Living with indoor plants: What you need to know

It can be a fun thing to explore growing indoor plants. You get to do your farming within four walls without having to work under the sun or be wary of too much rain.

There are so many high sides to cultivating indoor plants. First, your plants grow in a controlled environment. You can adjust your indoor farm’s weather conditions to suit your plants. Second, your plants are safe from airborne plant diseases that can be transferred from other plants close by. However, if you would live with indoor plants, there are certain things you need to know.

Light is still necessary

For your indoor plants to grow properly, they have to enjoy all the nutrients available to outdoor plants. You should understand that light is critical to your plants’ growth. Therefore, there must be a worthy replacement for sunlight within your home. If your plants are denied a daily quality experience of photosynthesis, they will not turn out well. You can keep your plants at strategic places within the home where sunlight can reach them. You can also provide lights for indoor planting to supply the exact nutrients your plants accept from the sun.

Water your plants often

Remember that you have complete control over your plants’ atmospheric conditions. You cannot leave them to chance. Water your plants at least twice daily. The aim is not to flood your plants but always keep the soil damp. Therefore, care should be taken as you water your plants. It is possible to water your houseplants from the bottom up or top-down.

While you are watering from the top, you must try not to make the foliage wet while ensuring that the whole soil mass gets moistened. This is because water has to come out from the drainage holes present at the bottom of the pot. If you wish this to be done by your plant, place your plant in a dish containing water, and its roots will pull up the water they will require. This is called bottom-watering, and it is a more thorough method for watering the indoor plants, although it is time-consuming. Ensure that you dump all the standing water away from the saucer 60 minutes after you have finished watering.

Know your allergies

Certain plants can trigger your allergies. When you decide on the plant to cultivate in your house, avoid plants that can trigger your allergies. If you are allergic to pollen, you should not grow any flowering plant. Chrysanthemums, weeping figs, and marigolds all cause skin reactions in allergic people. If you have many allergies already, you should probably do good research before choosing your plants.

Consider your pets

If you keep pets, you should be thinking of guarding your plants against your pet. You don’t want your pet feeding off your plants or your plants affecting the pet. Therefore, you should implement measures that keep your pets away from your plants to avoid any unpleasant event. You should also consider if your pet has developed allergies.

Begin with the suitable soil

Soil can be considered a misnomer when you consider growing media utilized for your indoor plants. Keep in mind that the best growing media you can use is soil-less, and it is a combination of compost, peat moss, and perlite/vermiculite. One of the personal favorites is Espoma for almost all gardening needs. They have a terrific all-purpose potting mixture that works beautifully for the houseplants. This mixture is available on Amazon. One of the more popular indoor plants is orchids, and they are notoriously picky while using potting mediums. You will not find too many “one size fits all” alternatives to use as orchid growing media. However, using a good combination of orchids as a well-drained mix provides a lot of room for the roots.

Fertilization time

Even though house plants carry out photosynthesis for processing the sugars, they require for survival. They also need a more direct kind of food for carrying out their growing process. Giving fertilizers to the houseplants makes sure that they stay healthy and happy. Food for houseplants may be delivered through granules that crack over time, or they can be added by using water-soluble fertilizers. Granules have to be applied once every few months, while the fertilizers soluble in water need to be used every two weeks. Most fertilizers will have directions available on them. Please read them carefully to check out what is recommended. Keep in mind that fertilizers have to be used only during the growing season.

Using the right environment

It would help if you aimed at keeping the houseplant in warmer conditions that allow a degree of air circulation, and the plant must be able to rotate its face. However, you can place them inside your bathrooms and partner with water heaters in Sacramento for the best results. Most of the houseplants require a minimum temperature of 55 degrees F for their survival. Maintain the houseplants away from the areas having cold drafts during winters. Warmer the things are around the houseplants, generally happier they are. Airflow is critical for keeping a houseplant healthy. It may be easily achieved by using ceiling fans within the home for maintaining the air around the plant circulating. Still air, on the other hand, can lead to several ailments for the houseplants. This is the reason why almost all greenhouses have those massive fans running within them. Finally, you can use a cloth for wiping down the houseplant leaves periodically to prevent the buildup of white and dust coating that may adversely affect the health of your houseplant.

If your houseplant lies in a sunny place, significantly, you provide a slight rotation to it regularly to make sure it’s even growing. For example, if you see the plant face is aligned with the primary light source, you need to turn the houseplant a quarter every week to help in even growth.

Repotting the indoor plants

When your plants are growing and thriving the way you wish them to, it is possible that eventually, they are going to need a larger pot apart from a fresh potting mix. It is a good idea to repot your indoor plants in spring when they begin their growth. Fast root growth will permit the indoor plant to adjust suitably to the newer container fast. Select a pot that is larger than your current container but is not too big. Any pot that is too large will encourage rotting of the roots and other issues as the soil might remain wet for many days or even weeks before it is again used for the indoor plant.

Take proper care of the root system while repotting to avoid damage to the houseplant. Make sure that you firm all the soil around the root ball while not compacting the soil. Leave sufficient space near the top of the container for water and water the plant thoroughly. You may add the repotted houseplants to your exterior siding as it is significant that the exterior of your home looks as good as the interior. If you live in Kansas City, you can use the services of Kansas City siding contractors for this purpose.

You should try out grow tents

You could convert a room in your house to a mini farm where all your cultivations can occur, but if you do not want to leave out a room in your home, you can make use of grow tents. An indoor grow tent is an excellent alternative to garden farming. What makes the use of grow tents more thrilling is that you can replicate all the living conditions of a farm in these tents for your plants. You can regulate your grow tents’ lighting, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide level. This method puts you in a position where you are in charge of what happens to your plants.

You don’t have to worry about your plants contracting airborne diseases from other farms. They are well secured in their tents, away from other plants. Growing tents also solve the problem of pests. It becomes difficult for pests to cause any damage to the plants within this secured space.

Your pets are also kept away from your plants in the same vein. You can place your indoor grow tent at a corner in a room and still utilize the space for other purposes. Cultivating indoor plants without using an indoor grow tent can be tasking for you. You need to constantly check many details like the temperature, nutrient intake, the concentration of light, etc. A grow tent enables you to keep track of these details much more effortless.

Final word

Growing your plants indoors should not be difficult if you have the correct information and apply them properly. As you decide to start cultivating indoor plants, you should pay attention to your allergies (if you have any), your pets, constant watering of the plants, and the use of growing plants. You will find out that it is an exciting and rewarding process of caring for plants from seed to maturity.