Caring for indoor plants is an endless topic, because each type has its own recommendations for watering, growing, propagating, 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 their invariably blooming buds and luxurious greenery. By the way, in addition to their external charm, they help create a special microclimate in the room, give the room comfort, and also have air disinfecting properties, such as geranium, chlorophytum, aloe, prickly pear cactus and many others. So what is required for quality care for them?
For the normal development of green pets, conditions are required that are close to their natural habitat. This article will talk about how to care for indoor plants, what their needs for moisture, light, air temperature and humidity are. 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 care for 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 of many points, but you need to start with where you place your green guest or visitor. 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. It is necessary, first of all, to take into account that experts recommend growing light-loving species, which include most plants, on windows oriented to the south, southeast or southwest, or in close proximity to them. Unfortunately, the north side is only suitable for shade-tolerant species that have only decorative foliage. They usually do not bloom.
In the back of the rooms - on bedside tables, cabinets and tables - you can place such unpretentious plants as ivy, begonia, tradescantia, monstera, fern, dieffenbachia, peperomia, asplenium, alocasia, fittonia, scindapsus, rubber-bearing ficus, arrowroot and so on. If they don’t 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 began to change before your eyes, think about whether its current unattractive appearance is connected with its transfer from one place to another, less lit place.
Many house flowers, especially those placed deep in rooms, suffer most from a lack of light on the short days of the autumn-winter period. Whether this happens to your pets is not so difficult to understand - just watch them. The leaves have changed color, turned yellow, the plant looks weak and sick, but do you notice any traces of pests or rot? Well, it is likely that keeping the room in its current location is not suitable for him. For those who want to know how to properly care for indoor plants, it is important to understand that in such conditions, and then only temporarily, only strong adult species with a well-developed root system can exist. Their lack of photosynthesis will be compensated by the consumption of previously accumulated organic matter.
For the winter, in any case, it is better to move all the plants to the window, and as close as possible, or use artificial lighting using fluorescent lamps, since they provide an emission 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 in order to lengthen the duration of the light period. This type of 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 many flowers, but one window sill...
As for the window sill, on which most flowers are so comfortable, it should have the maximum possible width. The fact is that plants should not touch the glass with their leaves. In the summer, this can lead to burns, and in the winter, hypothermia. And flowers shouldn’t interfere with each other either, especially since there are species that your other green pets won’t like being in close proximity to. For example, it is better to place geranium separately - other plants do not like it.
But what to do if most of your flowers love light? Is it really not possible to place them all on the sunny side? More experienced housewives of home greenhouses came up with a solution. It consists of installing a special bookcase 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 place 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 themed store you can choose such a convenient item made from wicker, forged metal rods or other material.
Many housewives are concerned about the question of whether they need to turn plants towards the light. Experts insist on this need. 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 - it drops already formed buds if the position of the plant itself relative to the light source changes sharply.
Yes, yes, imagine that such a long-awaited event as the appearance of a delicate flower surrounded by thorns may not take place only 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 whimsical pet. The desert is known to have 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 strength to take root again. Yes, when it comes to life and death, there is no time for beauty. As you can see, in the world of flora there are also laws similar to human ones.
Fertile soil is a vital necessity
Houseplants must be replanted. It is advisable to do this in the spring every two years. This need is caused not so much by the fact that the plant is growing, but by the deterioration of the soil itself. Of course, nutrients can be replenished with fertilizers, but over time the soil changes its structure and becomes dense, making it difficult for the roots to reach oxygen. In addition, the soil changes its acidity and becomes clogged with salts that accumulate in it during watering.
Tips for caring for indoor plants contain one important detail: each type of house flowers needs its own soil, which includes various components. Turf and leaf soil, moss, peat, sand, bark, mixed in different proportions, are ideal components of a plant substrate. We have long been accustomed to the fact that flower shops sell ready-made soil, and we buy it for our green pets, believing that this is the best choice. Indeed, indoor plants that are not demanding on the soil composition feel good when transplanted; they usually do not show signs of soil rejection, rejection, and so on. But this doesn't always happen. Therefore, you need to figure out how to find on sale what your plants need.
It should be noted that fertilizers and plant soils are goods that are not subject to mandatory certification. Therefore, the contents of the packages may not at all correspond to the stated composition on the label. Moreover, many companies simply package purchased raw materials. You also need to be able to distinguish between the concepts of substrate and soil. The latter necessarily contains sand, which the roots need for comfortable growth. And the substrate is used to enrich open soils. All soils that are sold in stores are divided into two groups:
- Soils based on vermicompost. They are obtained by processing organic waste - sawdust, straw - with worms.
- Peat soils. They are made from light and fluffy high peat and fibrous lowland peat. High-moor peat is not capable of retaining moisture, while low-lying peat, which has a fibrous structure, is favorable for the root system.
Returning to the topic of replanting indoor plants, it must be emphasized that those bought in the store really need it. A light but cramped plastic pot that barely accommodates 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 environment. That is why caring for them in the first months should be especially attentive and thorough.
