During my last “Green” theme, I was really surprised by the amount of people telling me that they are not good at taking care of house plants.
At my office, I’m a sort of “plants advisor”: everyone’s asking me how to save their plant or how to take good care of this one or this one. Since I’m saving the open-space plants, my desk has been transformed into a tiny garden, and my boss brings me every plants received from a customer: “if it dies, you’re fired”… Mmmh, ok, well… thanks?
Of course I am not an expert, but I have noticed that sometimes it’s just a question of practice, hence the idea to create this small post.
And today is the Urban Jungle Bloggers day! With a new theme: Make your plant pop! The perfect theme for me and my blog name don’t you think?
And this is also an opportunity to show you some parts of my plants and my place.
It’s actually not that difficult to keep houseplants happy, but you do need to pay attention to their basic needs.
Of course, some sort of plants requires different amount of attention. It’s better to start with some “classical” house plants, like the species you can find at Ikea.
Like everyone, I had to face the death of some plants, but it was always because of a small detail.
For instance, I had a Gardenia which quickly dies because it didn’t like hard water, and should be watered with rainwater, thing I did not know at that moment.
THE BASIS:
Never let the roots in water:
Unless your plant need it, (like the carnivorous plants, which are coming from swamps), most of the time, plants just hate it!
Do not let the plant pot sit in water. If the pot sits in a tray, empty the tray after watering. Sogginess causes rot.
The light:
How much light a plant needs depends on both the species of plant and the environmental conditions to which it is exposed. But most of the plants needs light to grow, a lot of light! Forget it if your room is dark!
So keep it close to the window, but be careful with the sun, or your plant will burn.
Different plants require different type of water:
Most of the plants don’t really mind about hard water, but other really don’t tolerate it, like the carnivorous plants (and Gardenia, like I said above), which will die if they are not watered with rainwater.
If you have a balcony, just save some rainwater, otherwise, ask to someone who has a garden to save some for you.
Know your plants:
Like I said before, plants needs depends of species. Always keep or ask for the variety when you buy a new plant, than check on the Internet what are the best care for it.
Taking care of your plants:
I’m used to water my plants on Sunday as an easy reminder.
Otherwise I let the soil dry completely before watering. Unless the plant looks sad, I do not touch it.
I do remove also the wilted flowers, and I cut stems or yellow leaves, which will boost flowering and young growth.
Indoor plants also need regular fertilizing to maintain healthy growth. I’m used to fertilize mine on (almost) every spring.
Let it go:
Leave it alone! 🙂
Seriously, do not take to much care of your plant, as it needs to live it’s one life without having you always checking if it has enough water or wathever. So talk to your plant, give it all love it needs, but let it breath, like a boyfriend 🙂
See you next week for the second part! Enjoy your week-end!
