There’s a lot to be said for growing indoor plants. There’s the beauty of a fern with its delicate fronds, or an African violet with a cluster of vibrant flowers. Some, like jasmine, add fragrance to a room. Others, like ivy, can adorn a windowsill with trailing glossy foliage.
What’s more, you don’t have to be a gardening guru to get them to thrive indoors, says Ellen Zachos, author of “Growing Healthy Houseplants: Choose the Right Plant, Water Wisely, and Control Pests” (Storey).
An instructor at the New York Botanical Garden, Zachos was first intrigued by houseplants when she was performing in “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1990.
“I used to be an actor and was given a plant instead of a bouquet,” she recalled. “I love houseplants, and a house without them seems sterile to me. I like having growing, living things in the home.”
The owner of Acme Plant Stuff, Zachos designs, installs, and maintains interior and exterior gardens in the New York City area. She talked to us recently by phone from her home in New York about her newest book, which covers basic plant selection and care, as well as how to create effective displays. The following is an edited conversation.
Q: You’ve written other books on tropicals and orchids for indoors. How is this one different?
A: It’s a book for beginners for sure _ a small book with essential information. There are outdoor gardeners who don’t know how to take care of indoor plants, or they receive an unfamiliar plant as a gift. I chose plants that people might not think are easy to grow but are super interesting. It’s illustrated with line drawings (by Beverly Duncan) and they accentuate the character of the plants. I find them charming.
Q: What’s the first thing you should do before buying an indoor plant?
A: It’s important to assess the light in your home. Nothing else _ watering or feeding _ will matter if you don’t recognize that. You need to match the light to the plant’s requirements. Turn off all the lights _ go around and check out the amount of light from each window during the day. You’ll discover how the light from a north-facing window is different (from the light of) a south-facing one, which is much stronger.
Q: What’s the trick to growing those big tropical trees indoors?
A: Decorators often choose plants for a design effect, but you can’t choose a houseplant the same way you choose a bedspread or curtains. Most people who buy plants want to keep them for the long term. If you’ve got the most perfect spot indoors to display a palm tree, but it’s not the perfect spot for the tree, it’s going to fail. Think of houseplants as living things, not inanimate objects. I like epiphytic ferns _ not dainty, fussy ferns. They look like sculpture in the home. They all grow in a north- or east-facing window and they’re not heavy feeders. In winter, I’m watering just every two weeks. (Zachos named three genera of epiphytic ferns _ Davallia, Polypodium and Platycerium, or staghorn fern _ as her favorites.)
Q: What are a few of your favorite indoor plants?
A: Well, I’m a low-maintenance kinda gal. You’re not going to see me misting maidenhair ferns. I do like oxalis and cactus and hoya, which is a succulent that grows well in a hanging basket that can be watered twice a month. You can buy them at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Clivia is another favorite. It produces a flower in a saturated orange color that I love. The trick to getting clivias to bloom is to let them become pot-bound (where the roots fill most of the soil) and letting the plant get cold in the fall. I put the pot outside in summer and bring it indoors when the temperatures drop into the 40s.
Q: How about orchids? They seem difficult to grow.
A: I’m growing phalaenopsis orchid and clamshell orchid (Prosthechea cochleata). They get watered once a week and they bloom in the middle of July. A main misconception is that more water is better. More plants are killed by overwatering. And phalaenopsis bloom once a year _ it’s not going to be a gorgeous flowering plant all year. I get frantic calls (when orchids have finished blooming) by people telling me their plant is dying. They’re often overwatering it when the plant should be resting.
Q: How much water is enough for indoor plants?
A: It depends. No drainage holes in the pot? That’s the first mistake. Thoroughly water so the whole root system down to the bottom of the pot gets wet. Let the water run out of the holes and then drain the saucer. It’s not difficult.
Q: Pests?
A: In general, there are just a few pests. You have to really look at the plants closely for mealybugs and spider mites. The main thing is to isolate new plants so (the pests) don’t spread to any others. Each insect requires different treatments. For spider mites, I put some dishwashing liquid and water on my hands and then I completely cover every leaf and stem surface with it. I wash it off the plant after 15 minutes, and you need to do that every four to five days until the spider mites are gone. (For mealybugs), if you want an organic method, use a Q-tip dipped in a little rubbing alcohol to remove (them).
Q: What about fertilizing indoor plants?
A: Most houseplants don’t need as much fertilizer as the labels say. I use products at half-strength once a month and only when they’re in active growth. For example, if you have cool temperatures and shortened days _ from fall through winter _ they’re not actively growing and so they don’t need food. Start fertilizer as the daylight grows longer in spring.
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