Tips and Tricks for Indoor Gardening
There are many tips and tricks that you should follow when bringing plants into your home, some are common, like knowing how much to water the plant, to how much light it should get. Below you will find a list of some suggestions about caring for your indoor garden.
1.Lighting for the plant. Now this is the first thing that you should consider when starting your inside garden, how much light does the plant need? This is important because most houses wouldn't have enough light to handle a plant that needs a lot of light. So, the lighting in your house becomes essential even before you start your inside garden or bringing any plant into your house, because the amount of light in your house will determine what types of plants would grow there. So make sure to consider this before bringing any plant into your house. You should select plants that require medium to low light, unless you plan on supplying the plant with artificial lighting. Some plants that are medium to low light would be a Boston fern, Philodendrons, etc. Here are a few other tips regarding lighting in the house:
During the summer months put the plants outside, this will usually boost up the plant and give it a new spurt of energy
Because a plant will turn to the light, you should rotate the plant, this will promote an upright growth.
There are a few ways you can tell if your plant is getting enough light or not. If it isn't getting enough light, it usually will have small leaves, thin stems, and the color of the plant will be lighter than usual.
Artificial lighting, with a fluorescent lamp, etc, can be used to supplement a house with limited natural lighting.
Condition your plants when you buy them. You have to do this because the place where you buy the plant will usually have more lighting than your home and the plant can go into a shock of sorts and lose it's foliage. Now to condition your plant, make sure you give it the maximum amount of light your house has, and then gradually reduce the amount of light to be equal to the spot where you want the plant to end up.
2.Watering Plants:
Not every plant has the same needs when it comes to watering, but there are some basic rules you should follow:
Wet the soil thoroughly, and the water should be able to drain out of the bottom of the pot. How much you water, and how often purely depends on the type of plant that you are dealing with, so read the seeds or ask the person selling you the plant, how much water does this plant require.
Now, don't over water, that's probably what kills most plants. If you have too wet of a soil constantly it will lead to problems with the roots. You'll notice that the leaves will become yellow, that's because there is not enough oxygen in the soil because it is too wet.
When watering the plants, try to use water that is the same temperature as the room. This will insure that the plant doesn't have any shock from too cold or hot water.
3.Temperature:
As with watering, different plants will thrive under different conditions, one of which is the temperature. As a general rule temperatures between 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit, during the day and 10-15 degrees cooler at night. Now this will not cover all plants, but this is the range for most of the house plants. Here are a few more tips to follow:
The temperature can go up or down by 10 degrees from the ranges above, it will not kill the plant.
Rapid changes in temperature, either colder or hotter, can cause damage to your plant.
If a plant is grown at a hotter temperature than is needed, it will be small, weak. If it is grown in a too cool temperature the leaves will have a yellowish look and will fall off.
4.Pots and Containers:
Make sure that you have a pot that can adequately allow the water to drain out of it. Also, before putting a plant in a pot you have used for another plant, make sure you clean it out. Just incase some disease that may effect the next plant.
5.Humidity:
The level of moisture in the air can also effect how a plant grows. Low humidity, in most plants, not all, will cause dry leaves and curling. Increase the humidity of the room with a humidifier, especially during winter when the heat is on and the humidity drops. You could also spray the leaves with water, but do it in the morning, if done overnight the leaves can rot.
6.Fertilizing:
Once again, this is one of those tips that is based purely on the type of plant that you have, different plants need different levels. Other factors include, how fast do you want the plant to grow, how much sunlight there is, how many times you water it, etc. As a general rule, for plants that are growing very quickly, you should fertilize every 2 to 3 months, but for dormant plants, you shouldn't fertilize at all. Since these are indoor plants, that receive less sun than normal, you really don't have to fertilize them too often. If you see burned or dried leaves, you can have a pretty good guess that the plant has been over fertilized.
