Picking The Plant That's Right For You
With such a wide variety of house plants on the market, it can seem impossible to choose which ones are for you - do you want simple and structured cacti and succulents, a mass of leafy green tropicals, flowering plants, or all of the above? You could of course have them all, but keeping them happy could be quite the task with a busy London lifestyle. That's why we would suggest doing a little research and finding the plants that are best suited to you, your environment, and your lifestyle.
Through the joint travels of the Forest team, we've seen many of our house plants growing in their natural habitats which has been a great help to better understand their care and needs. Light, temperature, humidity - these are all things that should be taken into consideration when picking your house plant, as well as thinking about the size of your space and your own habits.
The team at Forest can always help you pick plants for your space, but in the meantime we have noted a few things to consider when picking your house plants.
Light
Different types of plants are suited to different light levels - some burn in direct light whilst others, like cacti, flourish. Equally with not enough natural light, many plants will suffer. Thinking of where you want your plants, and the natural habitats of plants you like, will be a great help in choosing.
Bright to direct light - Desert plants such as euphorbia, cacti and succulents.
Bright but indirect light - tropical plants such as ficus, monstera, golden pothos, spider plant.
Indirect to low light - jungle plants such as ferns, rhipsalis and sanseveria.
Humidity
Another thing to consider is the humidity - whilst you might have a spot with direct light in your kitchen, cacti and succulents much prefer warm, dry air. Again, thinking of a plants natural habitat really helps!
High humidity - tropical jungle & forest plants such as ferns, ficus, rhipsalis and devil's ivy.
Moderate humidity - plants like yuucas, dracaena, calathea and monstera.
Dry air - desert plants including cacti, succulents and euphorbia.
Space
If you have a large space and want a house plant to grow into it, then leafy or vine like jungle plants will be best - monstera, devil's ivy and rhipsalis will all fill a space nice and quickly! However if your space is limited, you might find it being taken over by the plants above.
For smaller spaces, succulents and cacti are ideal. Whilst you'll still be able to watch them flourish and even flower, they are much slower growing. Terrariums are another great space saver - you can have multiple plants in a confined space so you don't have to get rid of your sofa!
Your Habits
Thinking about your own habits and tendencies may not seem important in choosing your plant, but it's certainly going to help keep it alive!
Watering - are you away a lot? Or maybe watering your plants is something you often forget? Desert plants are the way forward as they like their soil to dry out between waterings. However if you lean more towards the "over loving" side, plants such as ferns will suit you better, as they prefer to be kept moist and wont suffer if they're slightly over watered.
Misting & Leaf Cleaning - plants with bigger leaves and/or native to tropical environments benefit greatly from regular misting and leaf cleaning. If your plant likes humidity but isn't in a humid spot, you'll have to take the time to mist them daily, especially on drier, warmer days! Plants with bigger leaves tend to collect dust quite quickly meaning their leaves will need a good wipe down regularly.
If you're still feeling unsure about which plants are best suited to you, pick a spot you want to fill, take a picture and pop in for a chat with one of our team - we are always happy to help you choose the plant that's right for you!