This Is What Happens When You Put Too Many Plants In Your House

How many plants are too many? The answer depends on how much time, energy, space, and money you have. The more houseplants you add to your collection, the more work it will take to care for them. A quick way to know if your plant collection has grown too large is if taking care of them has turned from a fun hobby into a chore.

You'll know you have too many plants if areas of your home are becoming taken over by them as they grow larger and you don't have the time to prune them back. The biggest problem with having too many plants emerges once they begin to deplete your finances. This could stem from having to purchase items such as grow lights, humidifiers, new pots, and even water filters for picky plants. According to Plants Heaven, caring for a single houseplant will take about 4 minutes per week, cost $5 or so in tools, and take up roughly 1 square foot of space. Meanwhile, if you had say, 40 plants, it would take you 6 hours a week to care for them, cost about $100, and your collection could take up as much as 65 square feet.

Having too many plants won't result in anything terrible, and in fact, growing several plants in your home has plenty of benefits. One upside is that they help to purify the air during photosynthesis, when they take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, according to The Mode Mag. However, it is the time and expense of caring for so many plants that can cause strain on you, and your plants. It's far better to have fewer well-cared-for plants than an overabundance of struggling plants. 

Planet Houseplant explains how you should decide which plants to let go of so you can reduce your collection to a manageable size. If you need to downsize due to financial strain, you should get rid of picky plants that have special requirements, needing things such as a humidifier, special potting mix, or frequent fertilization. If you're slimming down because your home has become overcrowded, you should remove any plants that you have multiples of, or are excessively large. Whether you sell, donate, or gift your extra plants, you'll likely feel relieved once you're done.