Interior plants are available everywhere, from your grocery store to the big-box store to the local nursery.

Except for local nurseries, selection is somewhat limited to the most common varieties, such as Ficus, Corn Plants, Closet Plants, Crotons, Ferns and Ivies. Often we'll just grab a plant because it's there, its green (or kind of...) and it's also cheap.

$29.99 or even $19.99 are often the prices for a 10" Corn Plant or a Chinese Evergreen.

We take them home, repot them in a larger pot (we'll tell you in another article why you shouldn't do that) and then they start struggling and often begin dying slowly.

So the question is why spend $59.90 or more for what may look like the same plant and end up with the same results?

You probably already know the answer: plants are just like anything else, their quality differs from store to store and you get what you pay for.

If you follow the few advice we'll give you, your HoustonInteriorPlant.com foliage will acclimate to your home and will provide life and beauty for many years to come.

So what is the difference between a plant sold at a big-box store and the one sold here?

Premium professional plants are grown using higher standards. Not only they are stronger and healthier plants, the finish product is also fuller, greener and more attractive.

The biggest difference in growing a quality plant from a cheap plant is in the time and light it is grown under. Cheap plants are cheap because they are grown in higher light levels so they grow faster and are shipped out faster (The more crops in a year the more money). The reason they die just as fast is also because they are used to receive plenty of light so when you install them inside a house they perish from lack of light.

This is why a cheap plant can stay under the sun in a hot parking lot without burning (too much) and also why a quality plant should receive filtered light only.

Another very important factor is the shipping and handling.

Plants are fragile. They require using caution when handling them so their root system doesn't get disturbed, or their foliage crushed and bruised. Before arriving at a store, most plants are handled an average of 8 times! During that time, the typical handler's only concern is to get the plant as fast as possible to the retailer, without concern for the product itself. You can see why you would end up having problem keeping your plant alive.

Our quality plants are shipped in temperature controlled trucks by carriers specialized in quality plant shipping. When they arrive to our facilities, they are handled with care by our trained staff. We immediately take them out of their boxes or paper sleeves and water them as necessary. We then set them in our well ventilated warehouses giving them a few days to recuperate before being carefully delivered to our customers.

Cheaper plants are often shipped without packaging, unloaded without care and often left outside where the wind knocks them down and the heat and sun damages them. Very often they are not watered properly and you end up with plants that are stressed and prone to carrying funguses and bugs.

Hopefully this article will help you see the differences between the plants sold here, at your local nursery or flower shop and those sold in large national chain stores.

HoustonInteriorPlants.com - Better products, better value, longer life, caring people, beautiful plants!