houseplants

Don’t Bug Me: Control Pests Without Pesticides

Keep your indoor plants healthy and pest free with gentle cleaning. Photo: Madiase/Flickr - Creative Commons License
Summer is coming, we promise. Summer brings so many good things, but it also brings some not-so-good things. Plant pests love the summer weather as much as people do. While bugs can bug your indoor plants any time of year, they get more opportunities to thrive in the late spring and summer months. The weather warms up. You turn off the heater, and open your windows and doors. Pests have more ways to enter your house, and they like the more humid air. You see your indoor plants have a growth period as spring arrives. Bugs see a plant buffet. If your first reaction to finding pests on your plants is to grab the pesticide, please stop!… Read More

When Should I Repot My House Plants?

There is no need to add anything to your plant containers but the proper potting soil. Photo: SweetLouise/CreativeCommons License
So you’ve gotten into the current craze for houseplants. You’ve added a few at home and in your workspace. Hooray and good for you! Literally, plants are good for you and keep you connected to nature, healthier, and happier. Congratulations from your Good Earth Plant Company Eco-Warriors. Maybe you’ve had your plants for a year now, maybe 18 or 24 months. What now? One of the most common questions plant owners ask when moving on to the next stage of plant care expertise is this: when should I repot my houseplants? Great question, and perfect timing. Spring presents the ideal opportunity to repot houseplants that need more room to spread their roots and grow. … Read More

Healthy Houseplants Your Stuffy Nose Will Love

Thanks to everything you’ve read on our blog (OK, and maybe elsewhere), you’ve decided to add plants to your indoor environment. It’s a smart move and with spring around the corner, it’s perfect timing. But for the one out of ten people who suffer from asthma and allergies, you need to make your choices carefully. We’ve known since the landmark 1989 NASA study we quote so often here that plants can greatly improve our indoor air quality by filtering harmful toxins and pollutants – things like benzene, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). But many plants also produce pollen as part of their reproductive process.… Read More

Don’t Bug Me! House Plants That Resist Pests

Bold Sanseviera plants in striking pots make a statement and improve the indoor environment without wasting water.
Plenty of people tell me they’d love to bring more plants into their homes and offices, but they don’t have a green thumb, or even a yellow thumb. Even if you are a beginner, you can make it a lot easier on yourself if you choose plants proven to be easier to care for than others. (But we’re standing by to help: it’s our mission at Good Earth Plant company to enrich people’s lives with plants). Another strategy is to choose plants that are naturally resistant to bugs, as in pests! If you aren’t having to fight off mites, scale, ants, flies, snails or the dreaded fungus gnats, your gardening experience will be much more rewarding.… Read More

Getting Rid Of The Fungus Gnats Among Us

You're not seeing spots, you're seeing fungus gnats on your plants.
While attending the Wellbeing @ Work event last week at BKM, interior designer Jean Young shared with me that she is one of my regular blog post readers and enjoys both our blog and newsletter. Thank you! She told me about a real problem with her interior plants and asked me to write about it. Of course! I bet there are a lot of you with the very same problem. Of the six pests (spider mites, mealy bugs, thrip, scale, white fly and fungus gnats) Good Earth Plants deals with on interior plants, fungus gnats are far and above the biggest pain.… Read More

Getting Waterwise in San Diego, Inside and Out

Bold Sanseviera plants in striking pots make a statement and improve the indoor environment without wasting water.
Part one of a three part series California’s drought and the need to conserve water in every way possible is a concern for everyone. Outdoor gardeners have been asked to do their part for a long time, and they are helping by getting rid of their thirsty lawns and other plants that require more water than our Mediterranean climate allows. But a lot of us don’t have yards or gardens, and our plants are all inside. Did you know that indoor plants need very little water? Good Earth Plant Company’s technicians water some plants less than once a month. Depending upon the size, variety and type of plants in your home or office, the total amount of water you use monthly should be 50 gallons or less.… Read More