You're struggling with maintaining live plants in your interior design. How can you ensure they thrive?

In cases where a room or space does not receive sufficient natural light for plants, you can use lamps with wavelengths similar to sunlight or natural light to support their growth. Additionally, techniques to channel sunlight into the home can be used. I have had a similar experience where I used mirrors and glass to direct light into a room. However, the effectiveness of this method depends on the position of the room and the apartment, but it is feasible.

Choose plants based on your home's light conditions: shade-loving plants for low light and sun-loving ones for bright areas. Rotate plants periodically for even light exposure and balanced growth.

We moved from a light, bright office to a much darker one, it was not that notable to the naked eye but a light meter shows it was almost half the light before. So, use a light metre, it will really help with placement too. Another thing we did was ger some grow bulbs on a timer that comes on between 7pm and midnight. We of course use a green energy supplier.

Light is integral to a plants health. Using a light meter you are able to pick a suitable spot. Dappled light is suitable for most indoor species. large windows with plenty of sun coming in?, consider the amount of sunlight it will receive and position as needed, watering may need to be altered to account for a thirsty plant. Many species such as ficus lyrata, strelitzias, and ficus elastica love full sun. (When purchasing from a nursery try to pick a plant already in similar lighting conditions to those of your desired space, this will ensure a smaller period of initial shock when moved from the place of purchase to its new home) Dracena Janet Craig or spathiphyllum are better suited to more of a filtered indirect light.

Using a moisture metre is a great way to keep the root rot at bay. We use a cheap one that has 3 in 1 light, moisture and PH. With our indoor plants, we have a small peace lily we use as a canary in the mine. when it starts to droop, thats when we water most the plants. Some are on a 2 peace lilly droop rotation if they don't need too much water.

Different types of watering techniques are possible. Sub irrigation- having a plant being watered from the bottom up Capillary wicking- a reservoir of water underneath with a gap between the plants pot and using string or an absorbent fabric/textile material creating an artificial root to the water source, this works well for holiday takers or a more lengthy gap in watering schedule. Over the soil- watering this way is another, usually either checking moisture levels with a moisture meter or a finger. A knuckles depth of dry soil will warrant a splash over. You can also check moisture with a chopstick which will also double as an aerating tool creating air flow around the root ball.

A key for anyone struggling is to try and only buy hardy plants. It's a real commitment to keep a large plant that has specific temperature requirements alive and there can be costs involved like heating in winter or cooling in summer,

To choose the right plant for your home, it's essential to first assess the conditions of the rooms where you plan to keep the plant, considering factors such as light, humidity, and temperature. Then, select plants that match these conditions. For instance, avoid choosing light-loving plants if your home is dimly lit, or refrain from placing a cold-loving plant near a sunny window. For example, if a room is sunny and you want to place the plant near a window where sunlight is present for hours during the day, you must consider that this condition will increase the room's temperature. Consequently, if your plant prefers cooler conditions, it may experience thermal stress in different seasons.

Indoor plants are in a sense in an opposite to that of the seasons one will encounter outdoors, for example while the watering requirements in your outdoor garden during the hot summer periods will need a higher rate of water, the indoors tends to be in need of less when you take Into account the air conditioning. Or in the winter the heating inside will also be increased thus showing the need for more water intake.

Utilising a misting sprayer can create the humid conditions or even a damp cloth used to wipe over the foliage achieves the same results as well as removing dust build up and wiping off pests.

The important issue regarding the use of soil is ensuring that the lower part of the pot has a drainage hole. This allows excess water to leave the soil, preventing it from remaining and potentially damaging the plant's roots. To improve drainage, you can use specially made drains for the pot or place medium-sized sand at the bottom.

Purchase plants that are sourced from reputable growers, this will ensure the correct soil mixture is there from the get go. Yes you will need to pot up in size as the years go on once the proper soil that your plant requires has been purchased alo g with a larger sized grow pot, you can use stones, small broken terracotta pot pieces, or blue metal to create sufficient drainage. Things like peatmoss, perlite and water crystals will help with moisture retention for thirstier plants species.

It is important to choose fertilizer according to the plant's needs. Plants often show nutrient deficiencies through symptoms like dry leaf tips, color changes, or yellowing leaves. If these are not due to plant diseases, they may be caused by a lack of nutrients in the soil. Overuse of fertilizers can also harm or kill the plant. Therefore, caution must be exercised, and fertilizers should be used based on the plant's specific requirements.