Plant Guides
Common Houseplant Shopping Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
The mistakes that turn a houseplant purchase into a quick failure, from buying for looks over light to skipping the pest check, and how to shop better.
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Plant Guides
Care profiles for popular houseplants, from pothos and snake plant to ferns and succulents: light, water, soil, and propagation for each.
Plant Guides
How to Choose a Healthy Houseplant at the Shop
What to check before buying a houseplant, from leaves and stems to roots, soil, and hidden pests, so you bring home a healthy plant and not a problem.
Plant Guides
Oxalis Triangularis Care: Growing Purple Shamrock Indoors
How to care for oxalis triangularis (purple shamrock) as a houseplant, from light and watering to its dormancy cycle and how to wake it up again.
Plant Guides
Syngonium Care: How to Grow Arrowhead Plant Indoors
How to care for a syngonium (arrowhead plant) indoors: light, watering, and humidity, plus what to do when leaves lose variegation or the plant gets leggy.
Plant Guides
Where to Buy Houseplants: Garden Centres, Big Shops, and Online
The pros and cons of buying houseplants from garden centres, supermarkets and DIY shops, specialist plant shops, and online sellers, and which suits you.
Plant Guides
African Violet Care: Getting It to Flower Year-Round
How to care for an African violet, with the light, bottom watering, and warmth that keep this compact plant flowering almost continuously indoors.
Plant Guides
Air Plant Care: Watering a Plant That Grows Without Soil
A care guide for air plants (tillandsia), explaining how to water a soil-free plant by soaking, the light it needs, and why most air plants die of thirst.
Plant Guides
Areca Palm Care: Keeping the Fronds Green, Not Brown
How to care for an areca palm indoors, with the bright light, steady moisture, and humidity that stop its feathery fronds browning at the tips.
Plant Guides
Begonia Care: Light, Watering, and Avoiding Mildew Indoors
How to care for indoor begonias, from rex to cane types, with the light and careful watering that bring out their leaf colour without inviting mildew.
Plant Guides
7 Houseplants That Thrive in a Bathroom
The best bathroom plants cope with low light, swings in temperature, and the humidity from a hot shower. These seven genuinely thrive there.
Plant Guides
7 Best Plants for a Kitchen Windowsill and Worktop
The best kitchen plants handle warmth, humidity from cooking, and the odd splash, and stay compact on a windowsill. Here are seven that suit a kitchen.
Plant Guides
9 Best Living Room Plants, From Statement to Easy
The best living room plants range from big floor-standing statement plants to easy shelf fillers. Here are nine to suit a bright, welcoming living room.
Plant Guides
7 Best Houseplants for a Sunny Window
A hot, south-facing windowsill kills shade lovers but suits sun worshippers. These seven houseplants want the bright, direct light a sunny window gives.
Plant Guides
9 Best Trailing and Hanging Houseplants
The best trailing houseplants spill from shelves and hanging pots with long vines. Here are nine, from near-indestructible to the more demanding trailers.
Plant Guides
Bird of Paradise Care: Growing Strelitzia as a Houseplant
A care guide for the indoor bird of paradise, covering the bright light it demands, watering, and why it rarely flowers as a houseplant.
Plant Guides
Cast Iron Plant Care: The Near-Indestructible Aspidistra
A care guide for the cast iron plant, the shade-tolerant Aspidistra that survives deep neglect, with light, watering, and why it grows so slowly.
Plant Guides
Chinese Evergreen Care: An Easy Aglaonema for Lower Light
How to care for an aglaonema Chinese evergreen, one of the most forgiving houseplants, with light, watering, and a note on its colourful varieties.
Plant Guides
Christmas Cactus Care: Getting It to Bloom Each Year
A care guide for the Christmas cactus (schlumbergera), with watering unlike a desert cactus and the cool nights and darkness that trigger flowering.
Plant Guides
Croton Care: Keeping the Colour Without Dropping Leaves
How to care for a croton indoors, with the bright light that keeps its leaves colourful and the stable conditions that stop it dropping them.
Plant Guides
Dieffenbachia Care: Growing Dumb Cane Safely Indoors
A care guide for dieffenbachia (dumb cane), covering light, watering, and the toxic sap that means you should keep it away from children and pets.
Plant Guides
Fittonia Care: Reviving the Dramatic Nerve Plant
How to care for a fittonia nerve plant, with the humidity and steady moisture that stop the famous dramatic faint when it dries out even slightly.
Plant Guides
Lucky Bamboo Care: Growing Dracaena Sanderiana in Water
A care guide for lucky bamboo, covering how to grow it in water or soil, the light it needs, and why the leaves yellow, despite it not being a bamboo.
Plant Guides
Maidenhair Fern Care: Keeping the Delicate Fronds Alive
How to care for a maidenhair fern, the delicate Adiantum that crisps the moment it dries out, with the humidity and constant moisture it demands.
Plant Guides
Money Tree Care: Looking After a Braided Pachira
A care guide for the braided money tree (pachira aquatica), covering light, the watering that prevents rot, and what the yellow leaves mean.