Houseplant Care - Topicendless, because for each of their species there are recommendations for watering, growing, propagation, and so on. But there are also general rules, knowing which, you can always maintain your small indoor greenhouse in good condition. And then you will be able to make sure that the plants delight you with invariably blossoming buds and luxurious greenery. By the way, in addition to external charm, they help to create a special microclimate in the room, give the room coziness, and also have air disinfecting properties, such as geranium, chlorophytum, aloe, prickly pear cactus and many others. So what is required for high-quality care for them? For the normal development of green pets, conditions are necessary that will be close to their natural habitat. This article will discuss how to care for indoor plants, what are their needs for moisture, light, air temperature and its humidity. It should be noted that they vary greatly depending on what kind of flower has settled on your windowsill. At the same time, some green pets are capricious, and you will have to tirelessly look after them, while others are so unpretentious that it is sometimes easy to forget about them.
On all four sides
The rules for caring for indoor plants consist offrom many points, but you need to start with where you will settle your green guest. When placing flowerpots with flowers growing in them in an apartment or house, you cannot proceed solely from the requirements of the interior. Of course, this is just a wonderful decoration, but it is alive and therefore worthy of settling where it will be comfortable. First of all, it is necessary to take into account that light-loving species, which include most plants, experts recommend growing on windows facing south, southeast or southwest, or in close proximity to them. Unfortunately, the north side is suitable only for shade-tolerant species that have only decorative foliage. They, as a rule, do not bloom. In the back of the room - on nightstands, cabinets and tables - you can place such unpretentious plants as ivy, begonia, tradescantia, monstera, fern, dieffenbachia, peperomia, asplenium, alocasia, fittonia, scindapsus, rubber plant, maranta and so on. If they do not have enough light, they will "tell" you about it themselves. Young shoots will begin to stretch, losing their rich color, and new leaves will be smaller than the old ones. With insufficient insolation, plant growth often stops. Therefore, if a flowerpot that was recently pleasing to the eye suddenly begins to change before your eyes, think about whether its current unattractive appearance is connected with moving it from one place to another, less illuminated one. Many house flowers, especially those placed in the back of the room, suffer most from a lack of light during the short days of the autumn-winter period. It is not so difficult to understand whether something similar is happening to your pets - just watch them. The leaves have changed color, turned yellow, the plant looks weak and sick, but you do not notice any traces of pests or rot? Well, it is quite possible that it is not suitable for keeping in the current place of the room. For those who want to know how to properly care for indoor plants, it is important to understand that only strong adult species with a well-developed root system can exist in such conditions, and only temporarily. Their lack of photosynthesis will be compensated by the consumption of previously accumulated organic matter. In any case, it is better to move all plants to the window for the winter, and as close as possible, or use artificial lighting with fluorescent lamps, since they give a radiation spectrum close to the spectrum of daylight. If you decide to make a backlight for your green pets, know that in cloudy weather it will have to be turned on for twelve to fourteen hours, and on bright sunny days - only in the morning and evening to extend the duration of the light period. Such care for indoor plants will provide them with optimal comfort. It is recommended to place an additional light source at a distance of at least fifteen centimeters from the crown of flowers. If you do not follow these recommendations and hang the lamp directly above them, you can cause a burn to the plant.
If there are a lot of flowers, but only one window sill ...
As for the windowsill, on which somost flowers are comfortable, then it should have the maximum possible width. The thing is that the plants should not touch the glass with their leaves. In the summer, this is fraught with burns, and in the winter - hypothermia. And the flowers should not interfere with each other either, especially since there are species that the rest of your green pets will not like close proximity to. For example, it is better to plant geranium separately - other plants do not like it. But what to do if most of your flowers love light? Is there really no way to place them all on the sunny side? More experienced housewives of home greenhouses have come up with a solution. It consists in installing a special shelf with shelves on the windowsill. Small flowerpots with violets look especially impressive on it. You get such a blooming miniature flower bed. In addition, it is not at all necessary to put the pots on the windowsill itself. They can be placed on special decorative stands on the sides of the window so that the sun's rays fall on the plants. Nowadays, in any thematic store you can choose such a convenient thing made of vines, metal forged rods or other material. Many housewives are concerned about the question of whether it is necessary to turn plants towards the light. Experts insist on such a necessity. But even in this case, there are important nuances: if you want to admire beautiful flowers, never move flowerpots and pots during the period when the plants are budding. For example, let's take an unpretentious cactus. Did you know that nature has endowed it with one interesting feature - to shed already formed buds if the position of the plant itself changes sharply relative to the light source. Yes, imagine that such a long-awaited event as the appearance of a delicate flower surrounded by thorns may not take place just because you moved the cactus to another, better, in your opinion, place. By the way, this is just a defense mechanism, and not the capricious behavior of a capricious pet. As we know, the desert has very difficult survival conditions. Therefore, a plant torn out by a storm or knocked down by a camel's hoof is forced to get rid of its buds and direct all its efforts to take root again. Yes, when it comes to life and death, there is no time for beauty. As you can see, the flora world is also governed by laws similar to human ones.
