The Ficus Wrangler's Profile

Good post. There's nothing more fun than making pots of plants from one or two. As for plant killers, I never convict them...I know it's not their fault. They just don't understand.

There are a few simple tricks to know so you can declare "Down With Dead Houseplants." The most important is to test the moisture level in the bottom of the pot with a wooden dowel or kebob skewer.

Depending on the type of plant and light level, the soil needs to be completely dry to only slightly damp before you water again. For instance, succulents should be completely dry (in medium light) to almost dry (in higher light). Why don't you drop by my blog or YouTube spot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBh0RPPqu0 to learn some more.

But what about living plants? Flowering plants are beautiful, and last much longer than cut flowers - peace lilies, orchids, bromeliads are always available, other flowering plants are in the stores, not to mention arrangements of foliage plants, or foliage and flowers. I would always rather have a living plant than a bouquet of flowers. (Hint hint, kids.)

I'm an interior horticulturist, I've been taking care of indoor potted plants for many years, sometimes in commercial settings, sometimes in private homes. I'd like to add a few comments to the above.

The best rule of thumb that I can offer is that you need to test the soil for moisture before you water. That means all the way to the bottom of the pot, not just on the surface. Use a kebob skewer, as if you were testing a cake. There should be only a few crumbs of soil sticking to it, and only a slight trace of moisture on the stick. If you dig up some of the soil and squeeze it between your fingers, it should feel soft and cool, but not at all wet.

Humidity is not a factor important to the common indoor plants - you don't need to worry about misting.

Putting a "drainage layer" in the bottom of pots is actually a myth. What is true is that water needs to drain out of pots, and not be kept in the soil. Wet soil=wet roots=rotted roots=dead plants. Water thoroughly when you water, allowing water to drain, then don't water again until the soil tests soft and cool.

Cats don't like to eat all plants. Experiment with small plants, to find what they will leave alone, before you invest in large plants. Good tip about giving them dark salad greens.

To michelleb and everybody else who feels like they have to struggle to keep plants alive, please stop by my youTube channel and check out some videos on houseplant care, like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBh0RPPqu0. Also my blog http://theficuswrangler.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to communicate - I'm ready to be your personal plant guru. You might want to remember, green thumbs aren't green, they're just dirty.

On cats and plants -
I've had cats and plants together for 45 years, and I've never chosen to NOT have a plant because it was on some "toxic" list, nor have I ever had a cat sicken from biting into any of the "toxic" plants. They will bite into them (pothos, peace lily, philodendron, syngonium, sanseveria, schefflera, to name some common ones,) but they won't eat them. I suppose they don't taste good.

On the other hand, many of the plants on the non-toxic list they eat to shreds - palms and spider plants, especially - so I don't keep those is my house. I suggest, if you have cats and would like to have plants also, that you get small pots of whatever you would like to try, and see if the cats eat them. If they don't eat them, you're good to go. Also definitely provide your cat with some greens that they CAN eat, it really contributes to their health and well being.

I can't RECOMMEND to anyone that they ignore the toxic lists - I don't want to get in trouble. But I can tell you my experience. Of course, there will be people who will say that their cat ate some plant and was poisoned by it. I suppose it does happen, probably with approximately the same frequency as cats who die after jumping out of 10th story windows.

A thing to remember about toxicity lists - they're compiled by experimenters who forcibly administer plants or substances derived from plants to captive animals to learn how long it takes them to sicken and die.

Plants that I would suggest being cautious with because of possible reactions in people are dieffenbachea, which in some people will cause itching and burning from just touching the leaves; pencil cactus (E tirucalli), which causes severe reaction in some people if they touch the milky sap; and ficus spp, the sap of which can also cause itching, and possibly strong reactions in some people.

Aninhas, re: plants in tins, you can remove plants from their grow pots and slip them into plastic sandwich bags for small plants, bigger baggies for larger plants, and put those into the tins. Just be careful to test the soil before watering, and pour carefully so water doesn't spill into tins.
Gmad, rotating plants should be a regular part of plant care along with watering, dusting and inspecting for bugs. Everyone should do it, good for you for having it together.
Discerning, great ideas for using cages to keep cats out of the plants. Some other ideas: crumpled chicken wire on the soil, big rocks on the soil, sticky stuff (wrap a few rocks with double-sided tape, put some tacky glue on rocks, etc.)

Rachael, there are lots of smaller plants you could use.

Excellent suggestion, ebrown. Clever interior landscapers do that all the time.

Mary C - if the window sill is high, I assume it's kind of hard to water, so you need some plants that don't need a lot of water, and will be content in a north window. And some things that would hang down so you can enjoy the foliage. Why not try sanseveria (snake plant),hoya, spider plant, maybe a rhipalis or a burro's tail (sedum morganianum), or a bromeliad or orchid for color now and then. A small window sill allows you to get small plants which are inexpensive, so you can try different things.

Ficus really has got a bum rap. They aren't fickle, AmyZ, they drop their leaves when the light changes, so they can grow new leaves suited for the changed light condition. Some people have had good results by spraying the ficus LIBERALLY all over with plain water for the first five days when they move one into their home, or change its location. Even if it loses leaves, just make sure it has a general moderately-high to high light, don't let it dry out, and it should be ok. For more about light, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7-3p-nqMM.

Pi, if you hang your fern up high (see my comment above about hanging plants), your cat can't reach it.