Tend Houseplants
Quick maintenance to keep potted plants healthy and attractive; use it when soil feels dry, leaves are dusty, or stems look leggy. This routine focuses on watering, pruning, and leaf cleaning to prevent pest buildup and stress.
What's inside
Quick maintenance to keep potted plants healthy and attractive; use it when soil feels dry, leaves are dusty, or stems look leggy. This routine focuses on watering, pruning, and leaf cleaning to prevent pest buildup and stress.
Several houseplants have dry or unevenly moist soil, dusty leaves, and a few yellowing or leggy stems.
Pots vary in size and plant type so it's unclear which need water and how much; dust and sticky residue hide pests on lower leaf surfaces, and pruning feels risky because it's hard to tell which stems are truly dead.
Soil is watered and draining, dead or overlong stems are removed, and leaves are wiped clean with undersides checked for pests.
- • Watering can — 1
- • Hand pruners — 1
- • Microfiber cloth — 1
- • Drain tray — 1
- 01Inspect and sort plantsMove pots to a flat surface, press 2 cm into the topsoil of each pot to check moisture, and mark pots that need watering, pruning, or leaf cleaning.⏱ 5 min
- 02Water flagged potsFill the watering can and water each flagged pot until water runs from the drainage hole, let runoff drain into the tray for 2 minutes, then return pot to its tray or saucer.⏱ 10 min
- 03Prune dead or leggy growthUsing hand pruners, cut away brown, soft, or fully yellow leaves at their base and shorten stems that are more than twice normal internode length by cutting just above a healthy node.⏱ 7 min
- 04Wipe leaves and check undersidesDampen the microfiber cloth and wipe both sides of each leaf; inspect the leaf undersides and remove any visible insects into the tray.⏱ 5 min
- 05Tidy up and note next careReturn plants to their usual locations, empty and dry the drain tray, put tools away, and write the next watering date for each plant on a care list or app.⏱ 3 min