You would love to have a huge garden with loads of plants and trees. But sadly, the soaring real estate prices hardly enable people to have such huge gardens attached to their apartments. However, you can still embrace your love for plants by bringing home the right variants of indoor plants. And even if you have ample space outside for planting trees, having a few plants inside can look and feel really nice.
It is also true that buying and caring for an indoor plant is not as simple and linear as it seems. The ways to choose and nurture indoor plants aren’t the same as the outdoor ones.
So, before buying indoor plants, read on to know more about them!
What exactly is an indoor plant?
There is no such thing as a plant that only grows indoors. So, ‘indoor plants’ is a term that can, at best, describe the plants that can take the extra strain of growing indoors. Indoor living takes away all the essential elements that the plants need, i.e., sunshine, fresh air, and rain.
So, plants that can live indoors usually hail from the subtropical regions. These plants are in the habit of growing in conditions of reduced light. Suitable indoor plants can withstand temperature fluctuations between different seasons and day and night.
However, these plants are kept in controlled conditions in glasshouses in the nurseries. Thus, if you plan to bring an indoor plant home, keep the following tips in mind:
- Slowly acclimatize the plants to the individual conditions of your home.
- Planting directly in terracotta and ceramic pots will make the plant too cold in winter.
- Select shade-tolerant plants for spaces with low light conditions. Choose plants with patterned or colored leaves for bright light.
Indoor plants purify the air in your home
Growing plants indoors serves more purpose than only enhancing the décor. Getting a couple of indoor plants for your office or home is helpful in giving you fresh air. It filters out the toxins from the air that come from paint, furniture, carpet, and cosmetics.
Indoor air might not be as polluted as outdoor air, but that does not mean it is completely free from pollutants. So, even adding one plant in each room can help in purifying the air.
This is probably why you tend to feel more at ease and relaxed amidst plants. You are breathing fresh air when plants surround you.
Choosing indoor plants that suit your décor
You need to keep your interiors in mind when creating an indoor garden. The tropical look goes really well with teak furniture. Large indoor plants would look really nice here. You can boost the Balinese fabrics and red highlights with easy-to-care and unusual foliage like bromeliads and Zanzibar gem.
Modern interiors and their clean lines can use the kind of textural foliage that is there in plants like lady’s palm. Romantic ferns and heart-shaped flowers perfectly complement antique décor.
Selecting plants for varied light conditions
One of the biggest mistakes made in selecting indoor plants is to choose something that doesn’t suit the available light conditions. Shade-tolerant plants are good to go for rooms with low light conditions.
The ones with huge dark green leaves can photosynthesize better than others in low lights. Lady palm, peace lily, and kentia palm are good examples of such plants. In the areas with bright light, select patterned or colored leaves like prayer plants, zebra plants, and dumb cane.
Taking good care of your indoor plants
It is important to nurture the indoor plants right – not ignoring them but not giving too much attention. Watering the plants once or twice weekly during summer and spring is necessary. During winter and autumn, reduce the frequency to once in three weeks. The best way of doing this is to purchase small indoor watering cans that have small sprouts.
The easiest method to feed the plants is to use a controlled-release fertilizer in granular form. Use a half-yearly granule feed twice each year during autumn and spring. Also, pick off those older leaves to let the new ones grow and each month, make sure to put a bit of seaweed solution in the water. It will keep your indoor plants happy and healthy.
Dealing with the pest problem of the indoor plants
The plants do not get proper water, and other nutrients are easier prey for the insects. One of the common insects for indoor plants is the mealybug. It is a white, hairy insect that is about three millimeters in length. You can spot them in the crook of the stems and lower stems. You can pick up and throw off one or two mealy bugs. However, to control large infestations, you will need to spray Natrasoap or opt for natural pest control.
Another common insect is Scales, which are black, brown, or white in color. They look like small bumps with their hard hats on. Spray insecticides on the affected leaves for scales. There is also sooty mold that looks like black soot deposition on the leaves or stems. It is a condition that follows scales, and you can control this issue with similar treatment.
Struggling to keep indoor plants alive? Try these tips.
If you find it hard to keep the indoor plants alive, these tips will be of use to you.
- Create a solution of water and milk (1:1) and clean the leaves. It will keep the leaves dust-free and healthy.
- Watch out for the plants sitting right next to your window during summer. The strong sun tends to burn the leaves of fragile plants.
- Brown tipped leaves mean they are either getting too little or too much water. Determine that and address the situation.
Endnote
Keep in mind that the plant names mentioned here are only examples, and you can get similar plants for the reasons mentioned above. So, now that you’re armed with knowledge, let’s go plant-shopping!
