House Plant Care Tips

Published On: April 6th, 20203.4 min read

How to Clean Houseplants - Plant Care - Forget Me Not Flower Market | Bonita Springs Flower Market | Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples | Indoor Plants, Outdoor Plants, Garden Plants, Flower plants Nursery, Wholesale Flowers and more

Quick & Easy House Plant Care Tips.

Wondering How to Clean your Houseplants?

Learn the best House Plant Care Tips to clean indoor plant leaves depending on the type of plant, the kind of leaves, and dirt.

Dust your Plant Leaves

Dust your Plants with a Feather Duster

When your indoor plant leaves show a fine layer of dust, removing this accumulation with a feather duster or other similar product is the quickest way. Gently brush the leaves to remove as much dirt as possible without being too rough and possibly snapping leaves off the stem.
Using feather dust doesn’t always remove all of the dirt and dust, but it’s the easiest and quickest way before you attempt a more extensive cleaning of your indoor plant leaves.

Wipe The Dust Off The Leaves

Another simple method is to wipe the dust from your indoor plant leaves with a piece of cloth and tepid water (distilled water is best if available). This cleaning method works best for plant leaves that aren’t terribly dirty, have few leaves or large size leaves. You can use a washcloth, a small towel, a microfiber rag, or any soft material to prevent scratching of the leaf surface.

Clean Fuzzy Leaves With A Brush

Use a soft brush when cleaning hairy leaves. Any type of small brush will suffice if it has soft bristles. I use a small paintbrush. African violets, succulents, and cacti are among plants that should be brushed.

Use Compressed Air to Clean Cactus and Succulents

Cactus and other succulents require different care when cleaning their leaves. Their parts have a waxy coating on them as an adaptation to their arid environment.

This protective coating helps prevent evaporation, holding water inside the plant tissue and, in turn, increasing their ability to withstand drought conditions. Spraying water or dunking them in water causes this coating to disintegrate.

Bath your Plants

Dunk your Plants In Water

Smaller plants or plants with many leaves can significantly benefit from a quick dunk in a bath of tepid water. Remove a light coating of dust by filling a sink, inverting the container carefully, and gently dunking the leaves in the tepid water.

Tip: To keep the soil from spilling everywhere when you invert containers, you can water the soil well beforehand or wrap the top of the pot in plastic wrap to act as a barrier, holding the soil in.

Rinse Indoor Plants in the Shower

Occasional showering helps counteract the low humidity and indoor heating, removes dust and dirt on the leaves, and allows the plant to photosynthesize and “breathe” efficiently. If your indoor plants are too large, move your plants to the bathtub, place the plant under the shower for a few minutes, rinse the tops and undersides of the leaves, and drench the soil until water flows freely out the bottom of the pots.

You can also bring your potted plants outdoors and spray them with a garden hose. If you see rain in the forecast, leave your plants outside — Rainwater is the purest way to water your plants since rainwater has no additional additives.

Tip: You can also collect water in a bucket and let it sit overnight. This method allows the minerals to settle at the bottom of the bucket.

Tips for Showering your Plants

1- Make sure your potted plant has proper drainage.
2-Trim any dead, diseased, or discolored leaves, and remove all debris from the soil surface before showering.
3- To ensure you are flushing all the excess salts from the soil. Use plenty of water (approximately twice the volume of the pot).
4- Before returning your plant to their saucers or drip trays, allow the plants to drain thoroughly. Never let your plants sit in the drained water. The water can be reabsorbed, and any the salts that were washed away will go back to the soil.
5- Avoid showering plants that don’t like to get their leaves wet (such as African violets, cyclamen, and begonias).

Use Compressed Air to Clean Cactus and Succulents

Cactus and other succulents require different care when cleaning their leaves. Their parts have a waxy coating on them as an adaptation to their arid environment.