Watering indoor plants seems to be one of the most complicated things for new gardeners to learn, which is surprising since it’s really simple. The problem is that a lot of the information out there makes the subject complicated and it gives new gardeners bad advice.
In this post I am going to give you some simple rules that work for any houseplant and makes watering easy. I’ll help you decide when to water and show you the best way to do it.
Everyone loves poinsettias at Christmas but are they toxic to cats and dogs? What about people? Many websites include the plant on their “toxic Christmas plants list.
It is winter and time to close up our homes to keep the heat in and the cold winds out. It is also the perfect time to buy some more houseplants because, if you believe all of the headlines, they will purify the air in your home. This is especially important during winter months when we keep the doors and windows shut.
Do plants purify the air in our home?
Google showed almost 4 million hits when I asked this question. The good news is that the top of the list shows my previous blog post – and it answers the question correctly. Almost all of the other 4 million hits give the wrong answer.
In this blog I will review current knowledge and look at some new research. If you don’t want to read all of the details, just read the first two sections, which give a summary of known facts at this point in time.
The first hybrid streptocarpus was released in 1946 and since then hundreds of new cultivars have been developed and yet few people are familiar with them. I predict that will change. Streps are easy to grow house plants that can flower all year long. What other house plant gives you that much star power in a small package. They are even better than orchids because they flower more and are easier to take care of.
However, even this lesser known houseplant has started to generate some gardening myths. Let’s have a look at some here.
Streptocarpus are not commonly available and most gardeners either have not heard of them or they know very little about them. I was one of these gardeners not that long ago but now that I have some experience with them I can’t believe they aren’t more popular. They grow in fairly low light, are easy to take care of and flower 12 months of the year. They are also available in hundreds of colors and flower shapes including singles, doubles, straight edged and frilly edged. Some of the newer hybrids don’t even look like streptocarpus.
In this post I will introduce you to streps, as they are commonly called.
Orchids are one of the most popular houseplants because they are easy to grow and flower – for some of us. But many people struggle to get them to re-bloom a second time. Over the years I have heard a number of myths for reblooming orchids and I have even been guilty of passing some of these on to others. In this post I will separate myth from real science to better understand how best to flower orchids.
I have written extensively showing that plants do not clean the air in your home, and now new studies suggest that they actually produce VOCs that pollute the air. Not only that, but plastic pots and microbes in the soil make the problem even worse.
Should you get rid of your houseplants to have cleaner air in your home and office?
I first came across water culture for orchids about 5 years ago. My immediate reaction was horror. I’ve been growing orchids for over 30 years and the thing that kills more orchids than anything else is overwatering. Now people suggest submersing the roots in water full time – that’s crazy – or is it?
Some people seem to be able to grow them well in water. The picture below is a large glass vessel containing several phalaenopsis orchids in water culture and they seem to be doing well. I am also part of a Facebook group dedicated to orchid water culture and I have personally tried both full and semi-water culture. In this post I will review the pros and cons of the technique and give you my impressions. I will answer the question, is this a good technique for growing orchids?
While creating some videos about potting soil (links below) I reviewed a lot of commercial products, looking at both ingredients and marketing claims. What a mess out there! It’s no wonder gardeners are confused when they go out an buy a potting mix. I created this post to try and bring some clarity to the situation.
I will go through a process of selecting a good product while pointing out the important issues and showing you what marketing gibberish you can ignore. This discussion applies to potting soil for houseplants, outdoor containers and starting seeds.
Growing marginally hardy or non-hardy plants in cold climates usually involves growing them in containers and moving them indoors before winter. Everyone loves to see houseplants flourish when grown outside during warmer months – but no one likes bugs hitchhiking back inside! Fortunately, there are ways to remove unwelcome insects before they enter your home.
There is a lot of information floating around about fertilizing orchids, but much of it is wrong. For example, the whole concept of “orchid fertilizer” is a myth because there is no such thing.
It’s time that orchid growers understand fertilizer better. It will benefit your plants and save you money.
Cactus are very weird plants. They almost never have leaves. They sit there and do nothing for a good part of the year. They don’t flower – or do they? If you are old enough to remember all of the cowboy movies on TV, you are sure to know that you can always stop by a cactus and get a drink.
My first foray into horticulture was a collection of over 100 different cactus, under lights in my bedroom. At that time I went to Europe, in part to see “native cacti”. I’ve grafted them, and even grown them from seed. Fast forward 40 years, and I still have a cactus growing in the garden (zone 5).
For this post I have collected together all of the cactus myths that I could find. Enjoy.
