Where to Buy House Plants

You can buy plants at the grocery store, home improvement stores, outdoor markets, garden centers, specialty plant shops, and from online plant sellers. But what is the best place to buy your houseplants?

With so many options, where should you go for the best plants? Read on to choose the right plant for your home!

Places to Buy Houseplants

Houseplants are very much back in style, and there are a lot of places where you can buy them. Each has its pros and cons.

• Grocery stores often have a small area dedicated to plants, as do home improvement stores.
• There are outdoor markets with stalls filled with flowers and plants.
• And of course, the garden centers, boutique plant shops, and plant nurseries are filled with plants.

Your local grocery store might be convenient and is often a cheap option, but does it have the best quality plants? The plant nursery might have better looked after plants, but how do you know which one to pick from all the choices they offer?

Grocery Store Plants

There’s nothing wrong with impulse buying a cheap plant at the grocery store as long as you know what to look out for. Try to get plants soon after they are brought into the store. Recently stocked from the grower, they will be fresh and well-taken care of.

Find out when the plants are restocked and buy them that day if possible. Leave the sad-looking plants behind.

Don’t expect all grocery stores to give plants the attention they need. Or even watering them at all after they hit the shelves. I have seen many plants positioned in places convenient for the store, but clearly, nobody had been thinking about what was best for the plant.

Placing the plants right outside the front door might get them seen by a lot of potential shoppers, but the plants might not do very well standing in the full sun all day. Or inside, near the entrace, the plants will be in a constant draft from the open doors. Not something plants like.

I’ve seen succulents in sealed plastic packaging. Making it so that even if a store associate would want to care for and water the plants, it’s not even possible.

Buying Plants at the Garden Center or Plant Nursery

My advice for first-time plant buyers: go to a nursery or gardening center. Plants are their core business. New plants are frequently stocked. They tend to be in overall better condition and care for, giving you a better starting point when you take them home.

If the wide variety makes it hard for you to choose, don’t fret. The experienced staff is knowledgeable and ready to answer all your questions. Ask them for recommendations and plant tips. Most of them love to talk about plants all day, so don’t hesitate to ask them for help!

Buying Plants Online

I prefer buying houseplants in a store where I can inspect the actual plant before buying and choose the best one. You can’t do that in an online shop. On the other hand, online plant shopping can bring all types of plants to your home that would otherwise be very hard, or impossible to find locally.

When buying plants from online stores look at all the photos and read the descriptions thoroughly. What you see might not exactly be what you get. You might see a photo of a full-grown plant, while the listing is for a small cutting of that plant. Look out for “plant” listings with “nearly natural” in their titles. This is just another way to say fake. Nearly natural plants are just artificial plants.

Shop from reputable online plant sellers and read reviews before you purchase.

How to Choose the Right Plant for Your Home

Picking out the right plant for your home doesn’t have to be very difficult, but you do have to put a little thought into it. Just buying the first plant that appeals to you and putting it in a random spot in your house might not result in a happy and thriving plant.

Where will you put the Plant?

Think about where you want to place the plant in your home. This is important because different plants have different needs. While some plants will be perfectly happy in a sunny spot, for others this can be too hot to handle. They might prefer a little bit of shade.

So we are looking at the light. If you want to put a plant in a low-light location, go for a shade-tolerant plant. Like a snake plant, Rhipsalis, or a Boston fern.

A good rule of thumb is that plants with large, dark green leaves can do with less light. Plants with colored or patterned leaves tend to do better in more light.

Inspect the Plant Before Buying

At this point you are at the store, you know your light situation back home, and you’ve selected the type of plant you want. Before you put any plant in your cart, do a quick plant inspection. You are looking for a few things.

• Damage. Plants might have been touched or picked up by previous shoppers. For the best conditions, choose a plant from the back or middle. The ones in the front have the most risk of being damaged. Choose a plant with firm, healthy foliage.
• Roots. If you can, gently ease the root ball out of the pot. How do the roots look? They should be white and firm. If there is an off-putting smell, put it back. It could be a sign of root rot.
• Plant Pests. Eww, bugs. We don’t want those. Check the whole plant for signs of pests. Inspect the soil, look along the stems, and the underside of the leaves. If you see something crawling, leave the plant behind.
• Soil. Does the soil look fresh, or is it bone dry and neglected? Damp soil shows you that the plant has been getting watered regularly. Are there any weeds? Those are using up precious nutrients. It doesn’t imply good plant care if weeds are growing in the pot.