Caring for Your Orchids

Orchids, while popular house plants, can also be a bit finicky. You must learn how to care for them properly so that they can flourish to their fullest potential.

Here, we’ll help you learn all the ins and outs of orchid care, so you and your flower can both bloom together.

Determining Your Species   While all orchids may seem the same to you, there are actually more than 30,000 species that grow in the wild. There are two kinds most typical to be sold as houseplants, so you should start by first identifying which kind you are working with.

• Moth Orchid - also known as Phalaenopsis, these have round flowers protruding from a single tall stem with oval leaves. Usually, flowers are white, pink, or purple.
• Cane Orchid - also known as Dendrobium, these have much smaller flowers that instead grow in rows that shoot out from thick canes. You’ll often see several clusters of flowers per plant. Flowers are usually white or purple.

Knowing what kind of orchid that you are growing will help you care for it after the flowers start to bloom.

Caring for Your Orchid While in Bloom   One of the most common misconceptions about orchids is that they need loads of water to survive. In fact, they need very little water. Be careful about not over-watering your plant. Spraying Suppleplant Orchid Love on the foliage three times a week will add moisture and much-needed nutrients without making the plant susceptible to rot

Next, be careful with its placement. You don’t want your orchid to be placed anywhere it will be susceptible to cold drafts, too much direct sunlight, very dry air, or direct heat. These are all enemies of tropical plants and could easily kill your beautiful orchid.

Instead, you should aim for a spot that is warm, mild, and a bit humid.

With a happy orchid, its bloom should last a couple weeks, perhaps a bit more. Don’t worry if it doesn’t last for months and months—that’s not the way the plant is wired.

Caring for Your Orchid While Not in Bloom   After the bloom is over, do not think your orchid plant has died. Now is the time to shift from thinking about the short-term showmanship and health of the plant and to long-term preservation and care.

Clip off the old flower spikes near the base so that it has a new opportunity to re-bloom.

Most orchids are not sold in proper potting conditions. Many have moss packed around them in plastic, which can actually lead to root rot. Orchid roots need lots of fresh air. You don’t want to re-pot while in bloom, though, so we’re saving this for when they are not in bloom. This is the perfect time to do it, as you can get your plant safely re-situated without causing too much stress on the blooms.

While re-potting, go ahead and use a specifically formulated fertilizer for orchids, like Suppleplant for Orchids. This will provide the high concentration of minerals and micronutrients needed without overdosing the delicate plant.

Continue watering the plant sporadically and waiting for those beautiful blooms to make their grand re-entrance into the world.

Start loving your orchids a little better with Suppleplant Orchid fertilizer today.

Caring for Your Tropical Houseplant

Tropical houseplants can turn the inside of your home into an exotic escape if you can learn how to properly care for them so that they thrive. They are a fun addition to a home and stand out amongst the other popular kinds of houseplants. The first step to a lush, serene indoor environment is proper care for the tropical plants that live there.

Here’s the breakdown of tropical houseplant care:

Growing them Indoors   In garden centers everywhere, you’re going to see a lot of the same kinds of tropical plants for sale. This is no accident. These plants are the most popular varieties of indoor tropical plants because they are easiest to take care of and thrive the most in an indoor environment. It’s better to trust this selection rather than seek out a rare and specific tropical plant, as your chances of success are much higher with a common indoor variety.

Best Types of Houseplants for Indoors

Some of the best-performing indoor tropical plants include:

• Bromeliad
• Croton
• Chinese Evergreen
• Palm Plants
• Money Tree Plant
• Philodendron
• Spider Plants
• Bamboo Plants
• Ferns
• Rubber Tree Plant
• ZZ Plants

There are more that belong on this list as well, so do your research to discover which variety will suit the environment of your home and pick one that has historically thrived in such an atmosphere.

Watering   In general, tropical plants prefer their soil to be moist rather than soaked. Regularly checking the soil is the best way to decide whether or not you should water it. They can tolerate a bit of dryness or under-watering, but dehydration is one of the main causes of death for tropical plants being grown indoors, so be careful to not let them go too long without a fresh pour of water.

Atmosphere   Tropical plants prefer a bit of humidity similar to the tropics where they originate from, but most are able to adapt to indoor conditions. If they seem to be getting dehydrated, you can add a humidifier to the room, regularly mist them, or even put them in a mini indoor greenhouse.

Tropical plants can adapt to a wide variety of indoor conditions, but they tend to do the best when in bright light. Before deciding where to place your tropical plant, you should check to see what your species prefer. You want to find a place where it’s not so sunny that the leaves burn but is sunny enough to keep it lively, colorful, and happy.

Fertilizer   Feed your tropical houseplant the important minerals and nutrients it needs during the spring and summer seasons. You want to stay away from chemical fertilizers as tropical plants have a tendency to burn from them. Using a chemical fertilizer even once can damage the plants and burn them irreversibly.

