If you’ve ever taken care of an indoor plant or an office plant, you know how much fun they can be.
Indoor plants can add freshness and a touch of nature indoors. Their beauty and color can add a pleasant and calming touch to any room.
But you may also be mindful of how challenging it can be to maintain a healthy indoor plant. They can’t survive on their own, after all. They need a lot of care and attention.
Before making a decision, take into account each of the following aspects if you’re thinking about adding plants to your office space. That way, you won’t have to throw the poor thing away after a few months!
Why Do You Want a Plant in Your Office?
You might wish to get plants for your office for a variety of reasons.
Some people prefer to add plants to provide an open area with a little more privacy. They might also be looking for a plant only for aesthetic reasons, such as to replicate a botanical-themed room design they saw online. Perhaps they are attempting to create a more tranquil environment for their clients or consumers because they are aware that plants can have a relaxing effect. Some people simply want a pretty living thing to display on their desk.
Maintaining a little plant and seeing it develop, often over many years, may add a relaxing habit to your day and inject some joy into such a sterile workplace environment. Establishing your expectations for the plant’s purpose in the workplace is an important starting point because it will influence where the plant should be placed and how it should appear.
Once you’ve decided where in the office you want to place your plant, you may select a plant that will look great there and do well given the lighting, humidity, and other factors that are present.
You can also be more practical about how much time and effort you will be able to allocate to caring for the plant based on where it is. A small plant on a person’s personal desk may be less likely to be neglected than one that is tucked away in a communal area, a corner, or on a conference room table.
Office Plants Care and Maintenance
Nowadays, more and more people like indoor plants, particularly in offices. Indoor plants not only help maintain clean air, but they also promote relaxation and increase productivity.
Having said that, it’s crucial to understand how to properly care for indoor plants. Here are a few simple steps you can take to make sure your potted plant thrives healthily.
Water
Water is undeniably the secret to keeping any plant content and healthy. However, without doing any research on the plant itself, it’s very simple for people to simply pour a cup of cold water into their pots and call it a day.
Remind yourself to water your plants with lukewarm water before proceeding to the common sink.
When the earth seems exceptionally dry, it can be tempting to drench your plants with ice cold water, but this can be more harmful than you might imagine! After all, for plants to develop, their roots need to be warm. Since most plants do best in humid environments, lukewarm water will also aid in simulating humid conditions.
Moreover, keep an eye out for indications of underwatering, including brown edges on the leaf tips of your plant. But not only that. A plant might also become ill from having too much water. Yellowing leaves and fungus gnats are indicators of overwatering. Your plant’s pot should have a drainage hole on the bottom to prevent the roots from sitting in water and rotting.
Pots
Plants in pots that are too big for them risk having their roots rot, while plants in pots that are too small risk having their growth stunted by the soil drying out too quickly.
The pot’s composition can also affect how healthy your plant is in general. In fact, plastic containers hold onto moisture better, requiring less regular watering. Succulents and orchids do well in terra-cotta containers since they are more porous, which means you should water your plant more frequently.
“Double potting” will aid with appropriate drainage by catching any excess water if you’re concerned about leaks. When you double pot a plant, you place it in a bigger pot. You might do this because the attractive decorative pot you choose lacks draining holes, whereas the plastic pot does. Therefore, you may make use of the drainage holes while enjoying the attractive container. Depending on the time of year or a special occasion, you can easily change out the outer pot. To avoid problems with root rot or fungi, you should take care not to constantly leave the soil in standing water.
Lighting
One of the factors that might help or hinder your plant’s natural growth is lighting. Naturally, it can be challenging to keep your indoor plants in an office, especially if there doesn’t seem to be much sunlight there.
Fortunately, this doesn’t always entail switching to taking care of low-light plants. You can always make an investment in a lamp that simulates sunlight to keep your office plants healthy and happy! No potted companion should be prevented from enjoying some sunshine.
Temperature
For the majority of plants, they will thrive in a standard indoor office environment, but it’s important to evaluate whether temperature changes during extended workplace closures, such as those during the winter holidays, may cause serious stress to your plants.
Additionally, you should keep a watch of the location of the plant with regard to the heating and cooling registers because most plants find it unpleasant to constantly be exposed to hot or cold air.
Fertilizer
When a plant is a part of a healthier environment, the minerals that the plant absorbs from the soil around them are restored naturally.
Since your plant is potted, the nutrients in your pot soil will ultimately be completely depleted, so you’ll need to regularly supply them. Liquid fertilizers that disperse in your watering can or slow-release pellets that gradually break down in your soil over time are both options.
The Size and Aesthetics of Plants
Of course, you may now focus on the specific plant types that will work well in your office space after learning what the plant would need in terms of maintenance and environmental conditions.
Because the plant will continue to develop once you buy it and bring it with you, be sure to take the mature height and width into account when looking over your plant alternatives.
Indoor plants come in a wide variety of forms, dimensions, and colors. Choose a plant that speaks to you in terms of color and shape—one that you’ll like seeing every day, ideally for many years to come.
It’s not as difficult as you would think to add some office plants to your workspace and make it more attractive.
Consider including our indoor bonsai trees in your starter pack. You may become a certified plant whisperer and the talk of the office with the right care and some useful knowledge from us!
