How to Keep Your Plants (and Pets) Alive and Well

Most of us have (or aspire to have) plants, and many of us also have (or aspire to have) pets, and it’s imperative that we keep both alive. But that task can be more challenging than it looks: between pests that can kill your plants and plants that can hurt your pets, managing the living beings in your home may feel like a complicated game of rock-paper-scissors. 

 Luckily there are some guidelines, tips and best practices you can follow to keep all parties living in harmony (except those pests: we’ll tell you how to kick them to the curb, too).  

Best Plant Practices for the Brownish-Green Thumb

Google "easy houseplants" and you’ll be hit with the classics: Maybe a ZZ plant, a spider plant, an English ivy. And yet nothing makes you feel worse than saying goodbye to a plant that regularly lands on lists like "10 Houseplants Impossible to Kill by Even the Dumbest Person on Earth." I know this from experience: I’ve sent several ZZ plants to the compost pile over the years; meanwhile, my fiddle-leaf fig—a notoriously finicky plant—has survived, thrived, and tripled in size through several intrastate moves and being knocked to the ground by a cranky foster cat. 

 Overall, keeping a plant healthy from the get go is a far easier task than trying to revive a sickly one, and so there are some general plant maintenance rules to keep in mind no matter what. 

Watering 

 While watering on a schedule is fine in theory, different plants generally need different amounts of water: Peace lilies will start to droop after a few days with no water, but succulents thrive on neglect (same).  

The easiest way to test if a plant needs water is to stick a finger into the soil up to the second knuckle; if it’s dry, it’s watering time. You can also pick up a moisture meter for fairly cheap if you’d prefer to use a techier option. Fully saturate the soil until water runs easily out of the bottom. Water your plants in the shower or sink or, for those with delicate pipes and septic systems that might not jibe with soil build-up, with a towel folded-up under the pots; the towel will absorb the water and protect your floors.

You should also stay away from pots without drainage holes, as water settling at the bottom of a pot can lead to root rot, a quick way to send your plant to an early grave.

Fertilizing   

While not completely critical, when used appropriately fertilizer can keep houseplants healthy and free of diseases. Once a month during the growing season—usually the spring—try an organic liquid fertilizer. Though slightly more costly than chemical, organic fertilizers are generally milder and nontoxic to pets. Milder fertilizer is ideal for houseplants, which tend to be more delicate and less hearty than those hardened for the outdoors. Over-fertilizing or using a harsher fertilizer can cause burning or wilting of the leaves, and can ultimately have the opposite of the intended effect, leaving your plant more vulnerable to disease.

Pruning & Repotting 

Similar to humans—or hermit crabs, if you’d prefer a beachier analogy—plants often outgrow their homes. Luckily, unlike the sticker shock that may accompany a Zillow binge, repotting your plants won’t cost you your first born, or even close. There are two kinds of repotting and in order to select the right method, you’ll have to assess your plant’s needs. If you’re just repotting to freshen the soil, it’s as simple as removing the plant from its pot, pruning the roots, and returning it to the same pot with fresh soil. However, if the plant is very rootbound—meaning the roots are circling around and pushing up against the edges of the pot or through the drainage holes—or if the root bulb is bulging above the soil, it might be time to move the plant out of its starter home and into a pot with room to grow. 

Most houseplants thrive on repotting every year to year and a half, though you should not fertilize any recently repotted plants: not only are the plants already in fresh soil, which should contain the nutrients that fertilization usually replenishes, but sometimes roots will be damaged during the transition, and fertilizer can be harsh on damaged roots.

Repotting can be somewhat traumatic for a plant (imagine if you were violently plucked from your home with no warning!), so if your pothos is looking a little worse for wear for a few weeks afterwards, there’s no need for alarm: generally it should bounce back, better than ever.

Plants That Won’t Kill Your Pets 

Everyone needs their greens, including, as it turns out, your cat or dog. Thousands of years of domestication appears to have obliterated the "don’t eat that thing that will certainly kill you" gene, which is why so many people have ended up with a steep emergency vet bill after catching their pet chowing down on a tasty looking aloe plant.  

Several common houseplants are unfortunately toxic to pets, including snake plants, pothos and many succulents such as jade plants and the aforementioned aloe. (The ASPCA has a helpful, thorough index of plants known to be toxic to pets). If you have a dog, you might be able to keep these as hanging plants, or on a shelf high out of reach, though if you do, be careful when you’re watering or moving them. But rest assured, no matter how confident you are, nowhere is inaccessible to a cat; they will treat every shelf, railing and rod as their own personal parkour challenge. Just to be safe, stick to plants you can be sure won’t poison your pride and joy.

For a nice succulent alternative, Hens and Chickens or Burro's Tail are great options.

For a generally low maintenance plant that will also do double duty as an air purifier, check out a spider plant.

For a large plant that can dress up a corner of the room, try a parlor palm.

And for something a little more adventurous but surprisingly low-maintenance, the carnivorous Venus fly trap is an excellent statement plant—and useful, too! While your dog is lounging on the couch, oblivious to how hard you’re working to keep her alive, the venus flytrap is earning its rent, eating up to one full bug every two weeks. (It’s better than nothing.)

Killing Those Plant Pests 

You’re already battling centipedes, or busy setting mousetraps, and now you have to think about the pests who’ve made a home of your houseplants? Different types of pests may require slightly distinct approaches and products, and so it’s always best to identify the specific culprit first, but the general rule of thumb to follow is: clean, treat, dehydrate and wait.

Clean: For most pests—such as aphids, mites, scales and gnats—wipe as many invaders off individual leaves and stems as you can. A wet cloth should work just fine, but a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol may be even more effective. 

 Treat: Neem oil—derived from the neem tree—is organic and biodegradable, and has been used to treat a variety of plant diseases for hundreds of years. It’s an excellent alternative to chemical pesticides and just as effective. Combine 1 tablespoon of neem oil, 1 tablespoon of dish detergent, and 1 gallon of water to create a diluted solution ready to be sprayed on the infestation. The dish detergent both helps emulsify the oil with the water, allows the solution to cling to the plant leaves, and can even be used on its own as a pesticide. 

 Dehydrate and Wait: Many funguses thrive on moist soil, so once you’ve treated the plant, hold off on watering and let the soil dry out. If the infection doesn’t clear or seems to be worsening, it might be best to get rid of the plant—or at least move it away from the others—to safeguard against it spreading to other plants in the house. 

 As it turns out, with just just a bit of planning, maintenance and vigilance, it’s not so hard to keep all parties happy, healthy and thriving, freeing you up for other anxieties—after all, Zillow’s been biding its time.  

Photo by Kyle Johnson