How to take care of indoor plants?
The light
A plant cannot live without light. Place your houseplants in the brightest spots in the house, such as near windows, especially those facing east. In winter, when the days get shorter, keep the plants less than 1.5m from the windows, so they can take full advantage of the few hours of light. Artificial lighting (fluorescent tubes, mercury or sodium lamps) allows you to arrange plants even in dark corners.
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- Try to protect your plants from direct sunlight because the rays risk burning their leaves. If this happens, remove the dead leaves.
- Dust prevents the passage of light, clean the leaves of your plants regularly.
- If your plants lack light, they will have yellow leaves and protruding stems upwards.
The temperature
Most houseplants adapt well to indoor temperatures, however try not to overheat your home and not place the plants near the radiator, otherwise they risk drying out. It also avoids drafts, which can annoy the plants and cause them a thermal shock.
The ideal temperature for a plant is 20 °, however most appreciate a lower temperature in winter (between 15 ° and 18 °) and a variation of 2-3 ° between day and night. You can achieve these variations by equipping yourself with a heating with regulator thermostat.
In the summer you can put the plants on the balcony or in the garden, except for small or fragile ones.
The humidity of the air
When it is hot, or if you keep the heating at more than 20 °, regularly spray water on the leaves of your plants.
Good to know: if the environment is not humid enough, your plants will grow more slowly, the edge of their leaves will turn black and the leaves themselves will tend to yellow and fall. To remedy this, moisten the plants abundantly with a vaporizer, insisting on the reverse of the leaves.
Watering
The frequency with which you have to water your plants varies according to the humidity in the air and the temperature of the environment. To regulate yourself you have to keep in mind a few things:
- Compared to plastic pots, terracotta pots let the roots breathe better and retain water longer, thus allowing you to water less often. Always wait until the terracotta is completely dry before watering.
- Do not water your plants too often: the plants tolerate drought periods better than heavy rains. If your plant has a stem or trunk, just water it every 15 days, the other plants will need to be watered once a week. Wait until the soil in the pot is dry before watering.
- Always use non-calcareous water and one hour after watering the plant, empty the saucer. Also think about a drainage system, by placing clay balls or pebbles in the bottom of the pot.
Good to know: if a plant has received too much water or, on the contrary, not enough, it will have yellow and withered leaves. If your plant needs water, place it with the pot in a basin full of water. In the opposite case, remove the plant from the pot, let the earth dry out and plant it in another pot.
The fertilizer: during the growth period of the plant, between March and September, you can use fertilizer, being careful not to exceed the dose prescribed on the bottle.
Repotting: if the roots of your plant are very developed, if your plant does not bloom enough or if it grows too slowly, you need to change the pot. Choose a pot with a diameter of 2 to 3 cm larger than the previous one. This operation should preferably be carried out at the end of winter, before flowering.
The dimensions: if your plant has dead branches, damaged leaves, frail twigs or withered flowers, cut them with shears.
The tutoring: to support and direct the branches of very large plants you can use a brace.
