Welcome to our care guide page, where we list all our personal guidance on taking care of each particular indoor houseplant in your collection. If you can’t find a certain plant you need help taking care of PLEASE reach out on our contact page and we are happy to help.

African Violet - African Violets are such beautiful little plants but a little finicky as they do not like to get there leaves wet. It is a must that you bottom water an African Violet by sitting it in a bowl or container of water filled halfway up the pot for 15 minutes. These plants enjoy slightly drying in between waterings, if you stick your finger in the soil it should not be moist in the top 1” of soil. If it is still moist, give another couple days to dry slightly before watering again. Sunlight requirements for African Violets is no direct sun on them, they like a bright indirect area to be in and they also should be rotated weekly to keep the plant from growing towards the sun.

Agave - Agave are very similar to dessert Cacti, they enjoy a dry climate with at least 6 hours of light a day. As a slow growing plant they do not require much food or water. Always ensure your Agave is thoroughly dry before watering it next, sticking your finger in the soil will always tell you best if the soil is still moist or not. When it is time to water it, bottom watering is best for Agave since the soil dries out so much and becomes hydrophobic. You can bottom water by sitting it in a bowl or container of water filled halfway up the pot for 15 minutes and then remove and return to original location. During winter months you should also be watering it less frequently as you do during the spring/summer months.

Aglaonema - Aglaonemas are another staple plant that is always so hardy! This plant doesn’t like to stay very moist so its important that you let the soil moderately dry in between waterings (not totally bone dry here, they are not cactuses!!). To check if its time to water, stick your finger into the soil a few inches down and if it feels very moist, wait a couple more days and check back on it again. If the top few inches of soil are dry then its time to give it a good drink! To ensure you are giving it a good watering, always water your plant till it starts coming out the hole in the bottom of the pot.

Aloe Vera - Aloe Vera is a top plant in our list, not only is it a great houseplant but you can use it medicinally! That being said sometimes they are easy peasy to take care of and sometimes they are just not happy. Thankfully, they give all sorts of signs to let you know what’s going on. Before I get into it, the basics you need to know when caring for an Aloe Vera is that they are a succulent, they love bright light! This isn’t me saying they want burning hot direct sun all day but a nice area with bright indirect light for around 6 hours a day. Since they are a succulent and as you can tell their leaves are very thick, they retain water. That being said its important to let them dry completely in-between waterings so they do not get over watered. When they are thoroughly dried out and its best to bottom water to ensure they get a good drink. As I was saying earlier Aloe give a variety of tell tale signs on what may be going on with them. To start off, when Aloe leaves are looking thinner than there usual plumper leafed self, and starting to even have wrinkles in their leaves, it means they are being underwatered and should be watering more frequently or thoroughly. When Aloe leaves are starting to turn yellowish and the leaves are nice a plump then that means they are starting to get over watered, you should start letting your plant dry out more in between waterings, always be careful your plant is not sitting in water as well! Aloe is also prone to turning red/brownish, this happens when your plant is receiving too much sun so move it to a location with only bright indirect light and not full sun all day long.

Begonia - Begonias enjoy a bright indirect light location in your home or business, they don’t enjoy any direct sun or else you will see scorching spots on their leaves. They also like to dry slightly in between waterings, they do not want to stay moist or dry out too much in between waterings which can make them a little tricky sometimes.

Christmas Cactus - Christmas Cactus, along with the Easter and Thanksgiving Cactus, are great staple plants and have been around for such a long time! I often hear about large old Christmas Cactus being passed down from parents or grandparents to their children/grandchildren. These plants enjoy a bright indirect light location, they also enjoy high humidity making them great bathroom plants if you have a nice bright window there. As for watering, Christmas Cactus enjoy moderately drying in between waterings, when you stick your finger in the soil the top couple of inches should be dry but then give it a good thorough watering until the water comes out the holes at the bottom of the pot, the pot should feel heavier as well after a good watering.

