There was a time in my life when plants were simply not safe around me 😊 I've always adored all things living and growing but unfortunately it seems I simply wasn't born with a green thumb. A fact that weighs very heavily on me since a great deal of the joy in my life stems from our little garden.
"How can my plants go and die on me" I was constantly asking myself, well not constantly but enough to be depressing. I adore plants! I water them! What am I doing wrong?
Well, as it turns out dear ones, quite a lot. As with all things in life, we learn through experience and I learned there was a whole lot more to happy houseplants than just wandering over with some water now and again.
Right now any houseplants we have are temporary... although in a good way 😊 What I mean is that recent houseplants in our home have tended to become outside plants eventually, as in the case of our little miniature roses which will soon be re-homed into a trellis planter by our front door.
I'm no expert honeys, not even a little bit, but I've become much better at keeping plants alive and content for months on end while they wait for the unpredictable Scottish seasons to allow them a chance to survive outside 😊
I thought today I'd share a few of the ways I've learned over the years to keep living green things... well living and green in our home 😊
8 Ways To Keep Houseplants Healthy & Blooming All Year Long..
1. Choose a room in your home that's warm all year round. I use the window ledge in our kitchen because it's consistently warm and during the (very) rare appearances of the sun in Scotland our window ledge is the best spot to catch the limited sunlight.
Our kitchen, like the rest of the house, has double glazing so there is no chance of plants being affected by cold drafts or by direct heat either since the window ledge is across the room from both the cooker and the radiator.
Being exposed to too much direct cold or heat can damage houseplants so even if you do have them living happily on a window ledge make sure the leaves aren't touching the glass honeys, during winter touch the glass with your hand and you'll be amazed at how cold it is.
2. Sit houseplants on a saucer or plate and never allow plants to sit in water. If water appears on the saucer you may have over watered so tip the water out of the saucer and sit back under the plant. Repeat if necessary and try not to water so much at one time in future.
3. Only feed houseplants when they are actually growing so they won't usually need to be fed during winter months but they do still need care. This of course includes regular watering, snipping away dead leaves or buds and by dusting larger leaves gently with a soft cloth.
4. When feeding, choose a slow release type fertilizer since these will provide the food the plants need over the season. Slow release fertilizer is particularly suited to hanging baskets (possibly in your conservatory?) as well as patio pots but can be wonderful when used on houseplants.
Slow release fertilizers are very effective because their gradual release of nutrients to your plants roots helps to avoid damage which can happen due to too frequent feeding by over keen owners. Yep, me, I've done that 😞
5. During winter months when sunlight is at a premium move plants nearer to the windows where they can soak up any available rays of sunlight. This is especially important if you live somewhere with short days as we have here in Scotland where, in winter, the sun rises after 9 am and will set again before 4 pm.
6. If any of your houseplants are tropical in nature, such as orchids, palms or ferns, why not try to re-create a humid atmosphere for them by misting their leaves using room temperature water and by, where possible, grouping them together.
7. Houseplants will eventually outgrow their homes and may need to be re-potted every year or so to keep them healthy and give them space to grow further. If your plant seems to be drying out every few days or seems to have stopped growing at all it may benefit from re-potting.
The best time to re-pot is during spring, be very careful when separating roots and remember to water thoroughly immediately once re-potted.
8. Plants breathe though their leaves so, other than the regular gentle wiping of leaves with a soft cloth as mentioned above it's possible to clean them by placing in the shower and giving them a gentle all over spritz of water. Be careful the water isn't too cold or that the flow isn't too powerful since this could cause loss of soil from the pot.
When buying a new houseplant honeys read, and keep, the directions tab supplied with it. It will tell you all you need to know about your new plant. Do you remember our little miniature roses, a gift from a dear friend at Christmas?
They've already been re-potted once and when the rain (eventually) stops again (it rains a lot here even in summer) they'll be moved again out into a planter with a trellis on it by the side of our front door.
I've just spotted in the photo above a withered rose that will need to be removed I'll do that tomorrow. These little roses have been enjoying being outside during the day for the past couple of weeks. We've had the most glorious sunshine and as you can see in the latest photo (on the right above) they seem to like the lovely Scottish rain too 😊
Over to you honeys. Do you have any tips to share? If so I'd love to hear them. I hope you've had a fabulous week and are looking forward to the weekend. Whatever you're doing dear ones, smile lots and hug even more, huggles always xx
No comments:
Post a Comment