11 Principles You Must Follow If You Want to Take Good Care of Your Plants
There are people who seem to have no talent to look after plants. However, this has mostly got to do with experience and knowledge. Sometimes you simply have to learn from your mistakes. Today we have got a few hints for you to follow if you want your potted plants to grow well.
4:03 AM EDT, June 2, 2020
#1 Always match the plants to the right room
Unfortunately, there are several plants blooming beautifully in the summer but they cannot survive a season if kept indoors.
#2 Never ignore symptoms of excessive or insufficient watering
The easiest way is to check before watering whether the top layer is already dry. Simply use your finger tips. Remember that excessive watering is much worse than a day or two without water.
If your plants are watered too much,
-the edges of leaves go brownish,
-the bottom of the stem is getting softer and softer.
If it isn’t fertilised enough,
-the leaves begin to roll
-the edges of leaves turn brownish and fragile
-the bottom leaves look the worst
If there is something wrong with the leaves and you are sure that the plant needs watering, check again if it really needs extra water. Most plants get killed by overwatering only because we thought they needed more water.
What if your plant does not get enough water? Relax. Water it only if the surface is dry throughout a few centimetres. Moreover, remember not to use cold water as the soil absorbs it much more slowly.
If you have been overwatering your plants, gently take it out of soil, cut off rotten pieces of roots, leave it to dry for an hour or wot and put it in a pot with appropriate drainage. And choose terracotta pots as they give out all the moist outside.
#3 Provide appropriate sun exposure
Try to provide your plants with as much natural light as possible, of course remembering to select appropriate place for them. While you can modify the intensity of watering or fertilisation; sunlight is beyond you.
You can divide plants into following groups:
-those who like a lot of light so they can be put by the window, for example on a window sill,
-those who like light but direct exposure by the window is a bit too much,
-those who prefer darker places without any direct exposure to sunlight.
The plants enjoying the sunlight should be put on the sill by the window with southern or west-southern exposure. Plants from the second group will do well on windows exposed to the east. If you have windows with only eastern exposure, choose only plants from the second group.
#4 Use appropriate soil
Every plant you bring home needs a bit bigger pot that the one you’ve brought it in. The soil is of critical importance, just like watering. Most plants will grow well in soil dedicated to potted plants and in pots with right drainage holes.
This does not refer to orchids who need dedicated soil, available in gardening centres.
Also succulents need a bit lighter soil than other plants. Simply mix regular soil with sand in 1:1 ratio and this is going to work.
#5 Pots
Remember that every pot or a container must have drainage holes. Otherwise the roots will rot due to excess of water in the soil.
#6 Dust the plant
Dust accumulates on plants’ leaves and that is why it is essential that you keep them clean. A piece of soft cloth for bigger leaves or a shower in the bathroom for the plants with smaller ones will be just fine.
#7 Sprinkling
Apart from succulents, for most plants air in our houses is much too dry. That is why sprinkling them with water on regular matter is really important.
#8 The sun
Most plants expose themselves to the sun/ if you don’t move the plant within a year, you will notice how it works. That is why you can turn the pot a bit every couple of weeks. If you have more plants and there is not enough space for them in the spot with best light, you can swap the plants every week or every two weeks.
#9 Appropriate care
Look after your plants and whenever you see the leaves going dry or yellowish, find out what the cause might be and remove the affected leaves. It will allow the plant to redirect its energy to the healthy parts.
#10 Transplanting
Your plants have to be transplanted into bigger pots every couple of years. When the roots stick grow out of the pot’s bottom, it’s high time you did it. Also, when you see the roots on the surface of the soil, it’s time to transplant it, too.
#11 Keep your plants young by letting them replenish.
Each stem with a few leaves might turn into a seedling. Pick one and put it in water so that the roots can grow. Once they do, plant the young one.
If you follow our advice but your plants still keep dying, you’d better go for the plastic ones…