Characteristics of Healthy House Plants

It is a good thing if you can easily identify healthy house plants by simply looking at their characteristics. These characteristics of healthy house plants are your guide to know which particular plants are suitable for you to use in your home. The more you can readily spot out these traits, the easier it will be for you to know which plants will be best for your house.

To help you get started, it would also help if you can identify the four distinct characteristics of these plants. Once you have read this article and learned about these characteristics, then you can start to choose the specific house plants that you will use inside your home.

Choosing the Type of House Plants

When choosing for the type of house plants to use inside your house, it will be better for you to look at the leaves, the flowers, the size and the shape of the leaves, stems, and roots. Each feature will indicate whether the plant is healthy or not. The flowers and leaves are those things that people usually look at first when they are considering which house plants to use inside their home. These two characteristics of healthy house plants are shiny and glossy.

Appearance of Leaves

Shiny and glossy leaves of the plants indicate that the plant has not been subjected to too much sunlight. The reason why plants get glossy and shiny leaves is because they do not need to get exposed to direct sunlight to maintain its glossy and colorless appearance. Leaves of these plants can also be dark green in color depending on the species. The darker colored leaves mean that the plant does not need to get too much sunlight.

Size and Width of Leaves

The second characteristic is the size and the shape of the leaf. The size of the leaf is typically measured by length, width and depth. The longer the leaf is, the bigger its diameter. The width of the leaf refers to its height. Depth of the leaves indicates how much water the plant gets every day. For example, if the leaves are below the soil line, the plant gets less water and vice versa.

Shape of Leaves

The other characteristic is the shape of the plant. A round, square or rectangular shape of the leaf means that the plant has a wider surface than other shapes. In addition, the leaves are placed in areas that allow them to receive ample exposure to sunlight and air. If the plant is facing a window, the angle of the leaf should be more than 45 degrees to allow light to penetrate.

Number of Stem Type

The third characteristic is the number of leaves and the number of stem types. When it comes to the number of leaves, the healthier the plant is, the more number of leaves it has. This characteristic is most noticeable on younger plants because their roots are just starting to grow out. On the other hand, a plant with only two to three sets of leaves or a single set of leaves is considered unhealthy.

Number of Stems on Leaves

The fourth characteristic is the number of stems present on the leaves. The healthier plants usually have many stems on the leaf. Stems are used to attach the leaves to the stems. However, if the stems are missing or the plant is suffering from some kind of disease, the plant cannot absorb enough nutrients. In such cases, the plant will not thrive and become a danger to humans and other living things.

Location of House Plants

In conclusion, the fifth and last characteristic to notice about healthy house plants is that the location where the plants are placed plays an important role in their survival and proliferation.

Different plants need different kinds of climate conditions. If the plants are grown in places where they get too much sunshine or too much cold, they may die out due to lack of water or in extreme temperatures. As a result, it is important for people to choose the location for their plants carefully. Otherwise, they risk having their plants attacked by insects and other pests.