It’s no secret that team APM are fans of house-plants. We think every room is improved by plants – but especially work-places.
Humans create quite a lot of air-borne moisture (which is why condensation in the home is a thing – read more about it in an article Cat featured in here). If your office is less populated than it used to be, some of your plants will be missing you and your colleagues, with their constant kettle-boiling, breathing, and even anti-social drying of damp cycling clothes.
With that in mind, here are our tips for choosing the right plants for your office;
Succulents and Cacti make great office plants
Neglect-friendly;
If your office is inconsistently attended (and/or you like plants but don’t want to spend any time dealing with them) the best plants will be those that can cope with low humidity, inconsistent watering, and indirect light.
ZZ plant; Slow growing and very drought tolerant. In fact, overwatering is very much the easiest way to kill it, so ZZ is well suited to cope with being a little neglected in a part-populated office.
Spider plant; A mainstay of office greenery, and for good reason. They are certainly prettier when they get a bit of light and aren’t left to totally desiccate – but they will struggle on bravely in almost any conditions.
Cactii; As long as you can keep them away from any colleagues that will accidentally love (water) them to death, cacti will be very happy in the arid conditions of a half-empty office. Just steer clear of those that shed their bristles, or with excessively long spikes.
Dragon plant; I have one of these which I got from IKEA 15 years ago. It has survived living in a windowless hallway, being caked in renovation dust, and being mauled by a puppy.
ZZ-plants are aesthetically pleasing + are a durable plant, perfect for the office
Easy to rescue;
As well as plants that are hard to kill, we like plants that are easy to resurrect or re-start. A lot of trailing plants will produce new plants from cuttings – so if they are looking a bit sad you can take a cutting, pop it in water for a while, and then start a new plant.
Tradescantia – Available in lots of lovely colours, these trailing plants will happily survive in just water for months. They can get scraggly quite quickly – but I love them for how easy they are to restart.
Pothos – This trailing plant could happily be in the ‘neglect friendly’ category – with the added benefit that it grows easily from cuttings.
Crassula ovata (Jade plant) – can be regrown from a single broken leaf. Knocked it off the shelf and broken it? No drama, that’s several new plants.
A trailing Tradescantia is beautiful while adding some lovely colour to the space
APM’s plant care tips for the office;
Watering
For many plants, overwatering is more likely to be a problem than under-watering. Unfortunately the symptoms tend to be similar. If a plant’s roots sit in water they can start to rot – and then they can’t take on water. To avoid overwatering;
Have a plant ‘overseer’. The whole team can do the actual watering – but it is helpful to have one person who gives the orders about what to water and when.
Label plants according to how often they need watering.
Sunlight
In winter, many plants will benefit from being right next to a window.
In summer, the sunlight through a south-facing window can scorch plants – so if you aren’t there to check on them every day it’s best to move your plants further into the room.
We recommend having a few plant ‘zones’ you can move plants between.
Misting
If the office isn’t fully occupied, up your misting game. You can include essential oils such as peppermint or rosemary to help deter spider mites and other plant killers. This also makes the room smell lovely. Aim for a gentle spritz nearby rather than a soaking unless the plant care tips advise otherwise. You’re aiming for the plant equivalent of the ‘Spray, delay, and walk away’ technique for putting on perfume.
Spider plants – a hardy + zingy choice for the office
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