Welcome to, How To Grow Indoor Plants, an informative article on ways to change your indoor plant arrangements to create a magical garden

Growing plants indoors can make for an amazingly beautiful environment. With indoor plants, you can easily transform your apartment, townhouse or villa, thus creating a softness of decorative foliage and a beauty of flowers that can result in an almost magical atmosphere. And you can easily do it all yourself.

Indoor house plants are especially important for the apartment or small space gardener. Still, there are also many plants that can be grown on a semi-enclosed veranda, or completely outside, such as Orchids. And these can then be brought inside whilst flowering.

Also today, there are lots of attractive containers and pots available, and many come with matching saucers. Please remember, however, that terracotta saucers can absorb moister. Be careful they don't damage your furniture or carpets.

To begin, choose plants suitable to the light, temperature, and humidity of your home. Carefully read the labels to ensure this. Light is the real key here. It is often the most difficult thing to get right.

Size comes next. Size of plant, along with leaf pattern and color, are your next considerations. Will they fit in with room shape, decor, wall color?

Species and types. While some flowering plants such as the African Violet, some bulbs, and the Peace Lily, spathiphyllum wallisii will grow and flower indoors well year round, it is preferable to bring others, such as Azaleas, Hydrangeas and some orchids, inside as they flower.

How to grow indoor plants when the Flowering is finished?

That's when those growing plants indoors can be moved outside to their original position or another place of choice. And the choice? A nice, sheltered position such as a balcony or patio, for the most part. Only the hardiest of species can abide being fully open to the sky. Moving them outside again will, of course, give your beloved flora a chance to regain full health and allow new growth to begin.

Annuals such as Cineraria, Calceolaria and hot-house Poinsettias should be discarded once their flowers are finished. They're a once only phenomenon.

For flowering plants to successfully produce wonderful blooms plenty of light is needed. The more light you can provide, the longer the display will last. To keep the plants looking neat and to prolong flowering, pinch off, or cut off spent flowers. Also water the plants well. And keep all of them away from breezes, heaters, air-conditioners and the stove.

One way to make routine maintenance, so to speak, easier, is to group plants of similar needs. But to reiterate: If growing plants indoors, you need be aware of and to tend to their basic requirements. It isn't difficult. And if you do so, your only limitations to creating a wonderful indoor environment - apart from plant species - will be that of your own imagination.

A newly purchased houseplant should have been well nourished at the nursery and will not usually need fertilizer for up to three months. Also, they don't need to be fed in the winter dormancy period. The rule is to wait until they begin showing signs of strong new growth.

Soluble plant foods, like Aquasol and Maxicrop, and all indoor soluble fertilizers, are suitable for growing plants indoors, Such do, however, need to be dissolved or diluted in water before application. Apply every fortnight or monthly as required. Soluble fertilizers are great for flowering house plants. They'll encourage lush leaf growth on foliage plants.

Long lasting slow release fertilizers, such as Nutricote, release the food over a period of time as the plant is watered. They are convenient and safe to use on ferns, palms and other foliage plants. Another simple method of fertilizing indoors, is to use a fertilizer spike. These spikes are inserted into the top of the potting mixture where they slowly release the necessary nutrients.

Plants can be severely damaged, even killed, if given too much fertilizer. So be careful. Apply small quantities only while these plants are growing during the warmer months. In most tropical regions they'll need regular fertilizer application as the dormant period is much shorter.

Don’t fertilize dry plants, first water - then feed them.

WHEN TO WATER INDOOR PLANTS

When to water indoor plants depends on air movement, temperature range, and the amount of light reaching the plant and, of course, the size of the plant. A general rule is to give a good watering when the soil, about half a finger deep below the surface, feels dry to the touch.

Ferns are an exception: they like to be kept evenly moist, and this often requires daily watering. Ferns thrive in wet conditions and they need lots of water. For this reason, many indoor gardeners prefer self-watering containers for ferns.

Plants in plastic containers will need less water than those growing in porous pots such as Terracotta. As stated earlier, all plants will need be watered less frequently during the winter period. But if you should water in winter, bring the water to room temperature, rather than hitting them with water that's icy cold.

A small watering can with a long spout will help you control the amount of water you give, and will also prevent splashes going where you don't want them to.

How to grow indoor plants & containers

When growing plants indoors, your containers should have adequate drainage holes to prevent the potting mix becoming water-logged. Also, drip saucers to prevent water dripping all over your furniture and floors. If you flood both the pot and saucer, empty the saucer within one hour of watering. Don’t leave the plants standing in water, as plant roots often die if kept permanently saturated.

Some indoor gardeners prefer to water their smaller indoor plants at the laundry sink, where they can let them drain thoroughly before returning them to their saucers. It's a good procedure.

A excellent way to revive a very dry indoor plant is to stand the pot in the sink or bucket with water just covering the rim for approximately thirty minutes. Wait until all the air bubbles have stopped. That indicates complete saturation. Such saturation helps to flush out any accumulation of fertilizer salts. And, of course, keeps the plant adequately supplied with water for some time.

The easiest and most worry free way to leave your plants is to enlist the help of a neighbor or close friend to call by regularly and water your beloved ones. If you are a busy person or a frequent traveler it may be a good idea to invest in self watering containers. They are usually constructed of plastic and have a built in reservoir for storing water. Water is drawn up into the pot by capillary action until the potting mix becomes evenly moist throughout.

If you have a well lit bathroom, a good emergency measure if you are called away unexpectedly is to place your plants in shallow water in the bath or sink. Tuck some old towels around them to help hold the moisture and create a humid micro-climate. Your plants should be able to survive for about two weeks like this.

Re-potting can revitalize house plants by providing them with a fresh growing environment. You may also want to re-pot a plant that has outgrown its containers. A pot bound plant is easily seen as it roots will start pushing out from the drainage holes. Use a premium quality potting mix, which will have the right moisture holding capacity and correct nutrients. Only use specially formulated mixes for orchids and African violets.

Potting is messy, and so if you must work indoors, choose an easy to clean area or lay down some type of sheet or tarp. News paper will work just fine for small containers. Re-potting is best done in late winter and early spring before vigorous new growth begins.

Make sure to keep the surface of the old root ball within 2-3 cm (1 inch) of the top of the container, filling in around the sides with the new potting mix. Water the plant well immediately after potting but don’t fertilize for several weeks

I hope you liked my page How to Grow Indoor Plants, Please view my other articles for great reference on small space, apartment and indoor gardening. Enjoy!

Happy Gardening, Marty

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