How to care for indoor plants: general tips from netizens - Lifehacker
News Internet / / December 29, 2020
A new interesting thread has appeared on Twitter, which will be useful to anyone who is tired of looking at dying indoor plants. @SubPhiereGreen shares general tips for growing a healthy houseplant.
How to choose a plant and what to do with it at first
🌿 When buying, carefully examine the flower, look under the leaves, look at the surface of the soil: there should be no signs of rot, cobwebs, rust and holes in the leaves. You can even smell the soil)) an unpleasant putrid smell - right by. The flower must be beautiful and healthy!
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
The new plant must be quarantined: a few days apart from other flowers. This will help you keep your garden free from pests that were not noticed when purchasing.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
🌿 A flower bought in a store needs to be transplanted, because it is in the transport soil, and this is peat, which is not suitable for the permanent residence of the plant. Try to gently shake off the maximum amount of peat from the roots, but do not disturb the root system too much
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
How to choose a pot and how to fill it
🌿Choose a pot with drainage holes at the bottom and a sump, this will help avoid stagnant water during watering and root rot pic.twitter.com/FUyOgr9RRx
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
plastic pots are lighter, more durable, more diverse in design. They come with automatic watering. Ceramics are heavier and fragile, but if they are not glazed, they have moisture and air permeability. Ceramics or plastic - your business, the main thing is HOLES pic.twitter.com/casF7jWUkb
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Place a drainage layer (medium expanded clay) on the bottom of the pot. The layer should be 1 / 4-1 / 3 of the height of the pot. Yes, you and I are trying with might and main to prevent moisture stagnation at the roots pic.twitter.com/ydzWR59vQX
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
🌿 Add baking powder to the purchased soil for plants (take any universal soil, preferably the most expensive): perlite, vermiculite, sand, fine expanded clay. Mix it all, along the way, remove all sorts of branches and lumps that are often found in the store soil pic.twitter.com/w3lg87BIwU
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
More life for huge plants: when planting a large-sized tree, instead of expanded clay, pieces of foam can be used as drainage. The meaning is the same, but the weight is much less
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Watering
🌿 Do not get attached to the calendar when watering plants: watering "once a week" in winter can lead to plant decay, and in summer - to dryness; in addition, the rate of drying of the earth depends on the volume of the pot, the composition of the soil, the size of the plant, etc.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
I advise using your finger: immerse your finger in the ground, if it is dry, you can water. For irrigation, it is better to use settled water (I fill wine bottles)) pic.twitter.com/6VRw8bEBDY
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Try to pour water only on the ground, without getting lost on the leaves and into the outlet of the plant. The water that has spilled onto the pallet must be drained. pic.twitter.com/vfJXRafsWs
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Top dressing
But feed the plant regularly, every 2 weeks from March to October. No need to feed in winter. Sick plants and plants after transplantation should also not be fertilized. You can use any universal fertilizer, diluting it twice as weak as in the instructions
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
A separate fertilizer must be purchased if you have flowering plants and succulents - they require a different ratio of micronutrients
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
your plant lives in a limited space of the earth, so inevitably the soil is depleted, and there is nothing to eat, but you need to grow. Fertilize!
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Humidity
🌿 Monitor the humidity, especially in winter, when the batteries are operating. A humidifier in the room will be useful for flowers and people. If the tips of the leaves are dry, it's probably time to buy a sprayer. If in winter the batteries are godlessly dried, then tropical plants can be put
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
... on an additional pallet filled with wet pebbles or wet sphagnum moss. This will increase the humidity around the flower.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Give plants shower: washing away dust from leaves is good for all plants except those that have pubescence on the leaves. Cover the ground with a bag, turn on water at room temperature and low pressure. After showering, protect the plant from drafts until it dries.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Leaves of large plants (ficuses, monstera) that are difficult to move into the shower can be wiped with a damp cloth.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
What is transshipment and why is it needed
🌿transferring a plant is a transplant into a larger pot without completely replacing the soil. The flower grows, and in the spring it is advisable to transfer it into a 2-3 cm larger pot.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
We take a new pot, pour drainage, take out the plant along with a lump of earth from the old pot, put it in a new one, fill the voids around the edges with fresh soil. We try to make the ground level the same (that is, we do not bury the neck of the plant in the ground and do not expose it)
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
🌿transplantation, pruning, feeding, planting is done only during the period of plant growth (March-October). In winter, we give the plant a dormant period - we do not fertilize, we water less and less often
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
🌿If the plant is huge, and it is difficult to transplant it, then instead of transplanting, you can do with replacing the top layer of the earth, at the same time remove the plaque of salts that eventually forms on the soil surface
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Loosen the soil with a fork, remove the top layer without disturbing the roots, and replace it with a fresh good one. The same procedure can be done with those plants that you are not going to replant this season.
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Important: These are tips that work for most plants, but some categories require special handling.
All of the above is true for most plants. Stand alone (of course, sccculents, but about them separately, as promised): conifers, citrus fruits, azaleas and violets / begonias, orchids
- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 14, 2020
And finally:
🌿 There are no "capricious" and "unpretentious" plants - there are inappropriate living conditions. Try to find out the names of all the colors you have and find information on how to properly care for them. Or ask me, I am happy to share my knowledge about plants!- atypical woman (@subPhiereGreen) August 13, 2020
Read also
- Mini-garden in an apartment: how to grow vegetables, herbs and even strawberries at home
- How to care for violets: a comprehensive guide
- How to care for different varieties of orchids
- 5 reasons to have succulents at home
- How to arrange houseplants in rooms - Burning Hut