How to Keep Houseplants Alive: My Simple Weekly Routine

I seem to have a conversation with someone at least once a week where they tell me that they just can’t seem to keep houseplants alive, so today I’m sharing my very simple weekly routine.

It seems that we have a bit of a confidence issue when it comes to growing houseplants and I totally understand. There’s nothing worse than watching that beautiful plant that you bought from the garden centre slowly die down to nothing, despite all your best efforts. It can definitely be enough to make you want to give up and just buy fuss-free faux plants, and that’s what many people do. I’ll often bring real plants along as part of my styling plans for our interior photography shoots, and it’s so sad how many times people will see my beautiful plants and tell me that they just don’t have a green thumb. Although there are some good faux plants available, there’s nothing quite like the beauty and personality that real plants bring to a space, not to mention the health benefits like cleaner air and improved mental wellbeing. I believe that everyone should have real plants in their home, so today I’m sharing my simple routine for how to keep houseplants alive easily.

Start With Plants That Are Easy-to-Grow

If you’ve ever gotten excited in the nursery and brought home an expensive exotic plants, only to have it fade away on you within a matter of weeks, you aren’t alone. People who are new to houseplants often get a little over-confident at first and choose plant options that are a bit outside of their area of expertise. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement. The best method, though, is to start with the tried-and-true plants that anyone can grow. A healthy, basic plant is so much better than a fancy plant that’s half dead.

Start with the popular, anyone-can-grow-them varieties that are almost impossible to kill and see where it takes you. You may find that you enjoy them so much once you see them growing and thriving that you just stick with adding more of those same plants to your home. There’s no rule that says you ever have to “graduate” to more difficult-to-grow plant types. If you find you’re having success with a certain plant, instead of trying something new, maybe attempt to grow a different variety of that same plant for variation.

I love plants that put out new leaves frequently, are happy with low light conditions, and fit in with my weekly plant routine as it is, without requiring me to add any additional plant-care items to my to-do list. My favorites are Hoya plants, ivies, peperomias, philodendrons, and pothos plants, which allow me to have plants in every room of my house, regardless of whether they’re the sunniest spot or not.

More houseplant ideas for your home: My Current Favorite Houseplant – How to Grow Hoyas

How to Keep Houseplants Alive: Water Weekly

My watering schedule for my houseplants is once a week, every Friday afternoon (or Saturday morning if I’m busy). That’s what fits into my life, so that’s what I do, and for the most part it works perfectly. I don’t change how often I water at different times a year, and I don’t water certain plants more often if they’re “special” and need more moisture. If a plant doesn’t thrive with my simple schedule, then it’s not a good fit more me.

The one simple step that I add to my weekly watering is to make sure I’m giving my plants a little bit of food every week with liquid fertilizer drops like Plant Vitamins, and this has made such a difference. I’ve seen so much new growth since I’ve started doing this (I use the Thrive for weekly watering), and it only takes a few seconds extra. Although most potting mixes do contain fertilizer, the nutrients can become depleted over time, so the Plant Vitamins help me make sure they’re getting what they need consistently.

Unexpected method for healthy plants: The Mayonnaise Houseplant Trick

Trim Dying or Compromised Leaves

After my weekly watering, I inspect all of my plants for any leaves that are turning yellow or brown, have been partially snapped off, or that are looking less than healthy, and I trim those leaves away with a pair of sharp pruning shears. One or two dying leaves on a plant isn’t usually a cause for concern, and is actually a sign of a healthy plant doing what it needs to do. Plants will stop sending energy to leaves that aren’t necessary, and will instead send that energy into new growth. You’ll usually see lower leaves dropping off when there’s new growth at the top of a plant or when a plant is about to flower. Trimming away leaves that are starting to die off just speeds up the process a little bit, and it just makes your plants look more beautiful in your home.

Propagate to Make New Plants

When I see that a plant is thriving and is looking particularly healthy and happy, I’ll take a few stem clippings to propagate a new plant. To do this, I just cut a length of stem about six inches long, making sure that the stem has at least two-three leaves. I’ll then place the stem in a small vase or jar of water, removing any leaves that will fall below the water line. I place this in a sunny window, and within a few weeks, I’ll see roots emerging and I’ll be able to pot up a new baby plant for my collection! I use the Boost fertilizer from Plant Vitamins when I’m potting up my new plants to give them a little…well, a boost. 🙂

I almost always have several plants being propagated at any moment. It’s a fun and free way to grow more houseplants to place around your home or to share with friends and family.

English country style necessity for your home: How to Propagate Ivy Plants – Step by Step

Repot Regularly-ish

Every once in a while, when I’m potting up my new baby plants, I’ll take the opportunity to move some of my existing plants to larger pots and give them fresh soil. This gives them fresh nutrients and more room to grow if they’re getting a bit root bound in their current pots. This is a task that should be done regularly to keep your plants healthy and happy, but luckily “regularly” only means about once every one to two years for most plants. It only takes about five minutes to repot a plant, but it can make such a difference for the long term health of your favorites.

A warm spring day is the perfect time to bring all of your plants out to a picnic table outside and repot them all at once. Then it’s done and you don’t need to worry about it for another year or two.

Do you keep it simple with your plant care routine, or do take a more specialized approach for different plants?

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