Check out all our blog posts on Indoor gardening.
Most houseplants do fine with window light from spring through early fall. Once you have a dim room, a north window, or the short days of a Northeast or Midwest winter, a grow light makes up the difference. For most homes, I’d pick a full-spectrum white LED grow light, set 6 to 12 inches above … Read more >>
My first balcony herb garden was a disaster, and it was entirely my fault. I bought six sad little pots at a big-box store in April, lined them up on a west-facing rail in Zone 6, and then went out of town for a long weekend. I came home to crispy basil, bolted cilantro, and … Read more >>
Last July I walked out to my back porch in Zone 6 with a cup of coffee and got hit by a smell like a forgotten vase of flower water. It took me a minute to trace it to the two big petunia baskets hanging above the railing. They looked fine from six feet away. Up close, … Read more >>
A few winters back, I knocked over a big Dieffenbachia (‘Camille’, about four feet tall) while dragging a bag of potting soil across my sunroom. Three gorgeous leaves snapped clean off at the base. I couldn’t stand tossing them, so I stuck all three in a jar of water on the kitchen windowsill and told myself I’d … Read more >>
Every June I hang four baskets of calibrachoa and trailing petunias off the front porch rail, and every June, right around the Fourth of July, at least one of them starts going pale. First the inner leaves fade to a soft lime green. Then the lower ones turn straw-yellow and drop onto the porch boards. Meanwhile, the basket hanging … Read more >>
A hanging basket can look fantastic in May, then suddenly turn into a thin, tangled mop by mid-July. I have had this happen on my own back porch, especially with petunias and calibrachoa that started the season full enough to hide the basket rim. When hanging baskets go leggy, they usually stretch toward light, outgrow … Read more >>
A bag of cactus mix looks tempting when you are repotting a houseplant. It feels clean, drains fast, and may be the only unopened soil bag in the garage. I have faced that exact situation while repotting a droopy Dieffenbachia on a bright, covered patio in my Zone 7 backyard. So, can you use cactus … Read more >>
A jade plant usually asks for very little: bright light, a thorough drink now and then, and plenty of time to dry out. That is why it feels so discouraging to spot tiny green, black, or gray insects packed around tender new leaves. I have found them most often on a jade plant that spent … Read more >>
My top pick among tall indoor plants for low light is the dracaena, especially the corn plant and its dark-green cultivar ‘Janet Craig,’ because it forms a real tree shape and keeps its leaves in a dim corner where most floor plants drop theirs. If your corner is narrow, a tall snake plant is my … Read more >>
A Dieffenbachia can look perfectly happy on Monday, then suddenly appear dusty, faded, and tired by Friday. I have seen it happen most often during winter, when a big dumb cane sits near a warm vent in a dry living room. The leaves lose their shine, tiny pale dots spread across the surface, and fine … Read more >>
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