Tag plant care

Why Caring for a Lot of Plants Is So Therapeutic

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A view of my balcony.

There is something deeply comforting about caring for another living thing.

For me, that feeling has grown into a home filled with more than 140 indoor plants and another 130 or so outside. To some people, that may sound like a lot of work—and honestly, it is. There is watering, pruning, repotting, fertilizing, cleaning leaves, moving plants around, and paying attention to what each one needs.

But somewhere along the way, I realized that the care itself is part of the joy.

Plants Give Us a Reason to Slow Down

Life can be noisy. There are always messages to answer, errands to run, deadlines to meet, and things competing for our attention.

Plants don’t care about any of that.

When I’m taking care of them, I have to be present. I notice that a leaf is turning yellow. I see a new shoot emerging. I realize one plant needs more light while another has been happier in the shade. Even something as simple as watering becomes an opportunity to pause and pay attention.

Caring for plants pulls us out of our heads and into the moment.

And there is something therapeutic about that kind of quiet attention.

There Is Satisfaction in Watching Something Grow

One of the most rewarding things about having plants is witnessing progress that happens slowly.

A new leaf doesn’t appear overnight. A cutting may take weeks to root. A small plant can gradually become something much larger and more beautiful.

That slow growth can be a wonderful reminder that not everything has to happen immediately.

We live in a world that often celebrates instant results. Plants teach a different lesson: nurture something, give it the right conditions, be patient, and let time do its work.

Sometimes the reward is simply noticing that something is growing because you took the time to care for it.

Plants Give Care a Tangible Form

There is also something emotionally satisfying about care that produces visible results.

You water a thirsty plant, and its leaves perk up.

You remove damaged leaves, and the plant looks healthier.

You give a struggling plant better light, and eventually you see new growth.

These little moments can feel surprisingly meaningful.

Taking care of plants gives us opportunities to nurture without needing words. We can see that our attention matters. Even when the task is small, there is a tangible connection between what we do and what happens next.

A House Full of Plants Can Feel Alive

My plants have become much more than decorations.

They make my home feel alive.

There is always something happening. A new leaf is unfurling. A flower is blooming. A vine has suddenly reached across a shelf. A plant that seemed to be doing nothing for months decides it’s finally ready to grow.

With more than 140 plants indoors, there is almost always something to discover in my home.

And outside, with another 130 or so plants, that feeling continues. The garden changes with the seasons, the weather, and the plants themselves.

Instead of coming home to a static environment, I come home to a living one.

Caring for Plants Can Create a Sense of Purpose

Having a lot of plants means there is always something to do.

That might sound like a downside, but I find the opposite to be true.

There is comfort in having small responsibilities that matter. Water this one. Check that one. Move another closer to the window. Repot the plant that has outgrown its container.

These tasks may not seem significant in isolation, but together they create a rhythm.

And sometimes having a reason to get up and care for something is exactly what we need.

Plants Don’t Demand Perfection

One of the things I love most about plants is that they don’t require us to be perfect.

Despite all the care we give them, things still go wrong.

A leaf dies. A plant gets stressed. Something gets overwatered. A cutting doesn’t make it.

And that’s okay.

Plant care teaches us to respond rather than panic. We learn to observe, adjust, try again, and accept that not everything is within our control.

In that way, plants can teach patience not only with them, but with ourselves.

The Joy Is Bigger Than the Work

Yes, caring for more than 270 plants is work.

There are days when watering alone feels like an undertaking. There are unexpected problems to solve. There are moments when I wonder how I ended up with quite so many plants.

But then I notice a new leaf.

Or a flower opens.

Or I see a plant thriving that once looked like it wasn’t going to make it.

And suddenly, the work feels worthwhile.

That’s the beautiful thing about therapeutic hobbies: they don’t necessarily eliminate effort. Instead, they can make effort feel meaningful.

A Little More Green, A Little More Joy

I don’t think you need hundreds of plants to experience the benefits of caring for them.

One plant on a windowsill can be enough.

A small herb garden can be enough. A few houseplants can be enough. Even growing something from a seed and watching it develop can provide that same sense of connection.

For me, though, plants have become a significant part of how I experience home and everyday life.

My 140-plus indoor plants and 130-plus outdoor plants require plenty of care. But they give back in ways that are difficult to measure.

