Indoor plants offer a touch of nature into your home. They can make you feel more relaxed, and even keep the air in your home healthier. However, they can also prove to be a bit risky when it comes to keeping your floors in good condition. Here we offer tips to help protect your floors from possible damage from indoor plants.
Use Potted Plant Trays
First, make sure all of your indoor plants are sitting on a tray with a large enough lip that keeps water from leaking. When you water your plants, the water can trickle down through the holes at the bottom of the pot and damage your flooring. This is bad not just for hardwood flooring, but laminate and carpeting. The wet can seep down causing laminate to warp or separate from their backing, or allow for mould growth.
Water Plants Properly
Do your research and make sure you understand how frequently you should water your plants. Then carefully water them as instructed. If you know how to care for your plants, you’ll avoid overwatering which can lead to overflows, as well as underwatering, which can increase the risk for the water going right through the dry dirt and onto the floor. A good rule of thumb is to add the water a bit at a time and watch it absorb into the dirt. Then keep an eye on the tray to see if the water is leaking.
Lift Pots Don’t Drag
Plants can get heavy and difficult to move. This makes it very tempting to drag them if you want them to get more sun, or put them in a different position to avoid leaning. However, dragging a plant is a good way to scratch your floors especially hardwood and laminate. Also, you can tear vinyl flooring. Always lift your plants or place them on a rubber-wheeled dolly when you need to move them.
Don’t Place Pots Directly on the Floor
Regardless of the type of flooring you have, always place something between the pot and the floor surface. Use a stand, a tray, a small rubber-backed mat or some form of platform that will avoid direct contact with your flooring. If you must place them on the floor, shop for flooring protectors made specifically for plants. For example, there are protectors designed to avoid heavy plants from flattening the pile of your carpet using textured bottoms. There are also protectors designed to absorb moisture.
Keep Plants Secure
When plants are placed on a side table, affixed in a sconce or sitting on a shelf, be sure they are completely secure. Falling plants can cause a lot of damage, including staining carpets, scratches, dents and more. The higher up the plant, and the larger it is, the more damage it can cause.
Keep Plants Out of the Way
You can further reduce the risk for accidents by making sure plants are out of the way. Having them in a frequently travelled hall for example increases the risk for someone to knock the plant over. Keep an eye on your plants’ growth as a plant might be perfectly sized for an area at first, but within a few months or over the years it can become quite cumbersome.
These tips will ensure you can protect your floors while enjoying the green of some live house plants.
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