The Perfect Indoor Plants for Your Home - And How to Grow Them

[dropcap1]I[/dropcap1]ndoor plants are a lovely way to bring colour and visual appeal to your home, but what plants should you choose? Here are four plant categories to get your decor juices flowing.

Plants That Love Shade

If you don’t have lots of light entering the room, choose pretty plants that crave shade. The Zanzibar Gem is an example. A tropical perennial plant that deals well with dry air and lack of light, it doesn’t require lots of water to look healthy and beautiful.

Grow Zanzibar Gems in minimally designed pots as their vibrant green leaves are the star of the show. Add some slow-release fertilizer to your pot during spring to keep the plant looking great.

Plants For Bright Areas

If you have beautifully lit areas in your home, placing a plant there such as an Anthurium with its bright red flowers and heart-shaped green leaves is perfect. It thrives on light and adds colour to your space.

Grow Anthurium plants in coarse, well-draining soil, in a pot that’s only a little larger than itself. Water the plant in small bursts every two days to keep the soil moist.

Plants That Purify The Air

Some plants help to clean your indoor air by removing toxins. The good news is that any plant that’s higher than 20cm will help to draw Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) out of the air. For extra power, choose the Money Plant (Epipremnum aureum). Make sure to water it regularly and place it in indirect light.

Grow the Money Plant in any area where it has space to grow because it can grow up to 20m high! But if you choose a small pot, the Money Plant’s growth will be limited. Place a stick in the pot so that the plant can climb around it.

Plants That Repel Insects

Growing herbs inside your home is a fantastic idea to increase your healthy food supply but some specific herbs are also great at repelling insects because of their strong odour. Some of the best to grow indoors for this purpose are mint (which repels fleas and moths), coriander (which keeps aphids and spider mites away) and rosemary (which is great for getting rid of mosquitoes).

You can grow herbs in small spaces, which makes them ideal for tiny living areas.

Mint: choose a container with a wide surface and place potting soil inside that drains well – mint requires lots of water so that the soil stays moist. Keep it in a sunny area in the morning and one with less sun in the afternoon.

Coriander: choose a plastic or clay container and place it in a sunny area in the morning. Later in the day, it prefers indirect sunlight. Keep the soil moist.

Rosemary: place it in direct sunlight – it needs at least six to eight hours of light a day. You don’t want to overwater the plant as this is a common reason why Rosemary plants die, so place it in terracotta pots. These help to boost the plant’s evaporation in its roots. Make sure the soil is light and fast-draining for best results.

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