Dessert Cacti (Assorted) - As there are over 2,000 kinds of cacti, this is a general care information for cacti and not any in particular but most can thrive on what I will be advising. If you have a specific type of cactus and would like particular care feel free to reach out to us and we will provide information for you! Most cacti want around 6 hours or so of bright light. In the spring/summer months you can water your cactus as often as every few weeks but only if the soil is completely dry as well. In the winter/cooler months, growing is not happening for cacti, in fact they go dormant for the cooler weather periods so you will not want to water for a good month and a half to 2 months. As I say its always better to underwater than to over water!

Calathea - Calatheas come in all sorts of patterns and colors, they really are beautiful unique plants. They are a more particular plant, they enjoy a bright indirect light and to be rotated once a week if light is coming from one direction, their leaves will burn if direct sun gets onto them so be weary of any direct sunlight coming inside. For watering Calatheas enjoy to stay evenly moist during their growing season, as temps cool in the winter time you can ease up on the watering a tad as they are not growing and consuming as much as they are in their growing periods. Calatheas also require humidity so a nice misting once a day is needed to have optimal growth, if you can shower the leaves each time you water your plant as well it would highly enjoy that.

Dracaena - The Dracaena plant is a quite the flexible and hardy plant, I’ve even had family members who don’t necessarily have the greenest of thumbs have one of these plants for 10+ years! They are forgiving if you forget to water them for a couple of days. Dracaenas can handle a variety of light, they will have optimal growth when in bright indirect light but can also tolerate some low light as well. When it comes to watering, they enjoy drying slightly in between waterings, like I said they are forgiving if you forget about them for a few days but the tips of their leaves will brown easily as well.

English Ivy - What a staple plant English Ivy can be but boy can they be tricky sometimes! Its essential whenever you are watering your English Ivy that you wet/shower off the leaves as well and on days you are not watering you should give it a nice misting. When should you water? Well they do not like to dry out in-between waterings so keeping them evenly moist is key. As for lighting, bright indirect light is best for optimal growth but can handle a moderate indirect light if needed. Rotating your plant weekly is always encouraged to keep even growth on all sides of the plant.

Ferns - Ferns are such luscious plants and come in so many shapes, sizes and even colors! Now there are many different types of ferns so this is just your general fern care guide. Ferns are best when watered in a sink (or even shower) to ensure you wet there leaves as you water them. Not only do they love it and thrive when you do this but it helps prevent pests. This also helps add some extra “humidity” for them which they desire. Ferns do not like to dry out; when they do, their leaves do as well and then your full, fluffy, green isn’t so full and fluffy anymore… and not as green ether. I’m not saying to keep them sopping wet in a bowl of water 24/7 but they do want to stay evenly moist. They do require a bit more attention than some houseplants but the fabulous part about ferns is that they don’t require as much sun as most other plants do, they are very versatile with their light, they don’t mind being set back farther in your house but all they ask is to not have hot, direct, strong sun on them.

Ficus benjamina - The Ficus benjamina comes in many shapes and sizes, some even come with fun braided trunks. Although they can be a tad dramatic at times, they make great houseplants especially if you are looking for that “tree” look for inside your home. Most Ficus plants do not enjoy being moved, once you find a spot for it in your house, its not going to want to be moved. If you have to move it, just know the plant will go through some shock from its move, which means it will probably shed a few leaves but no fear as in they will grow back. When it comes to watering, these plants only like the top inch of their soil to dry out in between each watering, never keep your plant sitting in water for an extensive period of time as well, this will cause root rot to occur. Ficus benjamina enjoys a lot of light, I would encourage you to put it in a bright location of your house, they are not a plant that will tolerate much shade.

Golden Pothos - Golden Pothos is one of our favorites here at Potsalot, talk about a hardy plant! Given the right location they are FAST growers as well which you can then do so much with. They are also pretty versatile when it comes to where they can and cant grow. Most areas they will do well in but when put in an area with less light this will slow down the rate of growth, which can be okay as long as your okay with it! For optimal growth, they enjoy a bright indirect light location and to dry slightly in between waterings. This means if you stick your finger in the soil, the top inch of soil is no longer moist but farther down you go the soil has some moisture to it.

