attract plant pests like magnets—without using chemical pesticides. They work well to attract and trap all different flying insects.
Simply stick one into your infected plant’s soil and gently shake your plant to release any pests. They’ll come out and swarm the sticky traps. When the traps are full, toss and replace with a fresh one.
Our recommendations:
Safer Brand Houseplant Sticky Stakes
Garsum Sticky Houseplant Traps
4. Neem oil
Neem oil is your jill-of-all-trades. Neem oil is a natural insecticide, miticide, and fungicide spray! To treat pests, eggs, and larvae associated with powdery mildew, black spot, downy mildew, leaf spot, and other conditions, just thoroughly spray all leaves (top and underside) until wet. Repeat every 7 days, then maintain by reapplying every 2 weeks.
Our recommendations:
5. Copper fungicide
Fungal issues like black spot, powdery mildew, downy mildew, and early blight can be challenging to spot and even more difficult to treat. Liquid copper fungicide is the perfect fix — it’s affordable, easy to use, and most importantly, effective. Simply spray a thin layer on affected leaves and stems until wet, and reapply every seven to 10 days.
Our recommendations:
Liqui-Cop Copper Fungicide Spray
Southern Ag Liquid Copper Fungicide
6. Insecticide and insecticidal soap
Say goodbye to bagworms, borers, beetles, caterpillars, codling moth, gypsy moth, loopers, leaf miners, spider mites, psyllids, sawfly larvae, soft scales, tent caterpillars, thrips, and more.
These products mix with water and should be applied with a sprayer directly onto infected plants. Spray all parts of the plant until wet, including the underside of leaves and stems.
Our recommendations:
Bayer Crop Science 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control
Natria Insecticidal Soap Organic Miticide
Safer Brand Insect Killing Soap Concentrate
Bonide Products Ready-to-Use Insect Soap
7. Watering can
Anything that holds water and can be carried can function as a watering can. But if you use your watering can a lot, it’s nice to buy one that is designed well.
For one, you’ll need to choose whether you want a plastic or metal watering can. If you are willing to pay a little more, a metal watering can will outlast a plastic one any day, and can be repaired, repurposed, or recycled.
Next, you’ll want a rounded handle, especially if your watering can holds a larger capacity of water. It’ll be much more comfortable and convenient to carry around when the can is full.
You’ll also want a big fill opening for easy refilling.
Finally, consider the holding capacity. If your houseplants are scattered all around the house and you need to make lots of trips to water all your plants, you may want a bigger watering can. If you prefer to work with lighter weight to avoid injuries, go for a lightweight watering can with a smaller holding capacity.
Our recommendations:
Metal
Fdit High Capacity Watering Can (33 fl oz / 1 L / 0.25 gallon)
IKEA Vattenkrasse Watering Can (30 fl oz / 0.9 L / 0.23 gallon)
CHERAINTI Watering Can (40 fl oz / 1.3 L / 0.34 gallon)
Plastic
WhaleLife Watering Plant (40 fl oz / 1.4L / 1.3 gallons)
Kool Products Watering Can (64 fl oz / 1.9L / 0.5 gallon)
Bloem Aqua Rite Watering Can (36 fl oz / 1.06 L / 0.28 gallon)
8. Extra pots
Every year or so, our house plants will need to be up-potted or split to prevent from becoming rootbound. Terra cotta pots are inexpensive and water-wicking, and thus terrific for preventing root rot in your beloved plants.
One tip: soak your terra cotta pots in water for about half an hour before adding your plant to its new pot.
Our recommendations:
BLQH 5.5” Terracotta Pots (15 pack)
9. Propagation station
An easy, frugal, and environmentally friendly method to grow new plants from propagation. Propagation is also much quicker than sowing from seed; all we need to do is take cuttings and root them for new plants. Young starter plants are just one snip away, and they make fantastic gifts for your loved ones.
Additionally, propagating your plants opens up a whole other dimension of gardening, nature, and you get to see how plants grow and change from a nascent state. It’s a way to deepen the gardening experience.
Take cuttings any time your plant is actively growing from spring to fall. We recommend taking cuttings in the morning after your plants have reached their peak hydration levels for the day.
Our recommendations:
Double Glass Bulb Propagation Station
Triple Glass Bulb Propagation Station
Six Glass Bulb Hanging Propagation Station
5 Glass Test Tube Propagation Station
10. Drill bit
Sometimes, you’ll find an adorable pot on clearance and hurry to purchase it. When you bring it home—uh oh—you realize there’s no drainage hole at the bottom.
That’s when your handy friend, the drill bit, comes in handy. This can be used to place holes in clay, terracotta, cement, ceramic, and even glass.
Our recommendation:
Milwaukee 1/4" Hex Shank Diamond Abrasive One-Piece Hole Saw Power Drill Bit
Photo courtesy of our customer, Crystal Vernon
11. Display shelves
We couldn’t close out this blog post without mentioning our plant shelves now, could we?
Our tiered plant stands showcase your plants with style! Display stands maximize storage while taking up minimal space. Because of their simplicity in design, they fit in with nearly any interior design style.
Our display shelves come in all shapes and sizes, and meet all your unique gardening needs. By placing your plants on different tiers, they’ll all enjoy equal sunshine without crowding each other out.
For small shelving solutions, check out our Plexi Easy and Mini Easy series.
For larger outdoor shelving solutions, browse our Steel Frame Shelfies.
If you want to add 1-2 inches of height, or if your Shelfie sits on uneven ground, remember to purchase a set of Adjustable Feet.
To add serious height, we offer 6-inch, 12-inch, 18-inch, and 24-inch Leg Extenders.
For your rolling enjoyment, we also offer Casters.
Closing Thoughts
These are just a few indoor gardening products that we can’t live without. Are there any plant supplies that make your life easier? Leave a comment and let us know!