Indoor Eden Interior Plantscape Designs

Have you gone into a department store or nursery looking for an indoor plant? Some places are limited on selection. Others just do not look very healthy at all. What do you look for?

You may think because the soil is dried up that the plant is also half dead. That may not be the case at all. Plants are better off with dried soil than overly moist soil. They will bounce back with some TLC and water. You need to investigate the health of the plant. First, look at the leaves. Do you see brown or black spots speckled over the leaf? You don’t want that one. This is a sign the plant has pest problems. Any pest problem is difficult to get rid of. If you see tiny silky webbing, like a spider web, you definitely do not want this one. Those are from spider mites and are very difficult to remove completely. They spread like wild fire throughout the plant. Eventually they suck out the life of the plant and it dies. Another sign to look for is tiny flying gnats around a plant. They are a problem as well. It is easier to get rid of them, but why buy something that isn’t healthy.

Next, check out the stem area where it is closest to the soil. Is there a darkened area near the soil and it feels or looks a bit soft? This is a very good chance of root rot. When plants get over watered and are not allowed to dry out before you water again, they will eventually get root rot. It is just a matter of time before they will die on you. While you are looking at the stem area, check the soil. If you see a powdery white substance scattered around the top of the soil, it may be mildew. This may become a problem down the road. It will all depend on how you take care of your plant. This one is easier to fix. You can just repot it with fresh soil and do not over water it.

When you look at a plant that has nice thick stems, most the leaves are similar in shape and size, no tiny speckles of any type, and the soil does not show any signs of mildew, this is the one you want.

Another trick of buying from department stores is to find out when a new shipment of plants are due to arrive. They will be in the healthiest condition. Once they have been sitting around for a while on the shelf it is a breeding ground for pest problems. They spread quickly from plant to plant. These plant pests cause no problem for your household. They are only attracted to the plants. Most of them are microscopic. The ways to detect the bugs are the signs they leave behind on the leaves, stems, and soil. Proper care of your plants will prevent pest problems. Enjoy your plant shopping!

Now that you have all these beautiful plants in your home, how do you keep them clean? A plant needs more than just watering and proper lighting. You should also dust and spritz the leaves to keep them shiny and healthy. You may see leaf shine products in the plant section of large depot stores or hardware stores that say they are safe to use. Some of them are aerosols or petroleum based and will actually cause plant damage when exposed to hot temperatures or sunny windows. Plant leaves do not like them. It’s like spraying oil onto your skin then sitting out in the sun for a while. You will get burnt and dehydrated. They are not a necessary expense. Keep it simple and natural.

Keeping the dust off the leaves make your plants look healthy and keeps away the plant bugs. You will need a nice dry terry cloth towel that can be washed in hot soapy water when you are finished. This way you can reuse it for an environmentally safe way of cleaning. To dust the leaves, place the leaf in between the towel, so both sides can be swiped at the same time. You’ll want to start all the way down by the stem. This is where the most dust collects. Gently wipe the leaves and bring out the natural shine without chemicals. Your plant will love you. This should be done once a month.

In between the dusting of leaves, you want to spritz them with a distilled water solution. Fill a standard size spray bottle with distilled water or rainwater and two drops of liquid dish soap. Not just any type of dish soap. You want a phosphate free and mild dish soap. Most of the time I use Ivory original dish soap with no added scents. Ivory is more mild than other dish soaps. If you have plants near the kitchen, they may have an oily film on them. For those plants, you can use two drops of Dawn liquid soap to cut the grease in a standard size spray bottle of distilled water. This keeps the leaves clean and hydrated. Spritzing the leaves can be done about every ten days. You don’t want to over water your plant leaves.

Another trick of the trade to keep plants looking fresh is to periodically trim any dried tipped leaves or dying leaves. You want to use very sharp disinfected scissors that would be used for your plants only. You can use rubbing alcohol to clean the scissors after each plant with another terry cloth towel. Use a very small amount of alcohol to avoid any vapors. When you trim off a tip, trim it in the shape of the leaf end, or cut at an angle. This will make it less noticeable that it has been cut. Remove any ugly leaves by easily pulling or peeling off.

Buying a container that will hold all your necessary supplies will make caring for your plants a minimal task. You should have scissors, a bottle of 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, terry cloth towels, liquid dish soap, and a spray bottle to fill with distilled water. This way everything is in one handy place. Keep the dust bunnies away!

How can you tell if your plant has enough water, or getting too much? Does your plant leaves droop, yellow leaves, brown tips, or leaves drop? Plants actually let you know what they need by how they look. Most people think they have to constantly water plants so they won’t die. Quite the opposite is true. Most plants prefer to be a little too dry than too wet. Once you start paying attention to how your plant looks, you will become more proficient at the watering process.

Let me go over some DIY tips of indoor plant watering. Indoor plants are different than outdoor plants. The number one rule is to check the soil medium before ever watering. Most residential indoor plants are not very large in size. The easiest affordable tool to use for checking the soil is a metal BBQ skewer. You are probably thinking what the heck is she talking about. Usually with larger plants you need a very heavy, thick soil probe to go to the roots of the plant. A BBQ skewer is much easier on the roots because of how thin it is. You still need to be very careful not to puncture any roots. When you pull up the skewer it will either be dry, damp, moist, or too moist when you touch it. Soil will pull up on the skewer if it is moist. You do not want to water at all when it’s moist. Wait ten to fourteen days before watering. Checking the soil with the skewer also aerates the plant. This allows the water to go completely down to the tips of the roots.

The second rule of watering is to water all around the pot with lukewarm water. Full coverage of watering is very critical to the overall health of the plant. If you dump the water only where the base of the plant is, not all of the roots will be watered properly. This will result in an area of the plant dying. A rule of thumb is to have the water room temperature as you would to bathe a baby. Too cold or hot will cause your plant to get root damage.

The last rule of watering is dump out any excess water. You want to pour in enough water to run through to the saucer, or drainage portion of a decorative container. This is called leaching. Leaching removes excess soluble salts and minerals that can build up and damage a plant. It also washes away stale air from the pores of the medium and pulls fresh oxygen to the soil. Plants sitting in too much water will cause root rot. The best trick to pull out excess water is a food baster. The one you use for cooking your Thanksgiving turkey. Yes, it’s another kitchen gadget. Pull out the water with the food baster and empty.

I hope these few watering tips will help keep your plants thriving a bit longer than they use to. Time to go out and get your BBQ skewer for your plants. It is the handiest tool you’ll use.