City-living is more common than ever. With the growing metropolises in our area, people are finding themselves with less room to garden. Potted house plants are an excellent solution for those people who refuse to surrender the #“outdoor feeling#” when living indoors.

The thought of having green plants year round is inviting, but there are a few steps to follow which will ensure the success of your house plants. The most important things to remember about house plants are that they need proper care and the right environment.

Proper care of a house plant begins as soon as you choose the pot it will be planted in. Clay pots will evaporate more moisture, but keep roots cool. They are an excellent choice for indoor plants. Perhaps the most complicated practice in maintaining house plants is watering them. The best rule of thumb is to only water when the top of the soil feels dry. Try watering the plant by submerging the base in about an inch of water instead of pouring water on the top of the soil, this way the plant can take up as much water as it needs through capillary action.

A house plant can only be as healthy as its environment. Soil type, lighting and humidity among many other factors are contributors. You CANNOT use one generic type of potting soil for all plants! Pick one that suits the type of plant you want. Soils range from those resembling jungle, temperate and desert conditions.

Temperature is another important factor in growing your plant. The ideal environment would be one that resembles the plant's native origin. For example, desert plants such as cacti like warmer weather, but are adapted to cooler nights. Change in temperature like this is good for plants because it stimulates internal processes. Be careful though, in the winter, or on cooler night, plants on a window sill may be damaged by drafts around the sills. Humidity is related to temperature and is crucial to an indoor plant's health also. With too little humidity plants can dry out. A simple solution for this is misting the plant.

And of course, no plant can grow without some amount of sunlight. Plants produce sugars during photosynthesis which turns sunlight into energy and releases oxygen. Natural sunlight is the best for indoor plants, perhaps on a window sill or other well lit area. Southern facing windows will provide the most direct sunlight for your plants.

If you don#'t have a suitable window sill or sunlit area, inexpensive plant-stands equipped with lighting fixtures are available at most garden stores.

Remember, indoor gardening is an excellent way to keep things green year round.

For more information on indoor gardening, types of house plants or other questions, call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County at 255-1183 or visit us between 10 a.m. and noon on Monday, Wednesday or Friday when a Master Gardener volunteer will be standing by to answer your questions.

Alexa Weigel-Krause is an Americorps environmental education assistant atCornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County.