They say having plants in your home will make you happier and healthier. A burst of green along with the fresh, clean smell of flowers are welcoming and comforting and can take a house to a place you’ll call home. So what do you choose? How do you keep your plants thriving? Do you have a green thumb?

I’m not the best at keeping plants going. It’s a curse I was born with, but I continue to try. I’ll buy a plant, try and solve its riddle and usually succeed for awhile, but then somewhere along the line, the leaves start to turn brown and the plant starts to look a little rough. I google and try everything I can find, but in the end I tend to lose the battle. But I don’t like fake plants and refuse to use them in my home.

So how do you keep your plants alive?

Pick the right plants. Plants need sunlight to thrive and some need more than others. Pay attention to this when shopping – putting a sun thriving plant on a shady part of your living room is going to guarantee disaster. Also watch for drafts. You may have a bright sunny window, but if the cold air is creeping in through that window, all the sun in the world may not save the tropical plant you put it in.

Watch the water. One of the easiest things to do is to overwater a plant. Trust me. Making things worse, overwatered plants often have leaves that turn brown and start to curl up…which is also a good indication of underwatering. Watering is probably one of the hardest parts to master. If a plant seems to be dying and you’ve been watering, back off on the water and see if that helps.

Poor potting. Read about the plant and know how to set one up. Proper drainage is usually required on most plants. Leaving water stagnating at the bottom of the pot and close to the roots can cause all sorts of fungus and diseases in your plant that will kill it off slowly while you watch in horror and try in vain to stop the slow spread.

Feed me Seymour. Don’t forget to feed your plants with fertilizers. Check your plants’ specific needs. Since they are not living in soil whose nutrients are replenished in the natural cycle, you’ll need to replenish those nutrients through fertilizers.

Despite all that advice, I still admit to being really good at killing a plant. I’m currently nursing a bird of paradise and some orchids and while I refuse to give up, I have a larger plant that I think I need to admit defeat on. If you have some great tips, we’d love to hear them.

image courtesy of Amadeusz Leonardo Juskowiak