Some people have the innate gift of caring and fostering plants and flowers. Commonly known as a green thumb, this gift can lead to a remarkable garden or home filled with thriving plants and flowers. Not everyone has this innate talent with plants and flowers. For a whole part of the population, the seemingly simple act of keeping inside plants alive is infuriating. However, for people who have been tragically killing their houseplants for years, just a few tricks and tips can turn them into great indoor gardeners.
Learn About Your Plants
Plants are often given as gifts, whether for a housewarming party, get-well gift, birthday, or other celebration. This means the type of plant and its preferences regarding water, sunlight, and other care requirements are unknown. When it comes to keeping that plant alive, learning about it can go a long way. In fact, it can make all difference in whether the plant thrives or dies.
It is common for people to make assumptions about a new houseplant. They feel the plant will require a certain amount of water or sunlight because a different plant required those care habits. This can lead to over watering or providing inadequate sunlight. Every species of plant is different, and the appropriate care is going to be similarly unique. Caring for houseplants isn’t hard, but it does require some research.
Inside plants often come with tags or other identifiers that will say the name and basic information about the plant. If not, you will need to do some additional searching based on the plant’s appearance, leaf shape, and size. Once you know the name of the plant, a lot of information can be found online. Within 10 or 15 minutes of online reading, you can learn a lot of information about a particular houseplant and what it needs to survive.
Set a Schedule
It is not surprising that one of the most common reasons why houseplants die is because the homeowner forgets them. Life is busy. A million things are going on at once, and after the “newness” of a plant wears off, they often fall low on the list of priorities. While in the day-to-day scheme of things remembering to rotate or water your houseplants is minor when you forget to do it for days on end, they perish.
One way to stop the cycle of purchase, neglect, death, and then repeat is to create a set schedule for care and water. Most inside plants require water every two weeks; some need to be watered once a week. Certain plants, such as cacti and succulents, can go much longer without being watered. Therefore, first, you must learn from a gardener or online resource how often a particular plant needs to be watered. Then, add it to your calendar or day planner. Just as your work meetings, yoga classes, and dinner appointments make it onto a calendar or email reminders, so should watering your plants.
Take Note of Vents or Heating Ducts
While the care of different plants can vary widely from one species to the next, a constant care instruction across the board is that houseplants do poorly with drastic or noticeable changes in temperature. Frequently, this isn’t a huge problem, as humans similarly prefer a constant temperature in their home or office. Where it does become an issue is when inside plants are inadvertently placed next to air vents for air conditioning and heating.
These systems frequently turn off and on to keep temperature stable throughout the rest of the home. This means there is an inconsistent and changing flow of air that can be very different from the surrounding temperature, particularly when there is an adjustment in the temperature of the central heating or air conditioning.
Pick the Right Size Pot
Outdoor plants can expand and grow over an indefinite amount of space and distance. This is not true of indoor plants, which are often kept in pots or other confined space. While this makes them easy to move around a room or space, it is a harsh restriction on their root development and growth. Choosing the right pot is essential.
Choosing the right pot from the start is nearly impossible. Plants need room to grow, and that means changing the pot or another container on a regular basis. If roots show above the soil or a plant appears to overflow from the pot, it is time to move it to a bigger container.
Notice the Plant’s Appearance
Even if you are following all of the research and watering your plants to a particular schedule, things can still go wrong. This is frustrating but true. However, most plants show signs of struggling or dying, long before they must be thrown away. When you do your regular watering or other care, make sure you take note of the plant’s leaves, the condition of the soil, and any new growth. Seeing cracked soil, soil that stays damp for a very long time, or leaves that are brown or wilted, can save your plant!
For more information, contact us at Plantscape, USA today!
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