1-800-Flowers' Plant Dad Shares His Top Tip for Becoming a Veritable Plant Whisperer
Whether your living room has achieved greenhouse status or you are simply the proud owner of a pothos or two that's near and dear to your heart, your plants deserve plenty of TLC. In fact, the mere act of paying attention to them on the daily — or "listening" to them, if you will — is one of the most important things you can do as a plant parent.
Just ask Alfred Palomares, Vice President, Merchandising, and Resident Plant Dad, 1-800-Flowers.com, who stresses the importance of listening and thoroughly observing your plants regularly to ensure their health: "Whether one is just starting their plant parenting journey, or they have an established green thumb, the simplest thing to do, every day, to keep plants happy and healthy is to 'listen' to them," he told Southern Living.
"From easy-to-care-for succulents and the Red Maranta Prayer Plant that require moderate care, to more challenging varieties such as the Maiden Hair Fern, every plant requires different levels of tending but they will always 'talk' and let their plant parents know what they need," he continued. "If their leaves have started to curl or turn a shade of yellow or brown, it could signal that it needs more water. Have their roots outgrown their container? Then it's time to repot them in a new home."
Before you buy any given houseplant, Palomares is also a big advocate of doing your due diligence on the type of plant you're about to purchase: "Always do research on how much care is required whenever introducing a new plant into the green family, so one can determine how much time they can dedicate to nurture it," he said.
On that note, we're definitely doing a deep dive into this article on 20 Easy Houseplants Even Beginners Can't Kill to find our brown thumb match. Who's with us?
We'd love your thoughts: What's your favorite houseplant? Do you like a big and bold money tree or are you all about a delicate fern?
