Time To Give Your Houseplants A Little Extra Attention
Almost all of you have a few houseplants. Then there are crazies such as me who have more than 100. If this keeps up, we’re going to be living on the porch and the dog will feel like a monkey in the jungle.
Anyway, summer is a great time to do your plants a favor. First, think about how they live — trapped in a pot, same old soil for years, built-up fertilizer salts. I’m sure they’re jealous of their cousins happily growing outside, at least until the frost hits.
Most houseplants are tropicals, so the dog-as-jungle-monkey analogy is not totally ridiculous. In jungles and rainforests, many of these guys grow to tree size.
We were in the U.S. Virgin Islands a few years ago and were astounded to see gigantic versions of the same plants we had growing in our sunroom. The 40-foot jade plants stick in my mind.
One wonders how these plants survive in our houses, but they’ve adapted well. They do need some help, and now is a good time to give it.
Bring them outside on a sunny, warm day. Spread some newspaper on your patio table and go into plant-doctor mode, giving each one a physical exam.
I start with my pruner, trimming old, yellow leaves and uncontrolled growth. Our three jades continually point to the sun in the windows, sending out shoots that unbalance them and simply don’t look nice. Pruning is a lot like bonsai, restoring a natural symmetry and balance.
If you’re into propagation, these cuttings are a gold mine. Most tropical trimmings will grow when stuck into a new pot with good potting soil.
You will need to dip the cut stems in rooting hormone. Otherwise, they may mold and rot. Hormone, available in garden stores, halts that and give the cuttings a fair chance to root.
I use them to replace older plants that are spent. But my main use is as cheap Christmas presents. By December, they will be viable. Placed in decorative pots, they are welcome gifts.
After trimming, I check the soil. If it looks good, without severe compacting or that nasty, white residue on top from fertilizer (it’s salt), I top dress it with potting soil. When you water it, this will send nutrients to the roots and rejuvenate the old soil.
If the old soil looks hopeless, I’ll repot in new.
Another problem to diagnose is called pot bound. Tropicals grow fast over the year and often outgrow their containers. Evidence of this is roots extending out the drainage hole and plants that suddenly wilt and need a lot more water to keep the soil moist.
Sometimes, pot bound is good, at least for a while. Flowering will be increased, due to plant energy going to blossoms instead of root production. The roots are trapped.
Eventually, your friend will need a larger home. The rule here is to choose a pot that is half-again as large as the old one. Too large will cut its leaf and flower production, as the roots will consume most of the growth.
Be sure to use good potting soil, light, fluffy stuff that includes vermiculite or perlite, those white or silver pellets that help maintain drainage and oxygen in the soil. Cheap potting soil is heavy and wet in the bag. It stunts more plants than it grows.
Most tropicals hate wet feet and need large amounts of oxygen at the roots to support growth.
Finding the right pots is fun. Decorative ones can be expensive in stores. I check garage sales and flea markets for them, and rarely pay more than a dollar, even for large ones.
I stay away from unglazed terra-cotta, the old-fashioned flower-pot material. The clay sucks moisture out of the soil, redoubling the watering chore.
The hole in the bottom needs to be blocked, but not enough to prevent the water from leaking out. I cut layers of newspaper into circles covering the bottom. About an eighth of an inch will do the trick. This allows the water to drip out into a saucer but not the soil. If you use stones, you will lose some dirt each time you water.
Finally, I check for insects and apply a natural pesticide spray if I see evidence of them. The clue here is sticky leaves. The most common houseplant pests suck sap out of leaves, leaving a sticky trail.
Do the above and you can almost hear your plants thank you. These guys are friends, and sometimes friends need a favor or two.
Anyway, summer is a great time to do your plants a favor. First, think about how they live — trapped in a pot, same old soil for years, built-up fertilizer salts. I’m sure they’re jealous of their cousins happily growing outside, at least until the frost hits.
Most houseplants are tropicals, so the dog-as-jungle-monkey analogy is not totally ridiculous. In jungles and rainforests, many of these guys grow to tree size.
We were in the U.S. Virgin Islands a few years ago and were astounded to see gigantic versions of the same plants we had growing in our sunroom. The 40-foot jade plants stick in my mind.
One wonders how these plants survive in our houses, but they’ve adapted well. They do need some help, and now is a good time to give it.
Bring them outside on a sunny, warm day. Spread some newspaper on your patio table and go into plant-doctor mode, giving each one a physical exam.
I start with my pruner, trimming old, yellow leaves and uncontrolled growth. Our three jades continually point to the sun in the windows, sending out shoots that unbalance them and simply don’t look nice. Pruning is a lot like bonsai, restoring a natural symmetry and balance.
If you’re into propagation, these cuttings are a gold mine. Most tropical trimmings will grow when stuck into a new pot with good potting soil.
You will need to dip the cut stems in rooting hormone. Otherwise, they may mold and rot. Hormone, available in garden stores, halts that and give the cuttings a fair chance to root.
I use them to replace older plants that are spent. But my main use is as cheap Christmas presents. By December, they will be viable. Placed in decorative pots, they are welcome gifts.
After trimming, I check the soil. If it looks good, without severe compacting or that nasty, white residue on top from fertilizer (it’s salt), I top dress it with potting soil. When you water it, this will send nutrients to the roots and rejuvenate the old soil.
If the old soil looks hopeless, I’ll repot in new.
Another problem to diagnose is called pot bound. Tropicals grow fast over the year and often outgrow their containers. Evidence of this is roots extending out the drainage hole and plants that suddenly wilt and need a lot more water to keep the soil moist.
Sometimes, pot bound is good, at least for a while. Flowering will be increased, due to plant energy going to blossoms instead of root production. The roots are trapped.
Eventually, your friend will need a larger home. The rule here is to choose a pot that is half-again as large as the old one. Too large will cut its leaf and flower production, as the roots will consume most of the growth.
Be sure to use good potting soil, light, fluffy stuff that includes vermiculite or perlite, those white or silver pellets that help maintain drainage and oxygen in the soil. Cheap potting soil is heavy and wet in the bag. It stunts more plants than it grows.
Most tropicals hate wet feet and need large amounts of oxygen at the roots to support growth.
Finding the right pots is fun. Decorative ones can be expensive in stores. I check garage sales and flea markets for them, and rarely pay more than a dollar, even for large ones.
I stay away from unglazed terra-cotta, the old-fashioned flower-pot material. The clay sucks moisture out of the soil, redoubling the watering chore.
The hole in the bottom needs to be blocked, but not enough to prevent the water from leaking out. I cut layers of newspaper into circles covering the bottom. About an eighth of an inch will do the trick. This allows the water to drip out into a saucer but not the soil. If you use stones, you will lose some dirt each time you water.
Finally, I check for insects and apply a natural pesticide spray if I see evidence of them. The clue here is sticky leaves. The most common houseplant pests suck sap out of leaves, leaving a sticky trail.
Do the above and you can almost hear your plants thank you. These guys are friends, and sometimes friends need a favor or two.
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posted by Davor Novakovic @ Friday, July 08, 2005
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