Secrets for caring for flowers
Secrets for caring for flowers During the dormant period (autumn, winter), you should not feed flowers abundantly - the stem may stretch out. When planting, to prevent pests from attacking the plants in the future, 3-4 match heads should be added to the soil. If pests appear, you need to spray the stems and leaves of the plant with water in which a piece of laundry soap is diluted and a few drops of alcohol are added. Excellent nutrition, from which flowers grow literally before our eyes and bloom profusely, is obtained from onion peels. You need to brew it steeply, then dilute the infusion with water 1:10 and water the flowers 2 times a month. — It’s good to feed homemade flowers with banana skins, cut them finely, add water, let them sit for 2 days and water them. The leaves turn green. How to bring indoor flowers back to life. I found this article in the diaries in the live journal, maybe it will be useful to someone. The indoor flower was dying before our eyes and the chances of salvation were getting smaller and smaller. And then I remembered the advice I received long ago from a passionate florist. Water all sick and poorly developing plants with the following solution: 5-6 egg whites, pour 1 liter of warm water and leave for a week. Then dilute 10 liters of water. I watered not only the dying flower with this miracle solution, but also all the plants. I must say that the smell of the solution was not entirely pleasant. in this case, you can temporarily take the flowers out onto the balcony. and if you live in a private house, then go outside. The result was truly amazing: it was as if my flowers had tasted the elixir of youth - the leaves began to shine, young shoots sprang up. Medicinal onion cocktail for flowers. I found this recipe for indoor flowers. If my indoor flowers become “sad” before my eyes, I prepare a “life-giving cocktail” for them - a decoction of onion peels. It’s not at all difficult to prepare, and most importantly, the “ingredients” are always at hand. I put a handful of husks in an enamel bowl, pour in 1.5 liters of boiling water, boil for 5-7 minutes, let it brew for two hours, filter and cool. I spray plants and the top layer of soil with this decoction for preventive disinfection. Indoor flowers perceive the decoction as a complete fertilizer. I usually “pamper” my plants once every two months, and if they suddenly “lose the mood,” then more often. Onion broth contains a full range of microelements and is suitable for both indoor and garden flowers. But remember that each time the broth will have to be prepared anew - it cannot be stored.
Little secrets of experienced flower growers
Many indoor plants can be turned into neat 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 to periodically pinch 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 green pets.
The life cycle of any indoor plants involves a dormant period. In this they are no different from their wild counterparts growing in the natural environment. For some, the dormant period begins during cold weather, and for others during drought. At this time, flower buds are laid. Before the onset of frost, in the fall, it is recommended to place hibiscus and azaleas on the balcony for a period of two weeks to a month. But representatives of bromeliads - echmea, gusmania - require a hot environment for the formation of flowers, 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 relative to the cardinal directions of citrus ornamental plants, because their leaves are not adapted to rotate in response to the sun's rays. To control this, you can stick a stick into the ground on the north side of the pot as a guide.
You need to be able to pinch a homemade tangerine or lemon correctly, leaving three or four leaves on the young shoots. The tree then turns out to be compact, and its leaves are strong and large. With proper lighting, moderate watering and rest with a temperature range of ten to fourteen degrees Celsius, your plant will bloom the next year. A lemon grown from a seed will delight you with its first buds and will begin to bear fruit only after fifteen years.
As you can see, having the right content isn't everything. It turns out that it is not enough just to plant a child or buy a plant in a store and provide it with comfortable conditions. In some cases, you will have to be extremely patient to finally see the long-awaited buds or fruits on it. There are several more secrets on how to provide proper care for indoor plants. Here are the ones that may be useful to you:
- arrowroot and asplenium love moderate lighting and high humidity;
- Ficus Benjamin is very popular due to its unpretentiousness and decorativeness; it can be kept anywhere in the apartment;
- anthurium needs watering, it is shade-tolerant, but does not like waterlogging, so the flowerpot with it must have a layer of drainage;
- cypress is a sun-loving plant that needs moderate watering and a long cold dormant period;
- shade-tolerant scindapsus does not like abundant watering;
- azalea is a mountain plant, so its root system is superficial, it needs acidic soil, high humidity and abundant watering.
Of course, it is impossible to quickly comprehend all the subtleties and nuances. Growing a home greenhouse or even a couple of now fashionable orchids is a troublesome task that requires attention and patience. Even an unpretentious cactus will delight you with its surprisingly delicate bud only if its contents were 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.
Source https://jlady.ru
Spathiphyllum flowering
Flowering is influenced by many factors: proper location and care, room temperature (for spathiphyllum to bloom, a temperature of 20-25 degrees is needed), the age and variety of the plant. If the plant is affected by a pest or disease, flowering will be sparse or not at all. Under favorable conditions and proper care, spathiphyllum blooms from spring to mid-autumn. Sometimes, if there is enough light and the temperature is suitable, it can bloom in winter.
Spathiphyllum content temperature
For comfortable maintenance, the plant requires a temperature range of 18-25%. In winter, a temperature drop of up to 15% is permissible, while the life processes in the plant slow down and it enters a dormant state. Watering is reduced during this period; spraying at low temperatures is undesirable. At temperatures above 30-35%, frequent watering is required and periodic showering is useful. Spathiphyllum does not like watering with cold water and is afraid of drafts in winter.
How to water spathiphyllum?
Irrigation system and air humidity Watering spathiphyllum depends on the temperature of the content. The higher the temperature, the more frequent and abundant the watering. But the plant should not be allowed to droop due to dry soil, as this condition is stressful. Since with constant drying of the substrate, the plant will lose its decorative effect. And this will manifest itself as yellowing of the leaves and the appearance of dry leaf tips. It is advisable to use water that has settled for a day or filtered. If watering is stable and regular, and the substrate does not dry out too much, then the plant does not need spraying. But periodic showering with slightly warm water is very useful. There must be drainage in the pot so that water does not stagnate at the roots. You can leave water in the pan only during the warm period of maintenance, and then only infrequently. Since the root system may suffer from stagnation of moisture.
