In our previous blog; Best reasons to add greenery to your student home we showcased the benefits of adding houseplants to your student home. In this second blog we take a closer look at some of the best houseplants to add that little greenery to your student room while living with Host.

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Lavender.

Calms you when you’re stressed and can also be used to add a new flavour to desserts. However, it’s not a traditional houseplant so it needs a little love and care. But when it does succeed, and your room is full of that lavender scent it’ll be worth the effort. Top tips for growing Lavender:

1. Give the plant as much sunlight as you can.
2. Pot in quick-draining soil.
3. Give it time to acclimate to your room.
4. Crush up eggshells and mix them in with a small amount of lime once a month.
5. Use a Terracotta pot.
6. Rotate the pot every time you water it.

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Prayer-plants.

These are really cool as at dusk, the leaves fold together, as if in prayer, then in the morning light with a little rustling noise they open. Like Lavender, the Prayer-plant or Maranta plants need a little love and attention. Top Tips for looking after a Prayer plant:

1. Don’t overwater the soil just needs to be a little damp to the touch.
2. Place the pot on a dish filled with pebbles and water to add a bit of humidity.
3. The soil should be a well-draining shallow pot with good drainage holes.
4. Repot every spring to keep the soil loose.
5. They do best in bright, indirect light but not too bright as it can bleach the leaves. If the leaves don’t open in the mornings, consider moving to a brighter spot of your student room.

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Snake Plant.

An excellent air purifier that’s really easy to look after, you can almost forget about them and looks awesome in your bedroom. Top tips to look after this houseplant:

1. When buying a snake plant select one that has dark green leaves.
2. Allow the soil to dry before watering’s and avoid overwatering in winter.
3. Place in indirect light.
4. Use a terracotta pot.
5. Feed with all-purpose plant food during the spring.

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Rubber Plant.

If you’re living in one of our studio rooms and have an empty corner these medium-sized houseplants make a stunning focal point. However, using a small plant pot can help keep them more manageable in size for all student rooms. Top Tips:

1. They hate sitting in water, so a well-draining soil is really important.
2. Find a sunny spot but not in direct sunlight.
3. Keep the soil moist in the summer – you should even think about using a spray bottle to ‘mist’ the leaves (You may need to do this if your student room is warm with dry air in the winter). For the rest of the year, you only need to water around twice a month.
4. You only need to remove dead or dying leaves, rubber plants don’t need much pruning.
5. Flatmates jealous of your rubber plant? hack a piece from it, stick in soil and they can grow.

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Bamboo Palm.

These houseplants add a lot of oxygen to the air within your student room and a bright and cheery focus to your room. Top Tips for looking after a Bamboo Palm:

1. They don’t need soil but if you do plant them in soil, make sure its well-draining and kept moist.
2. A clear glass container filled with pebbles and 1-3 inches of water to cover the roots is a great way to provide a humid environment for your palm to thrive in.
3. Bamboo palms are very sensitive to the chemicals and salts in tap water, so leave the water out overnight before watering or misting your bamboo as it lets the chlorine evaporate.
4. Change the water every month or so.
5. Place in bright indirect light – don’t worry if your room is a little dark, these plants will tolerate low light conditions but will grow more slowly.

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Peace Lily.

Anyone else automatically think Hot Fuzz when you read the words, Peace Lily?
No just us?! Anyway, a Peace Lily will add a vibrant bit of greenery to your student room, it’s also on NASA’s list of top air-cleaning houseplants. It’ll also keep your room humid which helps if you suffer from dry skin. Top Tips:

1. They love indirect light and shade so are perfect for student rooms – Yellow leaves indicate too much light.
2. Keep it moist by watering when the soil feels dry to the touch. Peace lily leaves also enjoy a good misting, which you can do when you water throughout the summer.
3. Use a pot that has good drainage.
4. One the roots begin to show above the soil, its time to re-pot your Peace Lily.

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Have you added a bit of greenery to your student room? Share a pic with us on our socials – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Monday 26th April to Sunday 2nd May is National Gardening week – the UK’s biggest annual celebration of gardening. And while we always try to add a little green space to our student homes, its not always possible, so to avoid missing out on the benefits of gardening why not add a bit of the outdoors into your personal sanctuary.