Some people find keeping indoor plants intimidating. With these 4 simple rules you will find it far easier to care for your new green babies. Start with one or two plants and when you feel you have the hang of it, add a few more and start experimenting!

1) WATER. Most people often “kill their plants with kindness”. In other words they water them too much! Each plant you buy will have a slightly different condition it needs to thrive in. The amount of water it needs is number one! Despite what you may think, many plants (if any) need to be watered every day. Many are happy being watered once a week, some, once a month. It all depends on where they are placed in your home (near a heater, a bright window or perhaps a dark corner) and it will also depend on the season – typically in the summer months plants will need watering a little more often.

A sure fire way to know whether your plant needs water is to use what I call…The Finger Trick! Put simply, insert your index finger into the soil, up to about the first joint, and feel for moisture. If the soil is dry, give the plant a nice drenching with water (making sure it drains thoroughly), but if it is still damp, leave for another week or so befor watering. Simple!

2) DRAINAGE. All plants need proper drainage (unless they are water plants). I liken the need for drainage of plants to as if a human were to sit in the bath for a day. How would you feel? Not nice right? It is the same with plants – they need their roots to dry out between watering to avoid root rot and promote growth. If you have a saucer under your plant and it is sitting in drainage water for more than a day or two, tip the water out and use tip number 1 to know when to water next.

Always choose pots that have drainage hole/s. If you buy an ornamental pot that has no hole, I strongly recommend finding a plant in a plastic, nursery container that fits snuggly into the pot. You can then take it in and out to water. If you cant find a plastic pot that fits exactly, you can either cut the top of the plastic down to size, prop it using rocks or Styrofoam or drill a drainage hole in the bottom ( the later being something I am not that comfortable doing as I am scared I will break my pretty new purchase).

3) LIGHT. Lets face it. No plant is actually designed to be an “indoor plant”. Plants live in nature in so many different climates and conditions, but plants chosen for placement indoors are typically plants that require indirect or filtered light. There are a few plants (Mother-in-Laws Tongue or Zanzibar for example) that can survive in very low light, but most prefer sitting on a shelf, bench or stand near a window (be careful not to let the blazing sun shine directly on most as it may burn their leaves – think of a plant in a lovely lush rainforest, sheltered underneath the canopy).

I also find rotating plants to different positions in the home also helpful. If you notice a plant looks a little limp, it may need a cooler or more humid spot in the house (the bathroom is a great spot for plants that need humidity), if a plant has leaves that look scorched or brown in the middle, move them away from the direct light source as they may be burning. (Note – browning on the tips of the leaves usually means a drainage issue). Rotating plants helps them as they receive varing degrees of light and air which help with growth.

4) LOVE. This is my favourite tip. When you go to buy a plant, be prepared to care for it as you would a pet. You can not simply buy and forget! Life can be busy and hectic, but I find the process of inspecting my plants a really therapeutic practise. I observe how their leaves look – perky and full or limp and dehydrated? Browning tips or any yellow or brown discoloration? The presences of pests (this will be discussed in later blogs) or thick full growth?

By paying attention to what your plants look like, cutting back any old, brown dying leaves, wiping dusty leaves down with a damp cloth, misting them with water in a spray bottle or even putting them in the shower for a good soak to enjoy the humidity for a few hours, you will grow a plant that you love, but that also loves you back! Its all about green love baby! (Google is a great tool to use when searching for answers to signs and symptoms of problems with your plants. Even joining a Facebook group to ask questions is a fabulous step to caring for you green babies).

What makes a house a home? For most people, home is a place to be your true self, relax (after the mess and chores of every day life are put to one side), surround yourself with love, and, ultimately, be a haven from the outside world.

For me, wherever I call home, the addition of one or two (if not ten or twenty!) beautiful, lush plants adds a finishing touch to any space I reside. The colour green is said to have a calming effect, we all know the importance of being in nature for our mental health, and I strongly believe that adding real, living organisms to your surroundings elicits positive energy and hope for the future.

Having had a small scale business selling indoor plants, it came to my attention how many people were not able to or didn’t have the knowledge to keep their green babies alive. With a few simple instructions it’s really not that hard!

Throughout this blog you will find tools to equip you in making an informed decision when choosing what type of plant to buy and tips on maintaining your luscious greenery for years to come.

Come on this journey with me and discover the true beauty of green love baby!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.