Pro Plant Purchasing Tips

I have bought hundreds upon hundred of dollars worth of plants. Seriously! And through all that I’ve had a lot of practice picking which plants are easy to care for, what to look for when buying houseplants and red flags. Since I am amidst a full overhaul of our dining room I needed (yes, needed ;)) to buy a lot of plants and it struck me, “Hey! I might know a thing or two I can share with my friends on the blog.” So after a large plant shopping trip at The Home Depot over the weekend, I’m ready to sit down and chat about all the things I look for, avoid and think about when buying new houseplants

My place of choice for buying plant? I like to buy my plants from The Home Depot. I have less problems with pests and diseases when I buy my plants from them. I also have a local nursery that I favor just to make sure I’m putting money back into my local economy, too.

The one thing I can’t stress enough: Do a bit of research on the plants you’re interested in caring for. You won’t regret this. It’ll help you when determining if the plant you’re picking up at the store is healthy and you’ll know what you’re getting yourself into once you get it home.

Signs of sickness: Yellowing that shouldn’t be there, droopy leaves, dull color and lack of new growth are all signs that a plant isn’t faring too well. Unless you’ve had practice reviving plants, these may be things you want to avoid. Aldo check the base of the plant for softness that shouldn’t be there, small bugs, and spots that may indicate bugs have been eating on it or have laid eggs on it. Bringing home 1 sick plant can ruin all of the hard work you’ve put into your other plants.

Personal Tip: I spray all my plants down with a Insecticide/Fungicide/Miticide Spray when I first bring them home. This one is my favorite because it’s organic and works well.

Super Pro Tip: Find a pot with 2 healthy plants- split them and you’ve saved yourself from buying 2!

Fancy pots vs Ugly: Are you buying a plant because you have a pot to fill or are youbuying a plant that’s also going to need a pot? If you already have a pot, make sure you’re not paying extra for a decorative pot. You’ll pay a lot more than you should for the plant because those decorative pots normally don’t hold up very well. And, chances are pretty good you’ll have to repot soon anyways since oftentimes plants are sold in pots they’ve already outgrown.

Super Pro Tip: Buy bushier plants that have outgrown their pot at the smaller pot size instead up paying the upcharge for the same size plant in a larger pot. I see multiple different sizes of pothos all the time. Usually a small pot, a bigger pot and a hanging pot. Most of the time the plant is the same size in each of the pots, so I buy the cheapest one and that’s usually the small pot.

Which Plants To Buy?

My favorite viney plants are Pothos and Philodendron

My favorite big leafed plant is the Fiddle Leaf Fig

My favorite tropical plant is the Dracaena

My favorite decorative plant is Lucky Bamboo

My favorite low light plant is Sanseveria

My favorite bright light plant is Peace Lily

Easiest To Care For: Pothos, Lucky Bamboo
Moderately Easiest To Care For: Peace Lily, Dracaena
Plants I’ve obliterated: Succulents, Air Plants, Elephant Bush, Yucca

These are just the ones I’ve had the most success with personally. It takes a bit of trial and error. Like some people do wonderfully with air plants and succulents and you’ll notice I didn’t share either of those (technically the sanseveria is a succulent but we’ll save that for another day)

I hope these tips and advice is helpful to you! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to get you an answer. Caring for houseplants is so therapeutic and choosing which plant to purchase doesn’t have to be so hard. I have to say though, go for a pothos- they’re awesome!