Plants are a great way to infuse life into a room. As well as adding a touch of beauty, plants provide oxygen and have been known to improve the air quality in your home. The only problem with having plants in the house is how long it takes them to grow. This is an easy problem to overcome though by choosing fast growing indoor plants.
With every plant species, there are varying growth schedules. Some plants flourish quickly naturally, thanks to a short growth period. In other cases, your plants may need a little nudge to stimulate growth and encourage them to grow faster.
If you just don’t have the patience to wait for a lush indoor garden to grow, here are some effective ways you can get results fast.
Factors That Affect Plant Growth
If you want to encourage fast growing indoor plants, you need to understand a little about what they need to grow in the first place. All plants affected by the following conditions:
- Light – This is one of the most crucial factors to plant growth. Light is food to plants, and like most things, the more food you have the more growth you have.
- Temperature – Next to light, temperature ranks as the second-highest factor in helping stimulate plant growth. What feels like a comfortable setting for you and your family may not be the optimal temperature that meets the needs of your houseplants.
Correct temperatures are necessary for the plant to carry out processes like respiration and photosynthesis. Higher temperatures speed up the process of respiration, giving your indoor plants a growth spurt. Cooler temperatures on the other hand, can slow down this process.
- Relative Humidity – This refers to the amount of moisture there is in the air. Indoor plants need a relative humidity reading of around 20% to 50% to thrive.
- Water – When you think of water for a plant, you usually think amounts. But you also need to make sure that your indoor plants have a good quality of air to encourage them to grow.
- Nutrition – Your indoor plants receive most of their nutrients from the soil, so it makes sense to use good quality soil for your plant. Check for the suggested soil mixture that your plants need, so they can grow to new heights.
But more on these factors a little later. First, we need to talk about plant types and choosing indoor plants that are naturally fast growers.
Naturally Fast Growing Indoor Plants
Providing optimal conditions to promote fast growth in your indoor plants, is going to help your cause, but doing your research on the plant species available and choosing plants that are suited to the indoors and are known to be fast growers will put you well ahead.
Some plants grow faster than others without a doubt. Here are some examples of indoor plants that grow quickly:
- Spider Plant
- Aloe Vera
- Ivy
- Dieffenbachia
- Velvet Plant
- Pothos
- Jade Plant
- Snake Plant
- Ficus Lyrata
- Bamboo
- Ferns
- Philodendron
- Geraniums
- Arrowhead Vine
- Hoyas
Choosing any or all of these plant species to grace your indoor space will turn your home into a plant growing haven.
Stimulating Fast Growing Indoor Plants
Now that you have selected the right type of plant for your home, you can give your indoor plants a boost by focusing on the things that will help stimulate plant growth naturally. Plants, like people, grow faster and stronger when they have all their needs met that help them thrive.
Make Sure They Have Nutritious Soil
Good plant growth begins from the ground up… literally. The soil your indoor plants grow in provides most of the nutrients for your plants.
Make your soil even better by adding nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the organic matter. It’s a good idea to prime your soil in the beginning with a commercial potting mix that has the nutrients your plant species calls for. There are lots of food waste items that can help your soil, as well. Coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, club soda, and banana peels can be added to the soil to make your own organic compost.
Light Up Their World
Indoor plants face certain restraints that outdoor plants just don’t have to worry about. One of those issues is getting the right amount of light.
Of course, every plant species has different lighting needs. Some require direct sunlight all day, while others will suffer from that much sun exposure. When positioning your plants inside your home, make sure you read the care instructions for each species, so you know how much or how little light the plants can live on and place them where they receive the right amount of light and have their best chance to thrive.
Light is more than illumination for plants. Without the right amount of light, your plant’s growth can become stunted.
Why does this happen? When there isn’t enough light, it restricts photosynthesis. This is the process where water and carbon dioxide are turned into food that your plant needs to grow.
How can you make sure your indoor plants have enough light to grow? Try putting your plant in a window that faces south, so it can get more light. Or invest in some artificial light, if windows are scarce in your home.
Check the Temperature
All plants react when the temperature changes. Indoor plants may not have the temperature extremes of the outdoors to deal with, but it is still important to ensure they have the temperature they need.
Again, there is no one hard and fast rule for the correct temperature you need to keep your home. Every plant has its own specific requirements, so it helps to know what to expect when purchasing plants. You need to be able to provide the proper environment for growth stimulation.
You may have to move some of your indoor plants out of the window during cold weather, to encourage them to grow faster.
Get into a watering routine
Water is essential for your plants to grow. And, again, different plant species tolerate different amounts of water, making it important that you know the correct amount of water for each house plant.
For the herb growers, keep that basil watered daily. These fragrant plants will grow like weeds with a good dose of water each day to carry the food to the plant. Orchid growers on the other hand, can take care of their babies with a weekly dose of water.
Giving your plant too much water can cause big problems. If you overwater your plants or don’t provide enough drainage, your plants could suffer from root rot. This is when the roots are forced to sit in an abundance of water continuously. This will not only stunt the plant growth but could ultimately kill your plant.
It may take a little trial and error but once you get to know your plant’s needs, you can stick to a watering routine that will really help your plant to thrive.
Give Them Some Air
You know how important air is to human survival. Turns out, it’s just as vital for plants.
Plants get nutrients from the air. The leaves turn the carbon dioxide in the air into food. If you home has good air circulation and your plants get plenty of fresh air then this is going to encourage more abundant growth.
There you have it! Having fast growing indoor plants is all about finding the right balance. Your plants need each and every one of basic needs outlined above to achieve proper nutrition and promote healthy growth. And they need them in the proper amounts. Overdoing any one of these growth stimulators can harm the health of your plants, potentially stunting their growth and even putting them at risk of dying.
Taking care of indoor plants is a rewarding way to spend your time. Share in the comments below your hot tips to help promote fast growing indoor plants.
