Houseplants with leaves, such as a ficus plant or Swiss cheese plant, should be cleaned regularly to promote healthy growth and avoid suffocation. It can be easy to neglect indoor plants over the winter months seeing as they lie dormant, but with many emerging, taking easy steps to help the houseplant enter its growth season is crucial.
Keeping indoor plants clean is easily done in a variety of different ways, but I decided to keep it nice and simple by using a microfibre cloth.
I used Marigold’s Let It Shine! Microfibre Cloths which are super soft and great for this kind of job.
They can be purchased from a variety of stores, including supermarkets for around £2.50 for four cloths.
Houseplants gather dust very easily, especially after the winter months, and so March is a great time to get cleaning them.
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This allows them to soak up the sun which they can convert into energy to promote new growth, and blocking the sunlight can be damaging and stunt growth.
No matter how durable the plant leaves may seem, it is important to always handle them with care as they can rip very easily.
To start with, I dusted the plant dry, carefully cleaning the leaves and wiping the dust away, not forgetting the undersides too.
I was surprised to see just how much dirt and dust the cloth picked up because my plant didn’t look too dirty.
Using cold water can leave water spots on the leaves, and water too hot may shock the plant and cause damage to the roots.
Even more dirt and dust was lifted when I wiped along the surface of the leaves with the wet microfibre cloth.
I almost forgot to clean the stem, but this is just as important, but it is crucial to take care when cleaning this part of the plant.
The pros added: “For an extra pamper for your plants, incorporate a leaf shine into your regime and simply spray over the surface of each leaf after wiping clean and you’ll have an even shinier finish.”
Cleaning houseplants on a regular basis helps to allow them to function properly and helps maintain a healthy and happy indoor plant.
However, cleaning plants isn’t the only job owners should be doing to keep them healthy. In spring, it is great to prune plants and feed them too.
The houseplant experts said: “Throughout the cold winter months, many plants will have lost leaves, whether that’s due to under or over watering, lack of humidity from heating systems, or simply losing older leaves.
“Using a clean, sharp pair of secateurs or pruners, cut off any dead leaves which appear brown or yellow, or which show early signs of disease.”
It is also the right time to increase a watering schedule as the weather warms up because plants will generally need to be hydrated more often.
Fertiliser can also start to be used which will enrich the soil with all of the nutrients it needs to survive the summer.