The first consideration with houseplants is where to position them. Your first port of call for ideas on position has to be the  label that came with the plant. Follow the positioning instructions on the label and you will be doing the best you can for your houseplant.

But what do you do if there no label or you have lost it? The key points to consider, in order of importance are draught levels, temperature, humidity and light. We discuss each these in some detail below.

Draught Levels
Houseplants do not like draughts, end of story! Generally the air in houses is dry and draughts will extract water from the leaves at a high rate. The second problem with draughts is that they exaggerate any problems with temperature. Try and position your houseplant away from draughts

Temperature
Follow the instructions on label but also be aware that daytime and night time differ significantly in the normal house. This is especially true if your houseplant is left on the window sill. In this position it will be very hot when the sun is shining but relatively cold during the night. If you leave the plant between the window and the curtains at night you will make the problem much worse. The best place temperature wise for a houseplant is away from windows and glass doors.

Other problems for houseplants temperature wise are radiators, heating vents or any heat source. These will provide areas which are too hot and which vary wildly as the heat source is turned on and off.

Humidity
Humidity is a measure of the amount of water in the air. Warm air can hold more water than colder air (that's why you have condensation on cold windows in a warm room). Plants need a good level of humidity to help them conserve water. Low humidity equals a low level of water in the air, high humidity equals a high level of water in the air.

Plants with thin non-leathery leaves, such as tropical plants epiphytes (bromeliads, orchids, lichens, calathea and some species of ferns and of cacti and succulents), dislike low levels of humidity.

These plants need regular (daily) mist spraying. If this is not possible, try to stand the plants over a tray of dampened gravel or stones.
Boston Fern, click to enlarge

Plants with thin non-leathery leaves, such as tropical plants epiphytes (bromeliads, orchids, lichens, calathea and some species of ferns and of cacti and succulents), dislike low levels of humidity. These plants need regular (daily) mist spraying. If this is not possible, stand the plants over a tray of dampened gravel or stones.

Another great help in increasing the humidity levels for plants is to place three or more near to each other. This will help them to create their own micro-climate with a higher than normal level of humidity.