They give me moments of quiet.

They give me something to look forward to.

They give me opportunities to nurture, observe, learn, and be patient.

Most importantly, they give me joy.

And perhaps that’s the real reason caring for plants can be so therapeutic: we aren’t simply taking care of plants. We’re creating little moments of connection with something alive—and, in the process, taking a little better care of ourselves.

Rethinking Plant Watering: Why Light and Humidity Matter More Than Watering Schedules

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A glimpse of part of my balcony jungle…

People often think a plant’s watering needs are determined mostly by how often the soil dries out. In reality, light and humidity are the primary factors that determine how quickly a plant uses water. Watering is the response to those conditions—not an independent requirement.

Here’s why.

Light drives water consumption

Light is the energy source for photosynthesis. As light levels increase, plants become more active:

  • Photosynthesis speeds up.
  • Stomata (tiny pores on leaves) open to take in carbon dioxide.
  • Open stomata allow water vapor to escape through transpiration.
  • The roots replace that lost water by absorbing more from the soil.

This means:

  • A plant in bright light may need water every few days.
  • The exact same plant in low light may use only a fraction as much water and stay moist for weeks.

This is why overwatering is so common indoors. People keep watering on a schedule even though the plant isn’t using the water because it isn’t receiving enough light.

Humidity controls how fast plants lose water

Humidity determines the difference between the moisture inside a leaf and the surrounding air.

  • Low humidity creates a large difference, so water evaporates from leaves quickly.
  • High humidity slows evaporation because the air is already holding more moisture.

Think of it like hanging a wet towel:

  • It dries rapidly on a dry day.
  • It dries much more slowly on a humid day.

Plants behave similarly.

Higher humidity doesn’t necessarily mean a plant needs less water forever—it simply slows the rate at which it loses water.

Watering is a consequence, not a care category

Many care guides list separate requirements like:

  • Bright indirect light
  • High humidity
  • Water weekly

But these are not independent variables.

A better way to think about it is:

Light and humidity determine how quickly a plant uses water. Watering simply replaces what the plant has already used.

If the environment changes, the watering schedule should change too.

Why humidity and watering are often confused

Many tropical plants are described as “needing lots of water.”

What they often need is moist air, not constantly wet soil.

For example:

  • A plant with thin, delicate leaves may develop crispy brown edges in dry indoor air.
  • Many people interpret those brown edges as “the plant is thirsty.”
  • They water more frequently.
  • The soil stays wet because the roots weren’t actually short on water.
  • Eventually the roots may suffer from oxygen deprivation or rot, while the leaves continue browning because the real issue—low humidity—hasn’t changed.

This creates a cycle where the symptoms worsen despite more watering.

Similar symptoms, different causes

Several environmental stresses produce similar-looking leaf damage:

SymptomPossible cause
Brown leaf edgesLow humidity, underwatering, fertilizer buildup
Drooping leavesDry soil, overwatered roots, heat stress
Yellow leavesOverwatering, aging leaves, nutrient issues
Crispy leavesLow humidity, sun scorch, underwatering

Because these symptoms overlap, people often assume watering is the solution when the underlying cause is environmental.

A common example

Imagine a tropical houseplant moved from a greenhouse (around 70–80% humidity) into a home with winter humidity around 25%.

The owner notices:

  • Brown tips
  • Curling leaves
  • Slower growth

A common assumption is:

“It’s drying out faster. I should water more.”

But the soil may already be staying wet for a long time. The plant isn’t lacking soil moisture—it is losing water from its leaves faster than it can comfortably replace it because the air is much drier.

Increasing humidity or reducing environmental stress often addresses the problem more effectively than watering more often.

Light has an even larger effect than many people realize

A plant in strong light may use several times more water than the same plant in dim conditions.

For example:

  • Bright window + warm temperatures + low humidity = rapid water use.
  • Dim corner + cool temperatures + high humidity = very slow water use.

Yet many people continue watering both plants once a week because they think of watering as a fixed schedule instead of something that responds to environmental conditions.

A better mental model

Rather than asking:

“How often should I water this plant?”

It’s usually more useful to ask:

  1. How much light is the plant receiving?
  2. How warm is the environment?
  3. How humid is the air?
  4. How quickly is the soil actually drying?

The answers to those questions determine when watering is needed.

