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Decluttering the Houseplants

January 18th, 2016

I’m one of those people that doesn’t really have trouble getting rid of things, in fact I’m in a constant state of going through the house and taking loads of stuff to Goodwill on a regular basis. The longer I live the less stuff I want to have in my home to clean around and organize. This past weekend I decided it was time to reduce the houseplants. I got rid of plants that I no longer enjoyed. Some were plants that never lived up to their expectations. Like a piece of clothing that never quite fit right, sometimes plants just don’t quite perform as expected. These all went into the compost bin.
houseplants 6
Houseplants that were staying also received a good pruning and then a dose of liquid kelp. I have a lot of houseplants that I love, these lovely little succulents in a tiny window in the bedroom.
houseplants 1
This lovely dwarf papaya tree lives large on my bedside table. I’m hoping it will produce fruit this summer when I move it outside.
houseplants 2
The dwarf banana in the living room is growing like crazy. It will probably be another year or so before it produces fruit. I repotted it a few months ago but it already needs a much bigger pot.
houseplants 3
Under a big window upstairs, I have a few containers full of lettuces and herbs. I like to grow a variety of edibles during the winter.
houseplants 4
houseplants 7
Just like reducing clutter in other areas, getting rid of houseplant clutter gives me more space to breathe. Not only do all my plants look better, I feel better as well. Tomorrow I’ll show you my favorite houseplants, one that I’ve had for almost 18 years.

Have you pruned and reduced your houseplants recently? Do you have a favorite houseplant?

6 Comments to “Decluttering the Houseplants”
  1. misti on January 18, 2016 at 10:08 am

    We don’t have a lot of houseplants because of a chompy cat and not a lot of window space, but I do have office plants. I have a peace lily that came when my grandmother died in the vat of flowers. I kept it and it has bloomed once for me. It apparently got some frost bite over the Christmas holiday, though! The office heat was turned down too low, we got a freeze and *bam* frost bitten plants.

    I have pothos that was my mom’s, plus a few succulents that I got off of Etsy.

    Reply to misti's comment

    • Susy on January 18, 2016 at 10:52 pm

      My cats chomp on some, but for the most part they leave the plants alone. I have a spider plant that they keep mowed off.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Nebraska Dave on January 18, 2016 at 10:20 am

    Susy, ha, you know me. I am not a house plant person. The only house plants I could ever have would be fake ones. Easy to care for and require no attention. Some look pretty good these days and I have thought about having some around the house. :-)

    Have a great decluttering day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  3. Chris on January 18, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    I’m curious about your fruit bearing exotics. Do they not need another or are they self pollinating? I have grown a few…not banana or papaya, but they never produced fruit so I figured that they were not the self pollinating varieties.
    I do have a Jade that I’ve had for at least 25 years. It has bloomed only once in all those years. I must have been talking to it a lot that year. :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

    • Susy on January 18, 2016 at 10:51 pm

      You can hand pollinate and some are self fertile. For tropical houseplants you definitely need to get the dwarf varieties or they won’t produce fruit in an indoor setting, at least most won’t. My mom has had a coffee tree that bloomed and produces a few beans.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Tonya on January 18, 2016 at 2:35 pm

    My maternal grandmother died 50 years ago when I was seven (go ahead, do the math…I’m 57) and I vaguely remember her sending a small jade plant home with my Mom. My Mom passed away 12 years ago and I am now the owner of the large, 50+ year old plant. That, and my Mom’s rolling pin are two of my favorite possessions. I usually bring in a couple of geraniums for my desk at the office and I have an aeonium that looks raggedy by spring, but looks great again with some attention and full sun. Other than that I usually start seedlings inside and often have lettuces growing under lights in the basement.

    Reply to Tonya's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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