Warning to anyone with houseplants or daffodils in their kitchen

Houseplants are a great addition to countertops and windowsills and make an attractive centrepiece on a kitchen table. Many people consider whether get enough sunlight and water when peeing them indoors, and it’s common knowledge to avoid keeping and near direct heat sources. 

But it’s not an oven, air fryer or microwave that you need to worry about, houseplant experts have warned. The team at Love That Leaf has urged to think about the proximity of their fruit bowl to certain plants, including a springtime favourite:  daffodils. They said: “The gas some and produce as they ripen is called ethylene. Some produce more ethylene than others.”

The Love That Leaf team continued: “Ethylene is a natural plant hormone, known in the floristry industry as a ‘silent killer’.

“[It is] also the reason growers recommend supermarkets keep flowering plants and bouquets away from the fruit and vegetable section.”

Most people know ethylene is a problem for keeping fruits fresh longer, especially bananas, which produce a lot of ethylene. For this reason, households may resort to food storage hacks like wrapping banana stems in cling film and separating ethylene-sensitive foods, including broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce.

These foods can spoil quickly if stored with other fruits and vegetables that produce ethylene gas. The same concept applies to various flowers and ornamental plants, like geraniums, orchids, and lilies. 

The houseplant experts explained: “The worst culprits in the fruit bowl for producing ethylene as they ripen are apples, bananas, melons, pears and peaches. Tomatoes are moderate ethylene producers, too.”

According to the Love That Leaf team, plants have different sensitivities to ethylene, ranging from moderate to very sensitive. The most popular on the list that are affected by ethylene include begonias, cyclamen, fuchsia, hibiscus, lilies, daffodils, orchids, geranium, petunia, philodendron, primula, azalea, and roses.

Plants will present different symptoms when affected by nearby ethylene producers lurking in a fruit bowl.

The Produce News suggests that these include reduced vase life, yellow foliage, transparent petals, leaves and buds falling off stems.

Additionally, distorted bud opening or no opening, droopy plants that look dehydrated but are moist and rose petals becoming dark and veiny are common side effects.

Anyone with a busy fruit bowl next to a vase of spring daffodils should look for dried petals, another telltale sign of damage from ethylene. 

Love That Leaf reported that the following plants could be affected by ethylene:

• Begonia
• Schefflera
• Cyclamen
• Euphorbia
• Ficus
• Fuchsia
• Hibiscus
• Impatiens
• Kalanchoe
• Lily
• Stock
• Daffodil
• Pachystachys
• Orchid
• Geranium
• Petunia
• Philodendron
• Primula
• Gloxinia
• Azalea
• Rose
• African Violet
• Thanksgiving cactus
• Streptocarpus