A Guide to Plants for the Botanically Disinclined
When talking about house plants most people often say things like, “I could never for care for one,” or, “they always die,” or, “ I’m just not sure where to even start, what is a plant?” But there’s no need to worry. (Some) house plants are super easy to care for and they bring life into your home, which is great, especially if you live in a tiny Parisian apartment. Plants are a great way to learn about caring for a living thing without committing to something more full-time like a pet. You can even grow herbs and other edible plants to add some freshness to your meals, and unlike a pet, you can eat these plants without being judged by society.
Here's some beginner tips on how to care for houseplants -- I would like to preface by saying I am a plant enthusiast, not expert, and most of my tips come from the trial and error of killing my plants. Hopefully you can skip the killing part and learn from my mistakes.
Plant? Image Credit: Sofia Rose
1. How much light do they need?
Do they need a lot of direct light? No direct light? A shade plant? All plants will need some light so don't expect to put a plant in a windowless room. Make sure to figure this part out before buying your new chlorophyll producing pal -- its a lot easier to buy a different plant than to take a sledgehammer to your wall to allow for more light and your landlord will certainly prefer the former.
2. Watering!
How often do you need to water them? Weekly? Biweekly? Most plants will not need to be watered everyday. Some, like cacti, hardly need to be watered at all! Unlike you, who needs to drink eight cups a day.
3. Humidity
Does the plant thrive best in a humid climate? Will humidity be horrible for the plant? A great tip for plants that need a humid environment is putting them in the bathroom if you have a window there. Taking hot showers will then create a great humid environment for your plants. Stick the plant in the shower and you can water it and give it humidity all at once (not recommended).
4. Will this plant survive the winter?
Winters can be hard on plants even if they are house plants, there is less light and less heat, so its best not to buy plants that won’t survive the winter. In a northern climate like Paris, you should be buying plants that don't require a ton of light.
Plants! Image Credit: Sofia Rose
A great way to get a free plant is from propagation. If you know someone who has a big plant (pothos are great for this) ask them for a cutting. They need to cut from the knob, or base of the root. Take the cutting and let it sit for a day or two and then put that cutting in water, after a few weeks you can plant the cutting and it will grow into a full plant.
If you don’t want to take the risk of growing from start, you can always buy cheap plants at Plantes pour tous, they are located at 13 Rue Jean Poulmarch, near Canal St. Martin. and typically every weekend they have big plant sales all over Paris! You can find information for the sales on their Instagram. With prices ranging, on average, from 2-20 euros, these are some of the most affordable plants in Paris.
As for what types of plants you should buy, the best starter plant is a pothos, you have probably seen one before even if you weren’t sure what they were called. They are super flexible, they do not need that much light, and they aren’t too finicky when it comes to watering. Plus they are super easy to propagate and make more plants from.
Ficuses are another great started plant, two of my first plants were ficuses (ficus benjamina) and I still own them both even if they are struggling a bit right now. They need a bright room, but not direct light (which is why they are struggling, since I moved since buying them). You only need to water once a week. Like I said though, stay away if you don't have a nicely lit room for them.
Prayer plants, lucky bamboo, ZZ plants, and parlor palms are all plants that are surviving in my apartment right now which has zero direct sunlight and barely any non-direct light. For all you vampires out there, these would be perfect plants for your lair.
The most important thing is to remember to listen to your plants, they will tell you what they are missing. However, if, like me, you can't speak Plant, I recommend the app Planta, which will tell you when to water your green friends and how much light they should be getting.
