Indoor Gardening? Avoid these 5 bad habits
Posted by Bill Thomas on Tue, May 12, 2009 @ 01:37 PM
There are a lot of bad habits when it comes to indoor gardening or having indoor plants. Here are 5 bad habits that I know first hand:
1. Inconsistent watering. Most all of my outdoor plants are on an automatic watering system. They get watered regularly and consistently. Unfortunately, at my house we often forget to water the indoor plants until we notice them getting stressed. Letting the plants get stressed not only leads to uneven growth; it also makes them susceptible to pests and diseases. Plus subjecting them to so many near death experiences is kind of cruel.
2. Lack of pruning. Just as outdoor plants benefit from periodic pruning, so do many potted plants and container plants. A snip here and a cut there can improve indoor plants' health and appearance. However, not recommended for Chia pets.
3. Forgetting to walk the plants. Call me crazy, but my indoor plants and outdoor container plants seem to respond to being moved. Sometimes, I simply give them a half-turn toward the sunlight. Others, I move to different shelves or rooms. As I wrestle larger container plants across the patio, I sense they enjoy my heavy breathing.
4. Poor light management. Various indoor plants require differing amounts and types of sunlight - morning sun vs. afternoon, direct vs. indirect, etc. Unfortunately, sunlight recommendations are sometimes vague or don't factor in that we may live in Alaska. The best advice is to experiment within the general guidelines and pay attention to the results.
5. Unbalanced diet. Indoor plants live in a small, finite amount of soil. Eventually the plants will consume the trace minerals and minor nutrients in their soil. Because most popular chemical plant foods contain only the major nutrients, a steady diet of this type of fertilizer will not replenish these minor nutrients and trace elements. Unless we periodically resupply the soil with these, our plants will suffer. Not nice.
Hope you can use some of these tips to help your beloved indoor plants. After all, those darn things are expensive.