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Posts Tagged ‘plant care’

What is the best temperature for growing house plants? Here again, consider each plant’s preference, and also the relation of other cultural factors, like humidity. Some plants prefer to grow cooler than average house temperatures, some need more warmth. Optimum figures vary widely.

Except for vines specifically noted as requiring lower or higher temperatures, you can expect most varieties recommended for growing indoors to be content with the average 65-75 degrees in the home, with a drop of about 10 degrees at night. But since warm air is drying, humidity needs to be stepped up for some varieties, and more frequent watering may be necessary.

When you measure temperature, take the reading in the growing area, not in a cooler window, or over a radiator, or in a far corner of the room.

Plants will usually show you when the temperature is not to their liking. If it is too cool, they will not grow at their usual speed and will refuse to flower. If it is too warm, growth will be sickly and often elongated, particularly if warmth is combined with lack of light. “Bud blast,” in which plants drop their flower buds before they open, frequently results from too much warmth and dry air.

Humidity

Except in arid areas, the air in most of the outdoor locations where plants like peace lily outdoors grow naturally contains more moisture than inside a heated home in winter. This is humidity, correctly called “relative humidity” because it is a percentage comparison of the amount of moisture in the air with the total amount of moisture the air can possibly hold at a given temperature.

Plants indicate need for higher humidity by crisping and drying leaf edges and flower buds, and by failing to grow and bloom. When humidity is too high – and particularly when high humidity combines with cool air, moist soil, and lack of light – leaves go soggy, stems feel limp and watery, rot and mildew may result. Adequate circulation of fresh air is a better preventive than cure.

For more information about peace lily outdoors. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/peace-lily-care-spathiphyllum.html.

Home gardeners find that rooting scented-leaved geraniums is not always easy. Often they have a favorite plant they want to propagate and after several attempts meet with failure. Among the many kinds, some root very easily, while others are very tricky.

Of the popular scented-leaved geraniums, the lemon-scented and the rose-scented varieties root easily and quickly under common propagating methods.

The lemon-scented (Pelargonium crispum) is a small stemmed plant, with tiny crinkled leaves, which requires considerably more water than most geraniums. Take cuttings about 3-3/4 inches long and trim off all leaves from the bottom up to 1-1/4 inches. Make a clean cut beneath an eye, dip the end into 3X rooting powder and insert the cuttings in clean sand, deep enough so that the lower leaves do not touch the sand. Shade until signs of growth are evident. Then remove shade and keep plants a little drier.

Oak-leaved varieties (Pelargonium quercifolium) are not too difficult. Take tender cuttings, but if they are hardened, root them under drier conditions. A 1X rooting powder is best. Practically all hardy and easy-to-root as well are the flowering scented varieties, none of which demand anything beyond normal cultural conditions. Here again water well, and allow the sand to become rather dry, but not arid, before watering again.

Spice-scented and fruit-scented varieties vary considerably in their needs, but here is how some of the more familiar kinds should be handled.

Use Rooting Powder

Cuttings from the nutmeg geranium (Pelargonium fragrans) and its varieties are made from the heaviest wood available and dipped in a No. 1 or No. 2 rooting powder. These are dependable rooters, but it is best to leave them in the sand for three or four months until the tuberous-type roots have formed.

Apple-scented geraniums (Pelargonium odoratissimum) are propagated from the very short joints which radiate from the main stem and then potted directly into 2-1/2″ pots filled with good soil. They will invariably lose all their leaves, but will fill out with new growth. So it is a must to know why there are brown tips on plants.

Ginger-scented, lemon-balm and almond-scented are all very easy to root under ordinary conditions.

Gooseberry-leaved geranium (Pelargonium grossularioides) is another very small-wooded variety which should he well shaded and given a little more than the usual amount of water, especially after the first week or two in sand.

Mint-scented varieties (Pelargonium tomentosam) including Peppermint, Pungent Peppermint and Joy Lucile require only the usual practices given cuttings.

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Ideal plants for those value fragrance rather than color, are the scented-leaved geraniums.

These offer a combination of pleasant perfumes and a wide variety of foliage form and texture. Since they are plants that are comparatively easy of culture, maintaining a collection is relatively simple.

Scented geraniums can be grown as house plants, in a greenhouse or as garden subjects left out all year in the more temperate south and southwestern parts of the country. They demand only ordinary care. Give them good garden loam, sunshine, moderate water, a reasonable amount of feeding, as well as occasional pinching, and they will thrive happily.

The scented varieties never become dormant. During dark, winter days, to be sure, they do not grow as fast as in spring and summer, but they always remain in full leaf, their hidden fragrance awaiting the slightest touch. As house plants, they are excellent, where they succeed in any sunny window. They are also not excessively sensitive to house conditions, such as dry atmosphere, high temperatures and the occasional presence of minute amounts of gas.

