Over the holidays, I received a basket full of different kinds of houseplants, how should I take care of it?

Most houseplants are hybrids of plant species, which grow wild, somewhere in the world. A good rule of thumb for keeping them healthy is to try to match the same environment from which they originated. It will be unlikely that all criteria for your plants optimum health will be met, but every step will count.

Proper lighting and watering are, by far, the most important. Temperature and humidity also affect you plants as well. Generally, tropical plants enjoy a relative humidity of 50%-70% and warm temperatures. Unfortunately, when temperatures in the home rise above 67 degrees F., the humidity drops drastically. It may become necessary to sacrifice a few degrees of warmth in order to increase the humidity.

At temperatures below 60 degrees, African Violets will stop blooming, Poinsettias may drop their leaves, and the leaves of Gardenias may turn yellow.

Some of the plants most commonly found in terrariums and mixed baskets are Prayer Plants, Philodendrons, & Jade.

Prayer plants need very high humidity to thrive. They do best in a warm terrarium with other houseplants where the atmosphere is more humid. Provide medium or bright, filtered light, but never direct sun. Keep the soil moist but never soggy. If the plant is in it’s own pot. a bowl of water in the immediate vicinity of the plant would also help create humidity.

Jade plants are best grown in very bright sunlight with low humidity, however if the plant is accustomed to dimmer light, you must move it into the sun in stages. Jades will sunburn if they are not used to the full sun.

Philodendrons are native to the jungles of tropical America and prefer the medium light intensity they would have on the jungle floor. They will tolerate low light, but if there is too little light, the new leaves will develop smaller, and farther apart on the stem. On the other hand, direct sunlight will burn the foliage, and stunt the growth of the plant.
Keep the soil evenly moist, but allow it to dry out between waterings. Keep them slightly drier during the winter months, when the growth slows. Over watering will cause the leaves to turn yellow. Under watering will cause the leaves to turn brown and fall off. Feed your Philodendron in the spring and again in mid-summer with a liquid house plant fertilizer.