Houseplants

Brighten your home with house plants

House plants provide a beautiful natural and colourful display that brightens up any room. Interior plants can also reduce carbon dioxide levels in your home, increase humidity, keep air temperatures down, and minimise airborne dust. On eBay there is a cracking selection of flowers, and fruit and foliage plants.

House plants that prefer an even balance of sunlight and shade include Spider Plants, fruit trees and tall growing foliage plants like the Swiss Cheese vine and Neem oil tree. Plants that thrive on partial light and shade require 3-6 hours of sun exposure per day.

Some members of your indoor garden will need little exposure to direct sunlight. Full shade plants include Hostas, English Ivy, Bromelias, and Palms. Low light conditions and dry environments are perfect for ZZ plants, Snake plants, Staghorn Ferns, and Philodendron.

Sun worshipping houseplants that don't require time consuming gardening include succulents and cacti. To suit a busy lifestyle, little fuss and attention such as the Geranium varieties are great, and many also grow brilliantly in full sun. South facing window sills and conservatories are the best place to display house plants that thrive in bright light. Hanging these house plants in baskets maximises the amount of sunlight they can attract.

To help you determine the best location in your home for your pots, check the information provided on the plant's identification label. As natural light is more subtle inside the home, you may need to experiment by moving your indoor plants from place to place before you discover the ideal spot.

When the intensity of the sun reduces, due to seasonal changes, the angle of the sun also shifts. This means that a spot that previously provided perfect light or shade may no longer be adequate for your house plant.

Keep checking on the health of your houseplants to determine how they are doing. If leaves are drooping, move the plants to another place to perk them up again.