Tired of gazing at the grey concrete jungle that makes the skyline outside your living room window? Living up the scenery with a little bit of greenery. The spotting of a green shoot is a moment that can flood anyone with joy and wellness. The garden’s ability to heal has another way to help us feel better and the green indoor plant has its ability to help us understand life and change. The knowledge that gardening can help a person improve his mental and physical state was known as far back as a century ago. This knowledge that a garden is therapeutic – has given rise the healing power of plants. It recognizes the curative value of gardening and how it soothes the spirit, feeds the imagination, and improves physical and mental well-being. In this article, we will provide you with expert tips on how to take care of indoor plants and create a lush green oasis within your home or office.
Choosing the Right Indoor Plants:
It does not take much to gain an indoor garden’s benefits. All you need a tiny swatch of green in your living room or a batch of potted plants in a box grill.
Wonderfully convenient indoor gardens can be as ambitious or simple as you desire – or your home can accommodate. You can style your rooms filled with big-leafed philodendrons or pots of dracaeve ‘reflexa aka’, Song of India with its signature long green leaves stripped with lime and yellow. In a smaller space with a sunny window, a jewel-box garden with miniature begonia and African violets in exquisite glazed pottery can make a colorful statement.
You can also invigorate your dwelling with a “decorator plant” such as a fan palm, Chinese evergreen, or spathiphyllum (peace lily) which thrive in shade and remove acetone, ammonia, trichdoroethylene and other poisons in glue and paints.
Some best indoor plants to create an oasis in your home are:
- Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)
- Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
- Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
- Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
7 Important tips on how to take care of indoor plants:
1. The Light Stuff:
No houseplants can grow in the dark and different kinds of houseplants prefer different amounts of light. Which direction do your windows face? If you are lucky, you have several exposures. Sunlight from an unobstructed south facing window is the strongest and best fir cacti, citrus, and flowering plants like hibiscus.
If a plant does not want full sun, place it to the side of that window or across the room or soften the light with sheer curtain.
East and west facing windows are perfect of plants like African violets which do not like to get colder than 18 degree. Ivy and asparagus fern prefer the cooler east window. Plants with large leaves to absorb the most light – e.g anthurium or a Chinese evergreen – will appreciate a bright, unobstructed north window. If that spot is a little too shady, augment the light artificially with a floor lamp. Give plants a quarter turn every so often to keep them growing symmetrically.
2. Soil Mastery:
Soil comes as the prime factor when the question is related to how to take care of indoor plants. Don’t use garden soil for potted plants. It is too dense and heavy and lacks open spaces for oxygen. Potted plants need great drainage and air for the roots. Don’t use prepared mixes, either. They tend to decompose and squeeze out oxygen. Use four parts humus to part perlite for most plants; more perlite for cacti, less for jungle plants. If you have to buy a bagged medium look for a mix which has better drainage. The importance of drainage can not be overstated. You can use the piece of crockery or some pebbles which would help to keep the soil from washing out or clogging the holes.
3. Water Works:
You cannot impose a schedule to water on a plant. So water plants when they need it. Thar depends on soil, container type, indoor temperature, weather (whether it is cloudy or sunny) and a host of other factors. Feel the surface of the potting soil. If it feels cool or damp, let the plant alone. If the surface feels dry, water them.
Adding a little bit of water every day leads to root rot – probably the greatest killer of potted plants. Pour the water slowly on the soil until it thoroughly moisten the medium and seeps out the drainage holes.
4. Maximum Moisture:
Many foliage and flowering potted plants originated in equatorial rain forests; they therefore want high humidity.
Clustering plants together will raise the relative humidity in their neighborhood.
An easy way to add moisture to the air is to place pots on trays filled with pebbles. When you water the plants, water the trays as well. The pebbles increase the surface area from which moisture can evaporate, and they keep the pots from sitting directly in water.
5. Going to Pots:
How to take care of indoor plants if a plant is dying out faster than it used to, or if roots are poking out of the drainage hole, it might be time to repot. Move the plant to a container one size larger – from a 4-inch pot to a 5-inch one, for example. A pot that is too big can yield soil that stays too wet., resulting in root rot.
Plants like to live in porous terra-cotta clay pots, which allow oxygen to reach the roots. But clay pots and the medium within them dry out faster than plastic or glazed ceramic ones. If you are frequently away from home, go with plastic.
Containers must have drainage holes. Put some marbles or gravel and perhaps some aquarium charcoal in the bottom of the outer pot, this elevates the inner plastic container in case water collects in its bottom.
6. Diet Time:
Houseplants need to eat, but in the dead of winter, when they are not actively growing , put them on a diet and curtail feeding. Regarding pant foods: every container of fertilizer (organic or not) will give three numbers in a ratio, for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Leafy foliage plants want nitrogen to be the highest number. Flowering plants want more Potassium as it encourages rot growth and general health. Choose different plant foods for different plants or select a balanced product with equal amounts of the three elements.
7. Bug Out:
Plants are semidormant in winter, but pests are not. If your plants are healthy, insects should not pose much of a problem. Plants under stress may be attacked. If bugs show up, isolate the plant, if possible.
Try the least toxic cure for any problem first, and never use chemicals as preventives. If you can, take the plants to the sink, then spray and wash its leaves, above and below, with plain water. The washing dislodges bugs when there is an infestation. If critters persist, a single drop of dishwashing detergent in a spray bottle of water should be the next step. As for whiteflies, carefully hold a vacuum cleaner extension over the plants, shake them, then suck up the critters as they fly into the air.
FAQs:
Q. How often should I water my indoor plants?
Ans: You cannot impose a schedule to water on a plant. So water plants when they need it. Thar depends on soil, container type, indoor temperature, weather. Generally, water indoor plants when the top inch of the soil feels dry.
Q. How can I prepare soil for my indoor plants?
Ans: It is best to use potting mix specifically designed for indoor plants. Don’t use garden soil for potted plants. Prepare the soil for potted plants in way so that it may produce enough drainage and air for roots. You can use the piece of crockery or some pebbles which would help to keep the soil from washing out or clogging the holes.
Q. Should I prune my indoor plants?
Ans: Pruning is a great idea for the growth of the plants. Moreover, it helps to remove the dead or yellowish leaves. Trim back leggy growth to encourage a bushier shape.
Q. How can I prevent pest infestations on my indoor plants?
Ans: Most people ask how to take of indoor plants from pest infestations. It is best to take care of your indoor plants regularly and remove the parts that may be affected by pests. If bugs show up, isolate the plant, if possible. Consider using organic pest control methods or insecticidal soap. Try the least toxic cure for any problem first, and never use chemicals as preventives. If you can, take the plants to the sink, then spray and wash its leaves, above and below, with plain water. The washing dislodges bugs when there is an infestation. If critters persist, a single drop of dishwashing detergent in a spray bottle of water should be the next step.
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