Annie Spratt / Unsplash
Because flowering houseplants often come from the tropics, they may require special care to thrive in air-conditioned homes. Photograph by Annie Spratt / Unsplash.
A few years ago, I transitioned from landscaping to retail garden center management. My new boss was a legend in horticulture, so I was eager to impress him. In the first year, I was full of suggestions, some of which he liked. But, for at least one, my idea that we should consider carrying houseplants, his response was blistering. The rebuke still carries a bit of sting. In fairness to him, he has turned out to be right regarding almost all my ideas that he rejected in that first year. He taught me a lot. But, he has turned out to be mistaken about the market for houseplants being dead.
When I was hired by another retail business that wanted to add a horticulture division, my new boss asked about houseplants. I expressed skepticism that it would be wise to invest in a houseplant inventory. Then, one of my customers, Jason Lurie, informed me that he was a member of a houseplant group on Facebook called Bluff City Blooms. Jason asked that I join a party he was hosting for members and act as the resident plant expert. I readily agreed, figuring it wouldn’t matter that I didn’t know much about houseplants. After all, I assumed, very few people would be in attendance.
The attendance was stunning. The expertise of attendees was overwhelming. I got to meet the founders of the group, Joanna Asia and Andrea Castillo, and many of the over 500 members, mostly millennials and mostly women. I was excited to see that the houseplant market had clearly come out of its coma.
So, what caused the change? The conventional wisdom, repeated often in my garden center management magazines, is that millennials had to delay home ownership longer than previous generations and had less faith in home ownership as a vehicle for savings. As renters, they were more likely to invest in houseplants than landscape plants.
During shorter days of the fall and winter, the amount of natural light coming in through windows decreases. So, houseplants often go into dormancy, needing less water and fewer nutrients.
Though big box stores spotted this trend early, owners and managers of independent garden centers were late to the party. Many older members of that group still remembered the lingering houseplant inventory they could not get rid of after the houseplant boom of the seventies. But, it is also true that professional horticulturalists, though they love plants, often get their fill of plants working with them all day, outdoors.
So, I have had to scramble this year to learn houseplants. Thankfully, I had the many members of Bluff City Blooms to help me get started. Indoor plants have a great deal in common with outdoor plants, making much of my knowledge transferrable. But, there are some key differences.
First, plants sold as houseplants are often from the tropics. Specifically, many come from rain forests. As such, they need more humidity. Though our humidity outside in Memphis is very high, the modern climate control systems in our homes make our interior air very dry. Owners of houseplants must compensate in one or more of these three ways: 1. They use a spray bottle to mist plants regularly; 2. They purchase a humidifying machine to add humidity to the air; or 3. They put their plants on top of trays of pebbles or gravel, about one inch thick, with half an inch to three/fourths of an inch of water that humidifies the air above it as it evaporates.
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Aglaonema Maria Christina
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ZZ plant
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Prince of Orange Philodendrum
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Watermelon Peperomia
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Monstera Deliciosa
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Strawberry Begonia
Second, there is the degree to which customers take responsibility for watering. When landscaping customers complain that a plant is dying or is dead, it is usually due to a failure to adequately water. In contrast, when a houseplant dies, or shows signs of stress, it is usually due to overwatering.
Third, houseplants need much more frequent fertilization than outdoor plants, often monthly or more often during the growing season.
Fourth, I mostly focused on dropping temperatures as the most important trigger of dormancy in plants. Since temperatures in homes are constant, I assumed houseplants never went into dormancy. In fact, there are other clues that some houseplants pick up on that it is winter. The days shorten. The amount of natural light coming in through windows decreases. So, houseplants often go into dormancy too, needing less water and fewer nutrients during the fall and winter. Many houseplants die during winter, when plant owners fail to moderate their normal watering and feeding regimen.
John A. Jennings
Garden centers offer a wide selection of specialized products for the care of houseplants.
Inspired by the enthusiasm of the members of Bluff City Blooms, I have jumped into the world of houseplants. Already in love with Saxifraga stolinifera (Strawberry Begonia) as a landscape groundcover, I have also become enthusiastic about it as a houseplant. Going beyond my go-to recommendations for customers inquiring about houseplants, Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZs) and Sansevieria spp. (Snake Plants), I have gained tremendous appreciation for Philodendron x ‘Prince of Orange’ (Prince of Orange Philodendron), Monstera deliciosa (The Swiss Cheese Plant), Aglaonema spp. (Chinese Evergreen), Senecio rowleyanus (String of Pearls), and Peperomia argyreia (Watermelon Peperomia), just to name a few. I give them as gifts to friends. I love that the area around my desk, at work, is filled with houseplants.
John A. Jennings is an experienced garden designer, garden writer, and nursery manager. He also has degrees from both the University of Richmond and the University of Memphis.
