Natural Way To Deal With Pests On Indoor Plants
March 31, 2010 by admin
Filed under Indoor Gardening
Are you searching for the natural way to deal with pests and scale insects on your indoor plants? However, cant find the ways to deal with them. Dont involve killing off you indoor plants. There are several ways to control the pest damaging your plants. Learn right now how to control the scale insects and pests and dont cause more harm to your plants. These insects are too tiny and its not possible to see by naked eyes. Perhaps you might have seen some tiny round bumps on your plants. However you dint know what is that tiny bumps. It could be scale insects, which is sucking the life of your plants. These insects can be harmful to your plants and might damage your indoor plants much faster as compared to the usually travel in long infestations. If you fail to fight back, they can take over all your indoor plants. They normally reside in the underside of your plants stems and leaves. That makes hard to see at first sight. Generally, the primary symptoms of scale insects infestations are the color of the leaves turn down to yellow in color. Moreover, in the worst cases the color of leaves turns black because of fungus and mold.
Nobody would like to have such types of bugs living on their plants. Especially they kill your indoor plants. You need to stop the killing of the plants and should take under control for scale insects. As you locate a plant having, pests and insects you need to transfer into an area where no other plants are placed. By isolation of the plants, you can avoid spreading the fungus into other plants. So place them at some better place. To remove the scale insects from your indoor plants you would merely scratch them off. Moreover, you would try to remove by you nail or any other item, which can scratch them off simply. It might be annoying to deal with a pests and scale insects infestation. However, you need to take control on them or else gradually they would start killing your indoor plants.
Importance Of Fertilizing Indoor Plants
March 29, 2010 by admin
Filed under Indoor Gardening
What is the importance of fertilizers for indoor plant? All plants require different elements from the soil to grow. If they are not present in the right quantity, the plants will not be as healthy or grow, as they should. This is the reason plants need fertilizer, to add the absent elements like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Give too much fertilizer to your plants and that will have the opposite affect to the one you are going for.
The same type of plant that is grown indoors or outdoors will have different fertilizing requirements. Plants that are grown indoors do not need as much fertilizer as the ones grown outdoors. The rate of growth is slower indoors and you can harm your plant if you over-fertilizing it. How do you know how much fertilizer to give to your plants and when to feed it to them? If you have bought a plant intended for the indoors odds are that the information tag it comes with will give fertilizing information. But a better way to follow is observing your plant for any signs that would indicate that it is deficient in nutrients.
The plant might require fertilizer if it is not growing as fast as it should. If you observe the growth of the plant is little and it is spring or summer you can safely add fertilizer in minute amounts over a period of one to two weeks. Many indoor gardeners will add fertilizer as part of a regular maintenance routine each spring and that is fine too. Just be careful not too over-fertilize. Some signs that will tell you that you have added too much fertilizer are that tip of the leaves start turning brown or the leaves begin flopping downwards.
All fertilizers are not the same, they are available in different ratios of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Purchase a fertilizer meant for indoor plants or one that is made for the particular type of plant that you own.
Diagnosing Your Sick Houseplant
March 24, 2010 by admin
Filed under Indoor Gardening
Diagnosing Your Sick Houseplant
Indoor plants are particularly prone to sickness and few people are aware when their cherished plants arent flourishing despite being regularly watered. However it isnt difficult to read the signs that tell you your houseplant isnt doing too well. The leaves may turn brown or yellow, or the plant itself may start drying up. Some of the causes of illness can be remedied while others cannot be. While trying to address the problem, adopting the simplest common sense solution often works wonders. The usual reason why your plant is wilting is either too much or too little water. Check the soil to see if it is too dry or flooded with excess water. If it seems dry, wet the soil gradually until some healthy moisture shows through. If the water level seems too high, ensure that the drainage hole is not clogged. If you have put the pot in a dish to hold excessive water, empty it out and make way for the water to clear off. Drying leaves that appear to be browning or yellowing are probably suffering from over-exposure to sunlight. In this case, place the plant out of the glare of direct sunlight. If possible place it in a temperature-controlled environment like a green house. If the indoor temperature does not provide enough humidity, this can harm your plant too. There is a simple solution for this problem-place a small bowl of water near the plant and watch as the plant soaks it up and the water evaporates. Falling leaves and twigs could be a sign that the roots of the plant are being damaged from too much or too little water or excessive heat. Try to assess the environment in which the plant is placed before embarking on a course of treatment. Sometimes it may require a small amount of fertilizer in order to perk up and display its usual sheen. Your local nursery or a professional gardener could accurately asses the problem, in case you are at your wits end.
