Question
A close friend passed away, and I took home a plant basket to try to keep alive for her 19 year old daughter, until she is settled (in 4+ years.)  The plants are in individual pots, and none have the roots coming through the bottom.  There are 6 plants total; a peace lily, verigated ivy, rex begonia, blooming klanchoe, and two I don't know the names of (but know how to keep thriving, as I already have some of those for houseplants.)  Can you give me tips on how to keep them thriving?  What type of light? Humidity?  How can I increase humidity in my home?(I have a humidifier on my furnace, but live in MN so the air is still dry.)  Should I replant them into bigger pots now?  Or give them some time to adapt to my environment?  Any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!

Answer
Hi Jen,
   One way to raise the humidity around a plant place the plant on a tray of pebbles filled halfway with water. Be sure that the bottom of the pot is not sitting in the water as this will cause the soil to stay too wet.
Another way to raise the humidity is to group several plants together.
Plants give off moisture into the air around them. The moisture given off by each of the plants will help to raise the humidity around the whole group. I have found that regular light misting helps. Also when the leaves that had gotten wet from the water that settled on them during misting starts to evaporate, it will create even more humidity in the air around the group of plants (another good reason to group plants together).

Avoid unnecessary repotting. It is one of the most common reasons for plant failure. Some signs a plant needs to be repotted is little or no new growth, roots growing on top of the soil and an almost constant need for water. To check if a plant needs repotted carefully lift the plant out of the pot. If there is little or no soil visible in the root-ball and in the bottom of the pot the plants needs repotted. Never repot a plant into a pot more than 2 inches bigger than the pot it was in. The soil in a pot that is too big can stay wet too long and cause root rot.

You should always give new plants time to adapt to a new environment before changing anything. It is also a good idea to keep new plants separated from other resident houseplants for 3-4 weeks, during which time any lurking insect problems have ample time to become apparent. Isolating plants does not mean you need to keep them in a separate room. A distance of 10 ft or so is sufficient to keep a minor insect problem from moving from one plant to another, because insects seldom seek new host plants when they are satisfied with the one they have.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
          Thanks
              Tracy