Having indoor plants makes our house have a much more positive energy, decorating any environment very well. In any case, a plant is not like any ornament that you can leave it there, and it is enough to clean it from time to time. Indoor plants need certain care so that they can grow healthily.
Keep in mind that the environment inside your house has been adapted so that you can be comfortable. In winter you turn on the heating, in summer you turn on the air conditioning. But just because you’re comfortable doesn’t mean your plants are too.
In this article we will list and analyze the 4 most important points to consider when growing your indoor plants.
Low light
Lack of sufficient light is one of the most common reasons why a houseplant starts to look sick. Depending on the type of plant, they may know how to adapt better or worse to these conditions, but in general they all need a certain degree of lighting.
As a general rule, indoor plants should be placed near a window, balcony, stained glass window or gallery; with enough light to be able to carry out its most vital function: photosynthesis.
Many times, not being correctly located inside the house, the plants will desperately seek light; abnormally lengthening its stems and producing larger-caliber leaves. But this mechanism won’t always rescue them, and you could see more serious symptoms right away.
You can correct your location before the leaves turn yellow or start to drop. As I told you before, place them in a well-lit place: near a window or where there is more light. You just have to prevent it from directly affecting the plants, it is essential.
On the other hand, keep in mind that it is best that the sun’s rays do not fall directly on the leaves. This will often cause leaf scorch, especially when light rays pass through window panes.
Excess of water
In general, having our plants so close, inside the house, we get used to watering them more often than they need. Keep in mind that indoor plants are more protected so they don’t sweat as if they were outside.
Plants always need more water in hot seasons like summer and spring. The same thing happens with your indoor plants but to a lesser extent, since inside the house they do not feel the change of season as much.
Excessive irrigation brings many adverse effects on plants, which you will be able to notice little by little. For more information on the effects of excessive watering, you can consult this post with tips for correctly watering gardenias.
Always take care to check the good drainage of the containers. Clogged holes may be “manslaughter”, but they won’t exonerate you from the sad outcome.
Substrate for indoor plants
Most plants need a light substrate enriched with organic matter, which also offers good drainage. This will help us to correct many times the excesses of irrigation that we talked about in the previous section.
I can recommend a universal soil mix that generally works with all houseplants, take note:
– A part of peat.
– A part of earthworm humus.
– A part of coconut fiber.
– Half part of vermiculite
– Half part of perlite.
Fertilizer for indoor plants
Being in a pot, the nutrient reserves are depleted quite quickly compared to outdoor plants. This means that you need to have a specific fertilization plan for each plant.
The fertilizer can be in liquid format, in basic organic matter or in other formats, such as pearls or slow-release granules. Check with your trusted garden store what type of fertilizer is best suited for the plants you have.
