House Plants

Over the next few months I'm going to be making my home office feel more natural, moving my aquarium in there and increasing my riparian planting and I've bought some nice pot holders to build a collection of house plants - which is very new to me!

In my aquarium I currently have a Mini Monsterra and I have a Fittonia and Philodendra waiting to be added, riparian style, to the tank in a few weeks (after the move). I might add to this over time too - quite fancy a parlour palm or an umbrella palm that are meant to do well riparian/hydroponically.

I have directional spotlights in the room so I was going to add some of these over the areas where plants are growing which in the end will be 4 of 6 lights. Plant grow light bulbs

In the house plant area I have 4 planters, 2 are singular and one is a double tier. Just wondering if people had any suggestions on what to add, I'm pretty open at the moment and want a bit of variety. In the two tier one I was thinking of having something like string of pearls or string of turtles but not sure what to put at the bottom? For the single pots I like big tropical looking leaves, like regular Monsterra which I think might be one but not sure where to go on the other.

Anyone have any ideas?

Wills

I like Bamboo along with my Pothos, at some point I'll branch out ( ) since I have a 125 g

Sounds fab.
String of pearls are a must, great in a window for that jungle atmosphere. Umbrella sedge (a marginal plant) will do well in the tank, I have a couple in my outdoor tub. The parlour palms look good in a dark pot with pebbles covering the soil. Monsterra are special, but do get very big.
I love calatheas for their exotic leafy look, many colours and forms, they will enjoy the humidity from the tanks. Consider Chinese money plant and snake plant for variety. And the humble spider plant, their variegated leaves and layers of baby plants look great tumbling down, plus they're one of the easiest to care for.

Maybe some kinds of ferns ? Some of them looks very nice. Espescially the maidenhair variety.
Also, there's this kind of centella(?) which looks great when they hang down from heights. Not sure if you can find it in your area but in mine they are like weed

I’m no good with houseplants to be honest but I had a run in at my local garden centre.
I could have sworn I saw Michael J fox in there but I couldn’t get a good view of him.
He had his back to the fuschia

This is the corner where the plants will go - I have the pots but no plants so far haha!

Naughts said:

Sounds fab.
String of pearls are a must, great in a window for that jungle atmosphere. Umbrella sedge (a marginal plant) will do well in the tank, I have a couple in my outdoor tub. The parlour palms look good in a dark pot with pebbles covering the soil. Monsterra are special, but do get very big.
I love calatheas for their exotic leafy look, many colours and forms, they will enjoy the humidity from the tanks. Consider Chinese money plant and snake plant for variety. And the humble spider plant, their variegated leaves and layers of baby plants look great tumbling down, plus they're one of the easiest to care for.

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I've been looking at Calatheas and Snake Plants but think I've decided to go for a ZZ plant and an Aspidistra for the two single pots. For the double tier one I've been wondering about doing succulents in the top and maybe an Aloevera in the bottom? But a Prayer Plant might look good in there too? I might be able to have a small 'string of' plant from the top too with the right succulents?

thuctoanvietnamese said:

Maybe some kinds of ferns ? Some of them looks very nice. Espescially the maidenhair variety.
Also, there's this kind of centella(?) which looks great when they hang down from heights. Not sure if you can find it in your area but in mine they are like weed View attachment 161629

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I really like the ferns but I've read that the Maidenhair does not do well in just room temperature in the UK. Over winter it could get a bit cool for them. Really nice plant though.

Wills

I have a few house plants in my fish room and I like the look of it. One thing I did wrong was not being careful about the potting soil I got. The stuff I got is little more than shredded paper and it dries out way too fast. When I water my plants it runs right through the pot like it's running through a sieve. Come time to repot my plants and I'm going to be really picky about the soil I buy.

Back in the fold said:

I have a few house plants in my fish room and I like the look of it. One thing I did wrong was not being careful about the potting soil I got. The stuff I got is little more than shredded paper and it dries out way too fast. When I water my plants it runs right through the pot like it's running through a sieve. Come time to repot my plants and I'm going to be really picky about the soil I buy.

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Thats interesting... I hadn't thought about that. My plan was to leave them in the pots they came in until they really need to be repotted. Like put the plastic pot in the metal ones I've got? Or should I replant them straight away?

Wills

@Wills I am no houseplant expert whatsoever but I would repot them right away. Like fish , if you start out right you'll go right. There sure should be some houseplant keepers around here that can offer helpful advice. I would like to know more too.

Wills said:

Thats interesting... I hadn't thought about that. My plan was to leave them in the pots they came in until they really need to be repotted. Like put the plastic pot in the metal ones I've got? Or should I replant them straight away?

Wills

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I agree with Back In The Fold that you should repot them. Sometimes the soil inside these pots cannot provide sufficient nutrient for your plants

Do you intend using the pots you have as actual pots or pot holders? I always use pots inside pot holders as it makes watering them so much easier. Add too much water - lift the pot out and empty the excess out of the pot holder. If it was me, I would report the plants into new pots that just fit inside the pot holder but use decent quality compost. Don't use Aldi compost, that's awful. My tomato plants are in it and I wish I'd got a more expensive one.

Stenocarpus sinuatus is a huge rainforest tree from Australia but if you stick it in a 30cm pot and prune them, they can be kept around 6feet tall and have big leaves and look somewhat tropical.

If I want plants to grow quickly, i put them in big pots as soon as I get them. If I'm not too concerned about them growing, I leave them in their original pots, unless I see major roots coming out of the pots. Then they get repotted.

Wills said:

I've been looking at Calatheas and Snake Plants but think I've decided to go for a ZZ plant and an Aspidistra for the two single pots. For the double tier one I've been wondering about doing succulents in the top and maybe an Aloevera in the bottom? But a Prayer Plant might look good in there too? I might be able to have a small 'string of' plant from the top too with the right succulents?

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Good choices. Nice looking pots. The prayer plant looks similar to calathea but is less temperamental . Aloe vera might struggle with the lack of light in the bottom pot. Yes a few string plants could hang down the front/ sides with succulents towards the middle and back- they don't have big roots so there will be plenty of room.

I don't tend to repot unless there's a problem or if the roots grow out of the bottom. I use peat free houseplant potting mix and an equal measure of cactus/succulent potting mix, plus a handful of vermiculite.

This guide answers most houseplant care queries:

Naughts said:

I don't tend to repot unless there's a problem or if the roots grow out of the bottom. I use peat free houseplant potting mix and an equal measure of cactus/succulent potting mix, plus a handful of vermiculite.

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DON'T USE VERMICULITE. It's found in association with asbestos and has been considered a class one carcinogen because of this. If you want something light weight that holds water, use perlite. It's safer and does the same job as vermiculite.

Wear a dust mask when using perlite or vermiculite and rinse it under tap water before handling it to wash the dust out.

Colin_T said:

DON'T USE VERMICULITE. It's found in association with asbestos and has been considered a class one carcinogen because of this. If you want something light weight that holds water, use perlite. It's safer and does the same job as vermiculite.

Wear a dust mask when using perlite or vermiculite and rinse it under tap water before handling it to wash the dust out.

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Oh fuplie, I didn't know that!