In other words, light determines how much water a plant uses, humidity determines how quickly it loses that water, and watering simply replenishes what has been lost. This is why two identical plants in different environments can have dramatically different watering schedules, even though they are the same species.

Beaucarnea recurvata (AKA Ponytail Palm)

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Check out my video featuring Beaucarnea recurvata, more commonly known as Ponytail Palm!

Sadly, this plant took a turn for the worse in August of 2021 (right after we had no central A/C for three weeks in July), so I banished it to my balcony, where it continued to decline. I had no choice but to dispose of it in early October of 2021. However, even though my ponytail palm didn’t fare well, I still think it’s a cool plant to have, and it is relatively easy to care for. Mine just didn’t like the sweltering heat!

Who Names Their Plants?

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Image ID : 164070565
Source: 123rf.com
Copyright : Olga Ionina

On more than one occasion, friends have asked me if my plants have been christened with names.  For the most part, I have not gone to the trouble to name all of my plants, mainly because I personally feel that it is unnecessary and silly for me to do so.  I’m not knocking anyone who chooses to name all their plants, but the desire is, for the most part, absent in me.

So how do I discern between the close to 150 indoor plants which surround me at home?  I tend to use certain descriptors when I scribble my plant watering notes each week (yes, I keep track of which plants get watered in a given week), and those descriptors are pretty straight forward.  Usually, I will use the species name as a label, and if I have numerous specimens, I will write down the location of the plant. For example, I have two Hoya shepherdii, both of which are suspended over the two sinks in my master bath, so I refer to the one as “L shepherdii” and the other as “R shepherdii”.  I realize these labels aren’t exciting, but they are effective in helping me to keep track of my plants when I am watering them. 

However, there are three plants with bona fide names which I bestowed upon them, one of which was named the day I received it, one which was christened with a name about a month after it joined the plant brood, and one which earned its name after it exhibited an astonishing rate of growth.  While two of the names are quite fitting for the characteristics the two plant babies possess, one name is reflective of the species of the plant, and quite honestly reveals how lazy I was about using a lengthy German name when I could truncate it and use a fun name.

Sid:  Sid is a Ferocactus emoryi, “Emory’s barrel cactus”

My dear friend Blanche was at my house when I received Sid in the mail as a freebie which arrived along with a much-coveted monkey cactus I had ordered. As soon as I saw this spiky cactus, a name just popped into my head, and I exclaimed to Blanche, “For some reason, I really feel like this little guy needs a name!”, to which Blanche responded with, “I do too, and I’m thinking of a name too! If you say the same name I’m thinking of, I’ll freak!” The name which had popped into my head was Sid Vicious, so I revealed this to Blanche, who immediately squealed and said, “That’s the EXACT name I thought of too!” Later that day, I ordered a Sex Pistols mug to house the Emory’s barrel cactus.

Fred: Monstera adansonii ‘Friedrichsthalii’

This Monstera adansonii Friedrichsthalii very quickly became “Fred” after I needed to find a way to distinguish it from my other Monstera adansonii.

Rapunzel: Senecio radicans “String of Bananas”

This Senecio radicans was quite short when I bought it in June of last year, and it struggled for about two months before I changed its hang spot to an area right near a bathroom window, and essentially let it dry out completely between waterings. From that point, this plant just took off, and got so incredibly lacy and long that I decided it deserved the name Rapunzel. The longest tendril on this plant was measured on April 23rd at 46 inches from the edge of the pot to the end, which is three inches longer than it was a month prior. This radicans has aptly earned its descriptive and accurate name.

For comparison, the plant pictured above is another Senecio radicans which I purchased in January of this year. Both the radicans which I purchased in January and Rapunzel were at the level which you see marked in yellow when I brought them into my home. I look forward to seeing Rapunzel’s sister grow as long as Rapunzel.

Since plant people are increasingly more committed to their plants, often considering them to be pets or family members, it’s no surprise that more people are naming their houseplants. I like Nicoletta Richardson’s idea of naming plants after travel destinations from her bucket list, but for me, and if I had the energy to put into naming ALL of my plants, I could definitely see myself becoming a copycat and doing the very same thing. But I’d rather stick with the assigned scientific nomenclature because it appeals strongly to my scientific nerdiness, as well as to my propensity for properly classifying and labeling things.