Hoya - The Hoya also known as the Wax Plant, are truly amazing and beautiful plants. There are hundreds of different varieties of this plant out there in the world, in so many shapes, patterns, colors, etc. Hoyas are so forgiving when it comes to watering, if you forget about them for a few days longer than you should have, they won’t be so dramatic about it and they are actually a succulent plant due to their leaves storing water in them. Some people water their Hoyas when the leaves start to get wrinkly, this is a tell tale sign for all succulents that they are in need of a good drink! Your Hoya plant wants to thoroughly dry in between waterings, so when you think its time to water your hoya, stick your finger in the soil as deep as you can and if it feels dry, its time for a good drink. Since Hoya plants like to dry so thoroughly in between waterings, we would suggest bottom watering your plant to ensure a healthy drink for your plant.

Monstera Deliciosa - Monstera Deliciosa, also known just as a Monstera, are quite popular these days. These plants grow large in size and are commonly boughten as a larger size but if you like the reward of watching your plants grow from a small 4 - 6” pot into a large beauty then Monstera’s are a great plant. These plants are pretty easy to take care of which is why they are commonly enjoyed among most indoor houseplant lovers! They enjoy a bright indirect light location to ensure large leaves grow, when its not a bright enough location, you will notice the leaves are smaller than how they should be. As a large leaved plant, they do not want direct sun on their leaves can burn, if you see large brown spots randomly appearing on your

Peace Lily - Peace lily’s are the queen of being dramatic when it comes to not getting watered appropriately, thankfully they revive pretty readily if you water them soon enough after their dramatic drooping. These plants are not a fan of drying out too much, we would suggest keeping your Peace Lily evenly moist if it’s in a 4” or 6” pot, once you start to get larger peace lilies (8” or larger) we recommend you let an inch or two of your plant dry out before giving it another drink. You are just letting it dry slightly in between waterings to give the plant a little breather in between those waterings.

Prayer Plant - Prayer Plants are always a classic as well. I’ve heard from many customers about how they have inherited their large prayer plant from their mother or grandmother. What’s not to love about this plant as they close their leaves upwards when evening comes around and then open back up by laying their leaves downwards when morning comes again; hence the common name Prayer Plant.

Snake Plant - Also known as Mother’s In-Law tongue, these great plants are so hardy! Always know its best to underwater than to overwater them, they enjoy going completely dry in between each watering. When thoroughly dried out, water from the bottom by sitting them in a bowl or tub of water for 10-15 minutes so the water can soak from the bottom of the pot all the way to the top of the pot. As for light snake plants are wonderful as they can tolerate lower lighting spaces or some bright indirect light areas as well.

Spider Plant - If you like to propagate and share your plant babies with friends then spider plants are for you! Once your spider plant starts to shoot out there little runners (the long stalk with a mini spider plant at the end) your bound to get thousands more so get your scissors and pots ready! You can help promote growth of these runners by giving your spider plant optimal growing light and waterings (fertilizer certainly helps too). Spider plants love bright indirect light locations or any bright location as long as its not hot direct sun on them all day that will fry them to a crisp then they will love it. With watering your spider plant, they don’t quite like to dry out too much. You can let the first top inch of soil dry out and then I would suggest giving enough water where it starts coming out the bottom of the pot to make certain enough water has been given to your plant.

ZZ Plant - The Zamioculcas zamiifolia, better known as the ZZ plant is well known for its love of being forgotten about. As these plants are easily susceptible to root rot, they need to dry out completely in between watering. If you stick your finger in the soil and you feel moisture then you should not water until there is no moisture detected. As for lighting, they can tolerate quite a few different locations. They are commonly known for there ability to take very low lighting, while this is true you will want to let it dry out for an especially long time. These plants have a rhizomes root system and if you take a look at their roots you will see large potato looking bulb in the root system. This potato stores water for the plant. Therefore, it is very easy to over water. Chances are if you think your ZZ plant is ready for a watering, it could probably use some more time to dry out even more thoroughly.