Summer Houseplant Essentials: tips to keep those babies thriving! 🌞🪴

Spring has SPRUNG!

As we're switching our coffee orders to iced and sunshine starts to fill our homes, you may be wondering how your beloved plants will cope with this welcome change of season. Here at Plants and Papers, our expert plant handlers are gearing up to take advantage of summer growth opportunities and overcome any challenges posed by the warmer temperatures. Therefore, we thought there's no better way to enter the blog-writing sphere than by sharing with you all our handy summer care guide.

As with any season, the key things to focus on are light, watering, humidity, pruning, pests, repotting and feeding. We will delve in to these below...

LIGHT

With the sun shining it's glorious rays in to our homes again, it's time to consider which of your plants are best at dealing with the most intense spots. 

When considering placements, it's best to consider where your plant grows in it's natural habitat. Is it a rainforest floor kind of guy? Or is it a desert plant, more suited to scorching, arid conditions (like some of our cacti & succulents)?

Placement will vary from plant to plant and home to home and there's no set guide book, but the best rule of thumb is to move most of your plants away from any south-facing windows. The more hardy and robust cacti & succulents will be able to deal with the intense light, but keep an eye on any discolouration and move away accordingly. This will prevent leaf scorching and constant dehydration, allowing your plants to continue flourishing. 

WATERING

Just like us - our plants are thirsty guys during the summer months.

Watering schedules will need to change and be carried out a lot more frequently due to their faster grow rates during this season. 

For the plants in higher heat spots, check them every couple of days and for the more shaded spots, check every week. A lot of plants will not tolerate being dried out during this period so be extremely vigilant to prevent them dehydrating. A further useful tip is to water in the morning to prevent overnight dampness.

HUMIDITY

Ensure there is a decent amount of air circulation running through your home during this time. For us, we make sure we have a door or window open to regulate this. If you are struggling with a particular plants needs that usually enjoy high humidity, such as a fern, consider moving it to a bathroom during the summer, it will thank you!

PRUNING

Now is the time to say goodbye to any sad looking leaves and allow your plant to shift it's energy focus to new growth. 

With adequate pruning, your plant will prioritise new, healthy growth which is the key to promoting flowering!

PESTS

Pests can sneak up on you during any season but with the increased watering, comes an increased risk of pests. 

Get a torch into each plant and check your soil, leaves and stems to ensure there aren't any pests making home there. If you think you have found some, isolate your plant immediately and treat accordingly. 

REPOTTING

Spring/Summer is the PERFECT time to repot your plants. 

Make sure you're using the correct soil and mixing in vital nutrients (this is so important). Your standard 'compost mix' will not cut it and your plant may struggle to survive without the correct drainage substrate. Luckily for you, we sell our specialist mixes in store. We also offer a repot service which is stress free and we do it all for you.

FEEDING

If you want your plants to reach new heights (literally), the hack you need is plant food. 

The warmer months are the perfect time for this, a couple of drops of plant food in the water you are already using to water your plants will majorly improve their growth rate. Easy work but impressive results!

 

We hope this has left you and your plants fully prepared to deal with the sunny period. We are always more than happy to see your plants on our Instagram or when you pop in to see us. For any further advice, you can contact us on Instagram, Email or the Live Chat feature on our website.

All that's left to say is, bring on summer! 😎