Incredible Plant Care with Essential Oils

doTERRA: Having plants in your home can help reduce stress levels, increase productivity, and improve indoor air quality. As much as they can care for you, you need to care for them, too. Today, we'll discuss some natural ways that you can take care of your plants.

Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful, and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field. If you like what you hear today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. We always appreciate hearing from you.

Today, we're excited to talk to Tiffany Durr about how you can use essential oils to care for your houseplants. Tiffany, thank you so much for joining us today.

Tiffany Durr: Thanks! I'm excited to be here.

doTERRA: My first question for you is one for people who are just kind of branching into this world of plant care. What are your tips for people who are just getting interested in having houseplants?

Tiffany: Yeah, so one of the first things is when you decide you want a houseplant, when you go to pick it up for the first time, make sure that you check that plant over. Does it have droopy leaves? Is it yellowing? And, most importantly, check for any pests that might be on it, any insects under the leaves, look for webbing, those types of things, because you want to have a really good, healthy plant to start with. Otherwise, you might feel devastated.

So I would not recommend, if you're brand new, going to the clearance rack and buying one of those plants that are half dead and rescuing them because I don't want you to have a broken heart and think that you have a brown thumb. That's not true! You just have to start with a healthy plant.

doTERRA: I think that sounds like an absolutely crucial step. So the next logical question is how do I know what to grow? How do I know what plants to choose?

Tiffany: Yeah, so some of the really easy houseplants to start out with this is—a Snake Plant is a really great one. That's a great one to have in your bedroom because it releases lots of oxygen at night. There's Arrowheads, Pothos—are another great one. Aloe is an awesome one, and I'm sure a lot of us know how to use aloe in other ways. When you're going and looking, looking for those plants that say that they are easy care is a really great place to start.

And I also recommend there's lots of Facebook groups you can get in, where they talk about houseplants and how to care for them. And I recommend joining something like that because you're going to get lots of care tips and ideas of different plants that you can try out.

doTERRA: That's amazing! So moving into caring for the plants, once you've got your plant, once it's in your home, and you're looking for ways to take care of it, a lot of people—especially a lot of doTERRA members—might want to use essential oils. Are essential oils safe to use with our houseplants?

Tiffany: Yes! Essential oils—high-quality essential oils, like doTERRA essential oils—are great for your plants, in fact. You just need to make sure that you're using them at a diluted rate. You don't want to put a drop directly on a leaf. That's not going to be good for it. But if you are diluting it down with some water, a little bit of soap, and just a few drops of your favorite essential oils, and it is going to help them quite a bit.

In fact, I run an entire research greenhouse, and our first line of defense is using essential oils on the plants to help keep them healthy and vibrant and not having to worry as much about pest pressure.

doTERRA: I love that! And remembering that it does need to be those high-quality essential oils is so important. Other than just diluting the oils before you're using them with your plants, what are your other tips for using essential oils effectively with your houseplants?

Tiffany: So making sure when you're using them, that you're not using super hot oils. And if you are, you want to make sure that you're diluting them way down, such as—Oregano is a hot oil. Any oil that doTERRA would say you need to dilute, you need to extra dilute for your houseplants. Otherwise, they can actually hurt your plant. So you need to be careful of that.

I always recommend when you're starting out using essential oils around your plants, using about 32 ounces of water, one to two drops of mild dish soap (or my favorite is using the doTERRA On Guard® Cleaner Concentrate), just a couple of drops of that, and then adding in about 10 drops of Peppermint essential oil (AromaTouch® is a really great essential oil you can use around plants), and then shaking it up really well before you mist it on your plants. Also, just to double check and make sure your plants aren't sensitive to it, just try the underside of one leaf first and make sure that your leaf is looking really good after you do that, and it didn't have any ill effects on your plant.

doTERRA: Those sound like great tips! And I think the testing is so important, making sure you don't just harm your plant inadvertently.

Tiffany: Yes!

doTERRA: So you mentioned Peppermint; you mentioned AromaTouch. What are some of your other favorite essential oils to use with your plants?

Tiffany: So Thyme has a special place in my heart. Pink Pepper does. They are great, essential oils that are really powerful at helping to keep them healthy. And then one of my favorite little tips is Sandalwood essential oil, which most people would not think to use it with your plant. But if you put a drop in the water and then water it in, it really helps.

doTERRA: That is amazing! I never would have thought of that. Well, Tiffany, you have taught us so much and given me more confidence to use essential oils with my houseplants. We have loved talking to you today.

Tiffany: Thank you! I really enjoy being here, and I hope everybody who is excited about using them with their plants, they feel more confident after listening to this and try it out.

doTERRA: Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you liked what you heard today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. Also, if you want to try any of the products you learned about, go to doterra.com or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today.