Dried Flower Expert

Indoor Gardening and How it Started

Indoor gardening got its start in the Victorian Era with just two or three different plants. A couple of those plants would have probably been the palm and hibiscus and were probably purchased by those who could afford to do so. They would place them in their keeping rooms, parlors or sitting rooms, whereever they did their most entertaining. Soon after the Victorian Era people did not want to have live plants indoors and so indoor gardening went by the wayside. Finally, in the 1970′s indoor gardening was introduced again but the houseplants were not as big and consisted of foliage only plants such as ivies, ferns, and spider plants. Today we have a larger medley of plants to choose and they again include the flowering houseplants. Some of the more popular flowering plants are the orchid, African violet, begonia, gardenia, bougainvillea, and geranium. We have now brought in some lively colors but also some fragrant aromas as well. Houseplants have a lifespan just as we do and will let you know when to replace them. If they have been around for a number of years and they start struggling to survive it is a good time to replace them. You also do not want to keep unhealthy indoor plants as they will attract disease and insects and you do not want that to spread to all your houseplants. Using a potting mix that consists of perlite, peat moss, and vermiculite is an excellent mix for the indoor plant. They are considered to be soilless mixes and absorb moisture quite well but will also have a tendency to dry out very fast. They do not have nutrients, so your will need to add fertilizer on a regular basis. These soilless mixes are said to be sterile so you will not have a problem with diseases or pests.The humidity and temperature are also very important. When these plants were in their natural environs the temperature difference between day and night was roughly 10 degrees. You want to be able to supply them the same luxury inside your home. Most of these houseplants like the humidity to be around 50 percent or higher but if it is any dryer than 35 or 40 percent water will have a very tough time penetrating through their roots. It is a very good idea to mist your plants in the winter because the humidity is so much lower. When watering your indoor gardening houseplants make sure to soak the root ball until you see water seeping out the bottom of the container. When this appears you can rest assured the whole root system has received plenty of water. Over-watering kills more indoor plants than anything else; it is wise to test the soil first about 1 inch deep, if the soil is dry then it is time to water. Most of your flowering plants and foliage plants need about 12 to 16 hours of light each day but during the winter months you may need to substitute grow lights for sunlight. Indoor gardening can improve the over all quality of life of everyone living in your home. Twenty years ago when we moved into our house we were blessed with many houseplants and we had them all over the house including high ledges and shelves our house has; it took a large ladder to climb in order to water them. They all died around the same time and we have not replaced them as yet. When we do replace them they will be more on the level we can reach them and not on high ledges.

Technorati Tags: Gardening, Indoor, Started