Fertile soil is a vital necessity
Indoor plants are a mustreplant. It is advisable to do this in the spring every two years. This is necessary not so much because the plant is growing, but because the soil itself is deteriorating. Of course, nutrients can be replenished with fertilizers, but over time, the soil changes its structure, becomes dense, which makes it difficult for oxygen to reach the roots. In addition, the soil changes its acidity, becomes clogged with salts that accumulate in it during watering. Tips for caring for indoor plants contain one important detail: each type of houseplant needs its own soil, which includes various components. Turf and leaf soil, moss, peat, sand, bark, mixed in different proportions, are ideal components of the plant substrate. We have long been accustomed to the fact that ready-made soil is sold in flower shops, and we buy it for our green pets, believing that this is the best choice. Indeed, indoor plants that are not demanding to the soil composition feel good when transplanted, they usually do not show signs of soil rejection, rejection, etc. But this is not always the case. Therefore, you need to figure out how to find what your plants need on sale. It should be noted that fertilizers and plant soils are products that are not subject to mandatory certification. Therefore, the contents of the packages may not at all correspond to the declared composition on the label. Moreover, many companies simply pack purchased raw materials. You also need to be able to distinguish between the concepts of substrate and soil. The latter necessarily contains sand, which is necessary for the roots to grow comfortably. And the substrate is used to enrich open soils. All soils sold in stores are divided into two groups:
Returning to the topic of replanting indoor plantsplants, it should be emphasized that those bought in a store really need it. A light but tight plastic pot, which can hardly accommodate the root system, and a handful of substrate are needed to ensure minimal weight during transportation. They are not suitable for the normal existence and growth of plants. In addition, in an apartment, flowers find themselves in completely different conditions. And sometimes they have difficulty adapting to a new habitat. That is why their care in the first months should be especially attentive and thorough.
Small secrets of experienced florists
Many indoor plants can be turned intoneat and compact bushes, giving them a beautiful shape. The main thing is to know the basic principles of proper crown formation. To do this, it is necessary to promptly cut off strong and main shoots, the so-called "leaders". The most painless way is periodic pinching of the tops, because cutting long and large branches weakens the entire plant as a whole. Especially if this happens in winter, which is a special time for domestic green pets. The life cycle of any indoor plants involves a period of rest. In this, they are no different from their wild counterparts growing in the natural environment. For some, the dormant period occurs in cold weather, and for others - in drought. At this time, flower buds are laid. Before the onset of frost, in the fall, hibiscus and azaleas are recommended to be placed on the balcony for a period of two weeks to a month. But representatives of bromeliads - echmea, guzmania - require a hot environment for the formation of flower buds, when the temperature should not fall below twenty-five degrees Celsius, and preferably significantly exceed this figure. If you are rearranging your house, you should not change the position of citrus ornamental plants relative to the cardinal points, because their leaves are not adapted to turn with the sun's rays. In order to control this, you can stick a stick into the ground on the north side of the pot as a guide. You need to know how to pinch a home tangerine or lemon correctly, leaving three or four leaves on young shoots. The tree then turns out compact, and its leaves are strong and large. With proper lighting, moderate watering and rest with a temperature regime from ten to fourteen degrees Celsius, the plant will bloom the following year. And a lemon grown from a seed will delight you with the first buds and will begin to bear fruit only in about fifteen years. As you can see, proper maintenance is not everything. It turns out that it is not enough to just plant a baby or buy a plant in a store and provide it with comfortable conditions. In some cases, you will have to stock up on a lot of patience to finally see the long-awaited buds or fruits on it. There are a few more secrets on how to provide proper care for indoor plants. Here are some that may be useful to you:
- arrowroot and asplenium like moderate lighting and high humidity;
- Ficus Benjamin is very popular due to its unpretentious and decorative, it can be kept anywhere in the apartment;
- Anthurium needs watering, it is shade-tolerant, but does not like waterlogging, so in the flowerpot with it there must be a layer of drainage;
- cypress is a sun-loving plant that needs moderate watering and a prolonged cold rest period;
- shade-tolerant scindapsus does not like abundant watering;
- azalea is a mountain plant, therefore the root system is superficial, it needs an acidic soil, high humidity and abundant watering.
Of course, quickly grasp all the subtleties and nuancesimpossible. Growing a home greenhouse or even a couple of trendy orchids is a troublesome business that requires attention and patience. Even an unpretentious cactus will please you with its amazingly delicate bud only if its maintenance was correct. But we learn everything gradually, and the art of growing indoor plants is no exception. The main thing is patience, desire and the ability to use practical advice. We recommend reading:
