Almost every home now has indoor plants. Leave aside plant lovers, who always keep plants around them: indoor plants raise the beauty of a room a thousandfold. However much expensive furniture and lighting a room has, without a plant much of its beauty is lost.

On the other hand, there are rooms with only token furniture that still look beautifully arranged and complete. Decorating your home with indoor plants gives you both benefit and beauty at once. But before bringing indoor plants home, learn how to look after them.

Most of the time indoor plants come in containers, so there is no need to replant them. But if you want to move one to another pot, keep a few things in mind.

Plant a large indoor plant in a large pot and a small plant in a small pot. A plant that can grow in water can be kept in a pretty bottle anywhere in the room, but the bottle must always be kept filled with water.

Every plant needs enough light or sunlight to survive, but each has different needs. Most plants need an average of eight hours of light a day.

So wherever you keep an indoor plant, make sure light falls there. Also learn a few things about your plant, such as how much light it needs and what kind of light.

Always keep an eye on the soil. The soil in the pot should be neither too wet nor too dry. Keep it moist with a small amount of water.

Make sure the pot has a hole at the bottom for excess water to drain out. Keep the plant near light, natural if possible; otherwise, arrange artificial lighting.

The main reason is neglect. Indoor plants die from too little or too much water, not enough light, lack of proper care and the like. Here are some indoor plants that are easy to look after:

• The money plant grows fast and is easy to care for.
• The jade plant grows easily near a window.
• The snake plant is very good to keep indoors. It grows with little care and also keeps the air in the room clean.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.