Prevention is the best medicine. Whether you are talking about people or plants, preventing diseases is much easier than diagnosing and curing them. There are plenty of pests that can harm your plants, but it is more common for a plant to die because of lack of proper care than from pests or disease directly. Following the guidelines below will help you to succeed as an indoor gardener. You will learn how to keep your plants healthy.

Neglecting one's plants is the most common reason for plant deaths. In order to live and thrive, plants need watering, occasional pruning, light (direct or indirect depending on the variety), fertilization, and some type of media - soil, rock or even water. Each plant is built to thrive in a specific environment, which certain temperature, humidity, and sunlight requirements.

Ignoring these requirements will be fatal to your plants. Although plants need care, they can fend for themselves rather well too. This means that you do not have to look after your plants every day, but you do need to do your best to keep conditions favorable in general.

If you take the time to look at the environment you plan on placing your house plants and then matching the plant to ones who will do well in those conditions you will stand a much better chance for success.

Attempting to grow your plants in an environment that is unnatural for the species is the second major reason for failure. Some plants, such as Lantana or Morning Glory, need immense sunlight, whereas plants like the African violet can thrive with only indirect sunlight all year long. In fact, the African violet is a great plant to learn about plant care. Their care is fairly easy, they require limited space and you can enjoy flowers all year.

Most indoor plants can adapt quite well to a variety of conditions. It is possible, in the same home, to grow a tropical fern from the rainforest and a desert cactus. If you care for your indoor houseplants correctly and give some thought to where you place them in your home, you should be successful.