How to Keep Your Dorm Plant Alive

Do your dorm plants keep dying on you? Here are some tips for choosing a dorm plant and keeping it alive!

STEP ONE: Pick the right plant.

The NASA Clean Air Study was conducted in 1989 to research ways to purify the air in space stations. These are some of the best air-filtering plants that are also easy to keep alive in a dorm room!

• Epipremnum aureum (Golden Pothos)​
  • Air purification: benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.
  • Toxicity: Mildly toxic to humans and pets.
  • Temp range: 60-85°F
• Chlorophytum comosum (Spider plant)​
  • Air purification: formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.
  • Toxicity: Nontoxic.
  • Temp range: 70-90°F
• Spathiphyllum (Peace lily)​
  • Air purification: benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, and ammonia.
  • Toxicity: Mildly toxic to humans and pets.
  • Temp range: 68-85°F
• Sansevieria trifasciata (Snake plant)​
  • Air purification: benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, and toluene.
  • Toxicity: Toxicity: Mildly toxic to humans and pets.
  • Temp range: 70-90°F

STEP TWO: Don’t under/over water it.

If your plants are turning yellow, you’re probably over-watering them! The four plant species listed above are drought resistant and luckily for you, don’t need to be watered very often.

• Tips for when to water plants:
  • Around once a week
  • When the top ¼ inch of soil feels dry (knuckle-deep)
  • Water until dispersed throughout soil or water runs out the bottom through drainage holes.

         Tip: Don’t have time to water a plant? Keep forgetting? Buy a self-watering planter.

STEP THREE: Know where to put it.

The four plant species listed above fair best with low to medium light exposure. Put them in a corner of the room that gets occasional bursts of sunlight but is mostly shaded. Make sure the plants don’t get too much direct sun exposure. If you notice a marbled appearance, move the plant to a shadier spot.

• Epipremnum aureum (Golden Pothos)
  • Bright, indirect light

• Chlorophytum comosum (Spider plant)
  • Bright, direct light

• Spathiphyllum (Peace lily)
  • Medium, indirect light

• Sansevieria trifasciata (Snake plant)
  • Part shade, low light

STEP FOUR: Miracle grow.

If your plant still isn’t growing, try adding nutrients to the soil. Most plant fertilizers contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium for foliage and root growth. You can also grow plants in a vase with just water if you add a drop of fertilizer to the water on a weekly basis!

STEP FIVE: Propagation.

Once you have established a healthy plant, you can cut sections off and grow daughter plants!

• How to propagate a plant:
  1. ​​Cut a section of a mature vine, starting at the outer leaf, making sure to include 1-2 nodes in the cutting
  2. Submerge the ends in water for 2 weeks
  3. When roots grow, plant in soil

         Tip: Pothos is one of the easiest plants to propagate!

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