When to Water

Water these geraniums only when the soil begins to dry, but then do it thoroughly. One way to determine the moisture of the soil is to feel it with the fingers. Another is to tap the pot lightly with a stick. The quality and pitch of the tapping sound indicates the degree of saturation. A dull, heavy sound means the soil is moist, while a sharp, ringing sound that it is dry. Some growers, after a little practice, can determine the amount of moisture by the weight of the pot. Always, however, take care to avoid the easy method of watering plants by a set schedule. The condition of the plants themselves should be the only guide for watering.

Pinching plants is necessary to induce branching. The blind -grower finds out when to do this by feeling their shape. Only the growing tips should he removed gently with the fingers. Since the scented varieties are naturally more bushy than the zonals, they require less pinching.

Repotting plants like the butterfly bush is needed only a couple of times a year. When the pot becomes full of roots, move to a larger container. At any time, the root ball can be gently removed from the pot and the roots felt with the fingers to determine if repotting is necessary. The “scenteds” will be healthier, however, if kept slightly pot bound to maintain firm, woody growth. Plants grown from cuttings taken in late summer are satisfactory for house plants and do not require so much room as older, larger specimens.

Fertilizing is scarcely a problem. Newly-potted cuttings do not need feeding for several months. After that give a light sprinkling of ammonium sulphate or a balanced chemical fertilizer. The root ball should be moist before feeding to avoid burning the tender roots. Fertilizing during the period of slow growth is not advisable.

There is much more to explore on the subject of butterfly bush. You’re only a click away – http://www.plant-care.com/butterfly-bush.html.

Trellis – A “lath screen” used to support ornamental vines against walls and other vertical surfaces where the vine can not or should not climb on its own. If not in front of a wall or building, a trellis should be adjacent to one; it is seldom used alone.

Trellises are available, or can be constructed, in many sizes, types, and designs. The choice is usually governed by the style of architecture and landscaping. For a heavy vine, make sure the trellis is sturdy and long-lasting.

Because many vines make close growth, with matted, twisting stems, they need free circulation of air on all sides. Don’t set a trellis flush with a wall. Use brackets, angle irons, or wood blocks to hold it at least four inches – preferably six – away from the wall. And unless the wall behind is brick, stone, or masonry that will not need painting and repair, install a trellis so that it is not difficult to remove it. Hinges will often do the trick. A light, small structure can be set up so that it will easily swing back or out on inconspicuous hinges. A larger, heavier trellis may be equipped with sturdy door hinges; when the center pin is slipped out, the whole thing can be lifted out and set aside.

A vine-covered trellis can be used to frame a door or window, to soften bleak areas around garage doors. It is not usually the object of interest, but a supporting one just like a potted plant such as dracaena deremensis warneckii. But in winter, when the stems of a deciduous vine are bare or a herbaceous variety has died back to the ground, it should not stick out like a sore thumb.

For annuals and herbaceous vines, a temporary trellis is sometimes a good idea. Fish-net types, made of strong cord, will last several seasons if taken down and stored during the winter. Or fashion an unobtrusive trellis with plastic line strung through holes or eyes in a lightweight but strong wooden frame.

For a greater understanding on dracaena deremensis warneckii. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/dracaena-warneckii-roots-i809.html.

The first batch of bulbs gives me an excuse for digging into the compost pile. I throw back the top layers that were put on since June, and after grinding a sharp edge on my round pointed short handled shovel I shave down the front of the pile in inch-thick pieces. It is not powder – it doesn’t crumble to dust. But it breaks up plenty well to be mixed with the soil in preparing beds for fall planting of either bulbs or hardy flowers. Since there is little nourishment or nutrient in the rotted leaves and other material making up the compost it is always necessary to add a complete commercial fertilizer and mix it with the soil at the same time you apply the compost.

Incidentally, I never have any compost over 11 months old. Compost that I do not use in preparing beds (I try to redo every bed about every three or four years) I put on top of the ground as a mulch.

Incidentally, I never have any compost over 11 months old. Compost that I do not use in preparing beds (I try to redo every bed about every three or four years) I put on top of the ground as a mulch.

Many others are completely ridiculous such as the one that says only a virtuous woman can grow ivy successfully in her home. Some day I am going to try to incorporate all of these in a book showing just why some of them make good sense and why others couldn’t possibly be true. If any of you have any from your mother, grandmother, or friends and neighbors, I would appreciate having them.

Many others are completely ridiculous such as the one that says only a virtuous woman can grow ivy successfully in her home. Some day I am going to try to incorporate all of these in a book showing just why some of them make good sense and why others couldn’t possibly be true. If any of you have any from your mother, grandmother, or friends and neighbors, I would appreciate having them.