Indoor plants are a great way to add some color and life to your home, but they need some attention to keep them healthy and thriving. Whether you have a fern on your porch or a bougainvillea in the living room, you need to take good care of them for them to last. Nothing is more appealing than a fully blooming, healthy plant. You get to enjoy the beauty of nature indoors, and your home will be a little more lively.

If you've embraced Mother Earth and her green and flowering plants into your home, it isn't always easy to tell if you're doing the right things for them, so we’ve put together four tips that will help you take care of your indoor plants like a pro.

Try To Replicate Your Plant’s Native Habitat

Every plant needs a bit of time to adjust when it first enters your home, so be patient. The key is to make sure you pay close attention and replicate the natural conditions that your plant would experience in its native habitat, as much as you can. That includes considering light, temperature, water needs, and soil quality. Do some research on your plants to find out what they need.

Here are some handy tips for taking care of indoor plants that every homeowner should know:

Give your plants sufficient light (six hours per day should be enough)
Water deeply, rather than lightly and frequently
Water your indoor plants more regularly during the summer months
Give your indoor plants a light misting of water every day or two
Fertilize with compost to keep soil healthy and produce lush, green growth
Keep plants at room temperature (55°F or 15°C)
Ensure humidity levels are right for your type of indoor plants
Keep indoor plants away from heating sources like radiators, A/C units, and forced-air vents

Ensure Your Pots Have Drainage Holes

Whether you’re keeping flowers indoors or have green plants, they need to be watered regularly. Just be sure to avoid over-watering to prevent various problems from developing, such as fungi and pests. Ensuring the pot has drainage holes will prevent water from pooling in the bottom of the pot. Make sure that pot trays have adequate drainage too.

Proper drainage allows the soil to dry out sufficiently. You should also consider hanging pots on a hook for better drainage. This will help ensure that the soil will not remain too wet.

Dust Your Indoor Plants

Indoor houseplants should also be dusted regularly. This is especially important for plants that have leaves with soft surfaces such as maidenhair ferns or African violets. Dusting the indoor plant will remove any pests, dirt, and debris clinging to its surface while also providing a new layer of nutrients on top. Dusty plants can't properly absorb sunlight, so they may become leggy over time.

A spritz of water will help them retain moisture and keep their leaves plump and healthy. With healthy houseplants, you get to enjoy more purified air indoors. How often you should dust will depend on the type of plant you have in your home or office space. Some plants need to be dusted once a week, while others only require annual cleaning.

Prune Your Plants Regularly

Ideally, indoor plants should be pruned at least once a year. Pruning will help your plant grow fuller and more compact over time by removing old leaves that won't produce any new growth and helping you maintain the shape of the plant. While it's tempting to cut off branches for aesthetic reasons, some trimming is necessary to ensure the plant is healthy.

Some indoor plants that may need pruning include African violet, bird of paradise, cactus, daffodil, hyacinth, or narcissus flowering bulb plants. The best time to prune your houseplant is in the winter months when they are dormant and less likely to grow back quickly. Make sure you discard any damaged branches so that your plant doesn't become infected.

While pruning your plants, make sure you disinfect the tools you use to trim them with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. The last thing you want is to introduce a plant disease to a plant in another part of your house.

Give Your Plants Some TLC

Taking good care of your indoor plants ensures that you'll have a visually pleasing indoor space that is also healthy. If your plants are growing bigger, consider re-potting them into larger pots while ensuring you don't damage the stems, leaves, blossoms, and roots. Follow these four tips to take care of your plants, and they should last for years.