Watch Debi’s five top tips on how to give your houseplants a spring-clean and health-check following the dormant winter months, ready for the growing season ahead.
Five top tips for houseplants
Read the transcript
As the days get longer and temperatures rise, houseplants start putting on new roots and shoots. Here are five ways to give them a spring clean.
- Remove dead leaves
Snip off crisp, dead foliage and any leaves that look diseased. This makes room for new growth and helps limit the spread of disease.
- Dust the leaves
Large leaves, like those on a monstera, collect household dust. Wipe them with a soft, damp cloth so light can reach the leaves.
- Check for pests
Look for mealybugs, thrips and scale insects on the stems, under leaves, at leaf joints and around the crown. If you see small black fungus gnats around the compost, move the plant away from others. Replace the top layer of compost and use a fungus gnat top dressing if needed.
- Repot plants that have outgrown their pots
Choose a pot only a little larger, as excess compost can stay wet for too long. Ease the plant out, loosen the root ball gently and remove some of the old compost. Part-fill the new pot with peat-free houseplant compost, set the plant in place, then fill around it and firm gently.
- Feed and water as growth resumes
Check the compost with a finger an inch or two below the surface before watering. Use tepid water and feed actively growing plants with a houseplant fertiliser, following the instructions on the label.
That’s my spring clean for houseplants.