Stick to something organic, like the Suppleplant Tropical Love houseplant fertilizer for your traditional potted tropical plants. It even doubles as a great hydroponic fertilizer for tropical plants. It is gentle enough not to damage the roots or plant but serious enough to penetrate through the soil or water and provide those much-needed nutrients.  

Try Suppleplant Tropical Love today and watch your tropical houseplants flourish.

Caring for Air Plants

Air plants are a fun and unique way to introduce greenery into your home and life. These beauties sure stand out in a room full of rooted, potted plants. Just because they don’t live in the soil, though, doesn’t mean they don’t still require a certain amount of tender loving care.

Here are the ins and outs of air plant care:

Light   Air plants thrive in bright light, particularly indirect sunlight. If sunlight isn’t readily available for your plant, a bright office light will still do the trick. Direct sunlight in short bouts is okay, but too much time under the sun, and they will be depleted of most of their moisture.

If the final home for your air plant is in a position of mostly direct light, make sure to mist it regularly to keep it from drying out.

Water   Just because they don’t grow from the soil doesn’t mean they also don’t need to be watered. They THRIVE from water and will shrivel up and die without it. They are built to survive through periods of drought and maintain their health, but there’s no need to test that or put them through a drought if there is water on hand.

Luckily, they are very forgiving, so you don’t need to worry about following a strict watering regimen. All you need to worry about is watering them regularly and paying attention to see if they are drying out.

You may be wondering how exactly one goes about watering an air plant. While spritzing and spraying are great supplemental methods, the very best is a soak. A thorough under-the-sink rinse or a 30-minute bath in a small pool of water are two great soaking methods. After the soak, go ahead and give them a good shake to remove excess water. Place them in a good spot for them to air out over the next couple of hours and then place them back in their home.

Watering once a week all the way up to 2-3 times a week is optimal, but they are built to withstand a few forgetful weeks here and there. If you choose to water them more sporadically, keep a water sprayer on hand, so you can spritz them in-between baths.

Storing   Almost any container can be purposed as a good home for your air plant. Do keep in mind that they thrive on good air circulation, so crochet and other breathable materials are often preferred as vessels to store your precious air plants. If you do choose an enclosed container, take them out regularly to give them time to breathe and spritz them to keep dehydration at bay.

Fertilizer   While fertilizing your air plants is not absolutely necessary, it is recommended for a supremely healthy and happy plant. Using a fertilizer on your air plant, like Suppleplant Airplant Love, spraying the plant liberally three times a week, will provide the most needed trace minerals to your air plant directly through a pre-mixed and water-soluble spray on the leaves.

While it may survive without airplant fertilizer, the airplant will absolutely thrive with it. Buy Suppleplant Airplant Love today and see the difference for yourself.

Caring for Your Succulent

Succulents are a good place to start if you are interested in adding more greenery to your household but are not well-versed in caring for plants. Succulents are famous for their low-maintenance lifestyle, but they still require a bit of know-how and care if they are really going to thrive.

Here are some tips on succulent care.

Light   Succulents do great outdoors because of the direct sunlight, so they can have a bit of an issue if they are placed in a spot indoors that doesn’t allow for much access to light.

While indoors, they should be placed by a window that gets great sunlight. Ideally, this will be the brightest window in your house. You should keep it as close to the window as possible, possibly on the window sill. Rarely will your succulent ever get sunburned, so the idea really is the closer the better when it comes to sunlight. 

Succulents that don’t get enough light will start to stretch out to gain as much light access as they can. If they are in the brightest spot possible but still stretching, try supplementing their needs with a grow light.

Water   Succulents famously don’t need a lot of water. This is a bit of a misconception, however, because they still need water to flourish just like any other plant. It’s no surprise that water is usually the issue that new plant owners face when it comes to keeping their plants alive.

They require a surprising amount of water to really thrive, but they don’t want water too frequently. They prefer having their roots soaked in water, which allows them to dry out over time as they use up the water. Once the soil is all dried out, they want some more water. This “soak and dry” method is their very favorite.

Try this instead of spraying them daily, as some people do, which is actually a quick way to kill them.

Seasonal Care   There are also different seasons of a succulent’s life. There will usually be a dormant period during the cooler months when the plant won’t need or use as much water as normal. Leaves and stems may shrivel up a bit, but you shouldn’t worry unless the leaves on the top are doing so. The leaves on the bottom will eventually shrivel up and die, but that’s normal. You can simply clip off the dead parts, and the top parts can still survive.

Fertilizer   Contrary to popular belief, succulents do crave fertilizer. Succulents naturally grow in dry and tough climates, where the soil must be extremely nutrient-dense to provide the plant with the minerals it needs to stay alive. Succulents are used to being fed those minerals through their roots, so the plant will still be searching for those minerals even when it is potted on your window sill.

Using a succulent-specific formula like Suppleplant Succulent fertilizer will provide the trace minerals and nutrients your succulent is craving. This specific formula is modeled after the soil succulents originally come from, so the plant will easily take to its composition. Spray generously three times a week for best results.

Make the most of your house succulent and buy Suppleplant Succulent Love today.