Do people still keep houseplants?

[Guest]

DH can grow anything and currently I am sharing my bedroom with a pencil cactus.  I say "sharing" because it is currently well over 5 foot tall and 4 feet across. 

 

 

Does a 100 cubic feet of cactus count as a "house plant"?

 

Wow! That's remarkable! 

[zoobie]

I have two factors against me. I can't keep plants alive, and I have 2 cats. We do have a lot of decorative outdoor plants though.

Yes, although we have 4. The cats turn into determined ninja creatures to get at plants or cut flowers. One is part Siamese and over 20 lbs and leaves a wide swath of destruction.

 

I also have to join the "I killed aloe" club. *hangs head in shame*

 

Outside we're just as bad. I'd love to have tomatoes. Sigh.

[Kyr]

re the gnats, I had hundreds of them at the end of last summer, horribly damaging my plants roots.  A friend recommended I water my plants with chamomile tea as a way to control them and it totally cleared up my infestation.

Initially, I added a little cinnamon to the water as well, but a couple of my plants didn't like it and the chamomile seems to be working well as a maintenence/preventative alone.

[VeteranMom]

I used to keep a bunch of houseplants and really liked them.  When I moved to Colorado, I noticed that the plants started getting infested with little flying bugs.  I tried different ways to get rid of the bugs, but nothing I tried worked.  So, I tossed all the plants out.  I don't think my issue was unique, since everyone I know who has houseplants has those bugs in their plants, too.  Our piano teacher has an issue with them right now and it's pretty gross to sit near a plant and see all those bugs digging in the dirt and flying all over the place. 

[KungFuPanda]

I can keep philodendrons alive. My house has low light, I neglect them til they look wilty, dump a bunch of water on 'em, and all is forgiven.

[MistyMountain]

I voted something else. I start my vegetable garden plants indoors so from mid February to late May I have plants in my house but I don't know if they are considered houseplants or not. I do keep pepper plants and some tomato plants indoors throughout the summer. I would have kept them longer but the tomatoes didn't produce much this year so they got pulled and the peppers ended up with aphids right at the end of the summer so I just sprayed then got rid of them. I grow them for food not the air.

[TravelingChris]

Yes absolutely. I love having flowers and some fresh herbs all year round. That said, the last two houses we have lived in have had sun rooms. The one previous to those had a Florida room. My earlier places didn't have those kinds of rooms so a lot less flowers. The one we have now is smaller than at the last house but it has its own a/c and heat unit so it is the most versatile.

[Arcadia]

I have a $20 per month plant replacement budget (it's my alternative to stopping at Starbucks once a week) and I don't get upset when they die.

Lowes and Orchard Supply Hardware has a one year guarantee on plants. Home Depot has a guarantee too. You can bring your dying plant back to exchange for a new one.

[Dolphin]

I have a tropical area right outside the bedrooms. I started with a dwarf banana tree as it is one of the best for inside air quality. It is one of the first plants that I kept alive, so I added a meyer lemon and a peace lily.

 

Then I got 6 amaryllis bulbs. I keep thinking that I killed them, and then green pops up again. I need to do some research with those.

 

2 years ago I got a Kafir lime, and that is doing great.

 

This past year I have added a key lime and a vanilla orchid. We will see if they do well. 

 

I also have 2 aero gardens now. One is growing tomatoes and one I rotate between herbs and lettuce. I had the one for a couple of years, this is our first go around with the tomatoes. 

 

I just plane to keep adding slowly and seeing where it goes, but I really love having the house plants. We haven't had a problem with the cats, or the kids. The cats love to lay around the bases of the plants. Maybe it's the clean air, or the grow light, but they hang out there a lot without disturbing the plants.

[LostSurprise]

I do have plants. Sadly, my house is not suitable. The house is built with deep eaves and is thickly forested, so direct sunlight is an unusual thing. 

 

Despite that, I have 4 right now in my kitchen window (crosses fingers). Most of them are herbs I bought for myself in the last few months. I try not to get attached. I've killed aloe, mint!, rosemary (many times), sage, spider plants, flowers, a lemon tree.  :glare:

 

Many of them may of survived if I didn't have so much help watering. My kids are helpful that way. No one ever goes dry here. 

[Tap]

I have a dozen or so in the house.  Everything from 4ft tall plants to a tiny little cactus. 

[Liz CA]

I misread the title of your post as "Do people still kill houseplants?" And if that had been your title, I'd have to answer "yes" even though I wish I could keep them alive.

[mommaduck]

I'm good with outdoor plants. I kill indoor plants.

[MrsMe]

I love them, but I've not found one in many years that didn't come with some bug I had to try to get rid of. 

[IdahoHomeschooler]

I have a lovely assortment of citrus trees growing right now. They are my favorite houseplants, and I have been mostly successful in keeping them healthy. I love that I can pick my own lemons for things! I have a few other small plants, and a basil plant that I replace periodically from Trader Joe's.

[msrift]

I would love to have some, but I have terrible allergies. They foster mold growth in the soil etc and I just can't have them around.

 

This. Plus I have family members who are like hoarders except with houseplants. Just not interested in encouraging that at my house.

[Woodhaven]

I would like to have some but my cat would eat them (he's a strange cat).  Also, it seems that if something doesn't cry, ask, or meow to be fed it doesn't get fed.

I love house plants, unfortunately, so do my two cats.  They seem to consider them salad.  : (

[Tina]

I have an aloe plant that needs almost no attention and a plant that's a slip off my grandma's plant from years ago.    They get to stay.  I just tossed a couple that I've had two years.  They weren't carefree.  ;)

[fraidycat]

I've never really thought much about keeping houseplants. We move so often, I'm almost ready to be an extreme minimalist and live out of a backpack, with only one to wear and one to spare (clothes)!

 

Maybe in 5 years, I can think about owning a citrus tree or something.

[gerka528]

No, we move too often to make it worth the investment.