17/11/2015
There are many benefits to having indoor plants – it improves air quality, adds to the aesthetic of a space and relieves stress, just to name a few. However, you are not going to enjoy those benefits if you keep killing them.
If you’re reading this, it can be assumed that you are an indoor plant serial killer. For whatever reason, you can’t seem to manage to keep your leafy friends alive. But there is good news. Whatever you’re doing to kill them can be easily remedied. Read the following tips in this blog. Hopefully it will point you in the right direction.
Watering
The most common reason of indoor plant death is overwatering and most people don’t know they are even doing it. The soil at the top of the pot might be dry, but that doesn’t mean that down around the roots is in need of water.
You see, there might be a layer of water down there. If you add water to the pot, it will prevent this layer from properly draining or evaporating. This will cause the plant to suffocate – first affecting the thin roots that gather nutrients and water and then moving onto to the bigger roots.
Sub Irrigation Systems ensure that plants are watered correctly at all times
So what can you do? Firstly, ensure that your pot has good drainage holes in the bottom and gravel for excess water to run through. Secondly, do a bit of research on the plant and find out how much water it actually needs. You will probably find that it needs a lot less than you think.
Light
Photosynthesis. It is a process where plants and other organisms convert light from the sun into chemical energy, which it uses as fuel to live and grow. So it’s essential that they receive a fair amount of sunshine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQK3Yr4Sc_k
There are a number of plants that can grow pretty well without a lot of sun – but, by and large, plants need quite a lot of it. If your space does not have a lot of windows, an option is to get a UV lamp – but there is nothing better than the real thing. So even if you can move your plant to a window sill every now and then, it will really help.
Watering
You might not think that the type of soil you’re using is important, but it is. Soils have different properties (e.g. the amount of water that can be held) that are advantageous to certain species of plants and deadly to others.
Before potting a plant, you need to find out what kind of soil it needs. Your local nursery will be able to tell you whether the local soil is nutrient rich enough to support it. If it isn’t, you’ll need to use plant food or compost to ensure it survives.
Choose Easier Plants
If, after reading the above tips, you are still not confident in your ability to keep an indoor plant alive, perhaps you should consider getting ‘hardier’ plants, ones that grow well despite poor conditions and your negligence. Do a bit of research, or again, check with your nursery to see what would work well for you.
And who knows, if you manage to keep them alive, you might want to progress to trickier plants later on. You might slowly find that your thumb is turning from ‘death black’ to ‘life-giving green.’
A bit of research and a little more care should prevent you from killing your indoor plants. We hope this information will stop them drooping and start seeing them flourish in your space. However, if you’ve tried all these tips and your indoor plants are still dying, call Indoor Gardens. We will be able to keep your indoor plants alive for you!