Choosing The Plants For Your Indoor Garden
March 23, 2010 by admin
Filed under Indoor Gardening
The most important thing to understand and remember while beginning with an indoor garden is you actually purchase the right types of plants. The article discusses many kinds of plants generally preferred for indoor gardens, and also help in maintaining your garden easily. A beautiful garden adds charm to your home, and is the best choice for increasing the aesthetics of your living accommodation. Books and websites provide great ideas as to which indoor plants should be used for decorating your house garden. However, the important thing is to have a good idea what you actually desire and what kind of dcor you wish to utilize in decorating your garden.
Sometimes one does not have substantial space for the garden, but desperately desire to have one. Alternately one might own a beautiful garden and desire to enjoy the view all the year-round. Its also possible to impress your family members and friends with distinct and decorative patterns and look of your indoor garden. If you want to change the overall getup of your home, or you simply dont have any space outdoors and still want to enjoy the garden foliage, you need to select the correct plants which can improve the look of your garden. If you prefer a plant that requires low maintenance, here are a few ideas:
The Bromeliad is a very beautiful plant having a bright and fragrant bloom nature that persists longer, as compared to the blossoming period of other plants. It helps to enhance the general dcor of your house one can immediately see the difference an indoor garden can make.
The Pothos is yet another popular garden plant, which is also referred to as Epiremnum aureum, Phothos aureus, Raphidorphora aureum, or Scindaspus aureus. The unusual thing of this plant is that its name keeps on changing all the time - even amongst the nomenclature community. However, all the terms refer to the same plant. Its a very interesting plant, and features flowers in golden yellow to white shades. The leaves are primarily heart-shaped vine and flourish brightly. The plant does not require a lot of maintenance.
Another example is that of the spider plant which requires low maintenance. The unique feature about this plant is that its difficult to kill. A spider plant can make a great house-warming gift for newlyweds, as well as for family member. The plant requires medium sunlight - which is easy to achieve and the plant flourishes even when theres little or no direct sunlight.
The snake plant is easy to maintain, and is a good choice for your garden. The common problem faced by people going in for snake plant is that they die by over watering. So one has to be careful while watering the plant, and often check out the moisture content before watering. The main advantage is if you plan to leave for the weekend, you dont have to make any special arrangements for someone to come home and water the plants. The snake plant too needs low sunlight as compared to other plants, so it can be the ideal choice for your garden.
Pruning And Maintenance Tips For Indoor Plants
March 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Indoor Gardening
Outdoor plants need care and attention and the same is true in the case of indoor plants. In fact it can be said that indoor plants can use that extra love and care. So in order to keep indoor plants healthy they need the regular pruning or repotted. If there are dead or sick branches cut them off because they affect the healthiness of the plant.
Pruning also gives an aesthetic appeal to the plant. It makes your plants look nice and tidy. One important tip to be kept in mind is that if you are pruning a branch from a diseased plant that has fungus, make sure to disinfect the pruning shears once used. If pruning is continued without cleaning them there are full chances that your healthy plants get the fungus from the other plants. If you prepare a mix of bleach and water it will kill the redundant organisms completely.
The thickness or the whole look can be changed, if the plant appears to be too full it can thinned down. This can be achieved at around the trunk or stem. Another important thing to be kept in mind is that the plants should have enough air circulation. If you find the leaves and branches too congested, then do prune otherwise they wont be able to breathe. When trimming take care that the branches are only trimmed so as to keep a uniform appearance of the plant. Mostly it works if you prune the new growth.
You would know that as plants grow and so do their roots. If you notice that your plant isnt blossoming or if its roots are visible outside the pot, it means that your plant is root bound. Its important you transplant it to a larger pot. Then loosen its roots gently outside and put the plant in the new pot right at the center with new soil in it.
