Ferns make great indoor plants.

House plants;

Garden Nurseries love House Plants because generally they have a good mark up on them and they are easy killed! Hence they are guaranteed of a regular turnover! Plants around our Home are great just for their ascetics but they also produce Negatively charged Ions which counter the Positive charged Ions produced by Computers, TV’s, Radios and Wireless Telephones. Negative charged Ions are the “feel good” Ions that help keep us happy, relieve stress and create a peaceful environment. Ever been for a walk in the park and felt really good afterwards, totally calm and relaxed (that’s assuming you didn’t take the kids with you!), this is brought about by the fact that trees, shrubs, plants, in general, emit these Negative charged Ions in abundance and just being around them makes you feel better.

There are a few simple tips for keeping your houseplants alive and even thriving. Firstly make sure you have the right plant for the right situation. Consider the amount of natural light available where you are going to place your plant and pick a type that would suit. Your local Garden Centre will have staff trained to which plants do best in which situation. Plants always have labels which give you a good indication as to how much light that plant needs for its optimum growing conditions.

The bathroom is obviously dark and the humidity tends to be quite high, Ferns thrive in these sort of conditions, African violets also do well here, they are quite small, have a nice flower that lasts a long time and look very pretty sitting on the vanity, something for you to admire while you are brushing your teeth.

The living areas have varied light conditions from enough to grow an outdoor plant such as in a window too low light conditions in the hallway and bedrooms. You can successfully grow Herbs and flowering plants on a window ledge as normally the light levels are sufficient to sustain them. If you live in a region that experiences frosts, snow and the likes, keep these plants away from the window through the night as they can be affected by cold coming through the glass.

Succulents do very well in well light situations, they are hardy not needing a lot of water, this group of plants does really resent being over watered, the perfect plant to neglect! In the end, choose where you would like to put a plant and then get one to suit rather than the other way around.

Overwatering and over fertilising are the most common reasons for Indoor Plant mortality. As they are growing in low light conditions they don’t get the same amount of energy on their leaves so the growth rate is a lot slower. Keep an eye on them, water usage does vary greatly depending on where they are in the house.

Testing the soil with your finger is the best method if it feels and looks dry on top then it is time to water. When you do water give them enough to just get the tray they are sitting in wet, add water in two or three stages rather than one large dose to save having water all over the floor. Keep them slightly dry rather than over wet, because there is nowhere for the water to go, if you over water you can kill the roots.

When fertilising use an Organic liquid fertiliser as these don’t have a high salt concentration which can build up in the soil again killing the roots. I prefer Fish fertiliser but it does stink, so take them outside on your balcony or porch to fertilise so the stink does n’t render your house uninhabitable! Normally it only takes three or four hours for the smell to die down. If you have used a good quality Potting Mix then you will only need to feed them once a month when the inside temperatures are warm.

Choose a good quality Potting mix, the difference in price can be dramatic but the better brands are worth the money. Re-pot, when the plants roots start to appear on the top of the Potting Mix or the outside of the pot, feels tight, this is caused by the roots wrapping around the pot which can cause the plant to strangle its-self. When you do re-pot and there are a lot of roots running around the plant is a circular fashion then tease them off the root ball before you put them in the new pot to stop them continuing to grow in this fashion.

If you have a fire going during the winter then keep your Indoor Plants away from the direct heat as this will surely be the end of them. The heat is not only hard on them but the humidity is also very low which dry’s the leaves out stressing them something terrible.

Spray the leaves with water once every couple of weeks or so, if you have bigger leaved plants then wipe them with a damp cloth occasionally to keep the dust off them. Ferns will need to be sprayed a couple of times a week if they are in a dry spot. 

Treat them well and they will give you years of enjoyment and pleasure.

Barry.

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