Why You Should Start an Indoor Garden

The esthetic appeal of having plants inside your house is the reason the majority of
people decide to start gardening indoors. Whether you have researched and planned on
them or not, there are additional benefits that are derived when a green space is created
inside you house.

The décor aspect of inside greenery is a given, plants add to and beautify space – indoors
and outdoors. The different plants choices available include various colors, sizes, shapes,
flowering vs. non-flowering and this is just the tip of the plant life ice berg.

Just as trees and plants are crucial to our air quality outside, plants can provide the same
service for you inside your home. By taking in carbon dioxide from our breathing, plants
flourish. If you smoke inside your home, plants can help clean the air of the excess
carbon dioxide. Besides the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide, plants will purify
the air from other unhealthy elements such as air-bound mold particles. This makes them
a natural air filter for your home.

It is well known that gardening is a relaxing past-time. Having an indoor garden will
give you the benefit of this relaxation year round when it is too cold outside to garden. If
you live in an apartment, an outdoor garden may not be possible. Gardening inside is
only limited by the amount of space you want to dedicate to it in your home. Beautifying
your living space and caring for living plants makes owning an indoor garden a peaceful
endeavor.

Another benefit of indoor gardening is you can decide how much time you have or want
to dedicate to caring for the plants. If you want a plant that has to be watered less go for
a cactus or if you want the challenge of coaxing a flowering tree to blossom buy a
camellia.

Watering and Fertilizing your Indoor Garden Plants

Unless it is the middle of summer and there has not been enough rain, watering your
outdoor plants is usually not necessary (or not very often). But indoor plants rely on you
as a source of water and extra nutrients in the form of fertilizer. It is important to know
the individual water and nutrient needs of each plant to keep them healthy.

As mentioned, individual plants will require different amounts of water to keep them
growing optimally. But what all plants do like is moist soil. If you are worried about
over-watering your plant, make sure that the pot you choose has a good drainage system.
With holes in the bottom of the pot or gravel inside the pot the soil and plant will soak up
the necessary water and the excess will run out through the bottom.

If your houseplants are not thriving no matter what you do, there are two things to look
into. If you are using tap water to water your plants there may be too much chlorine or
salt present. A solution to this is to use distilled or filtered water or you can leave a
container outside to collect rainwater. Either option is acceptable and may be the change
you need to make to grow healthier plants.

Choosing to fertilize your plants is another way to give them a boost. Fertilizer contains
nutrients and elements that plants need to grow. Indoors plants do not need as much
fertilizer as their outdoor counterparts do. Because of a slower rate of growth, feed your
plants minimal fertilizer. In the winter time you can probably skip this step altogether.
The spring or summer time is the best time to fertilize indoor plants. This is during their
growing phase when they need the extra nutrients the most.

Tips for Home Hydroponics Gardens

The requirements for plants are the same whether you are growing a garden traditionally
or with a hydroponics method. In hydroponics, the nutrients the plant would get from the
soil are replaced by a growing medium that can be purchased at gardening supply stores.
The need for water and light is still just as important though. Light can come from a
natural source, an artificial source or a combination of the two. Depending on the type of
hydroponics system the method that your plant gets water will differ too.

In order to get the best results from your home-based hydroponics garden, find a south-
facing window to give the plants the best natural light. If this isn’t possible, you can
purchase special lights that are specifically designed for plants. Instead of using a
fluorescent light, buy what is known as a discharge light. This imitates the light the
plants would naturally get from the sun and will produce healthier and hardier plants.

The water that the root system is growing in needs to be healthy water full of nutrients
and this can be determined by checking the pH level (it should be a pH level of 6). The
pH level should be checked on a regular basis to ensure it is not too acidic or alkaline. If
the reading is too high, add small amounts of vinegar and keep re-testing until you can
the reading you want. If the water reading has a pH level that is too low, use the same
procedure to raise the pH level except use baking soda instead of vinegar.

By growing your plants with hydroponics, you will see faster and more abundant growth.
The method that the plants get their nutrients is more efficient and results in robust and
prolific plants – whether they are houseplants, vegetable plants, or herbs.

The Best Pots for Indoor Gardening

You have researched the benefits of having an indoor garden and found the best plant for
you home now what do you put it in? From terra cotta pots to decorative ceramic ones,
there are many choices available and in various sizes. Not only do you want to choose a
pot that looks good in your home but you want one that is the best size for your plant too.

You want to look at the long-term growth expected in the plant you have chosen and use
that information to pick an appropriately sized container. If you pick a pot that is too
small your full-grown plant the roots will not have enough room to grow and the plant
will be come “root bound”. This is a rectifiable condition with re-potting, but it can put
the plant through unnecessary stress and creates more work for you. Your plant may look
unbalanced at first in a container that is out of proportion but you will be glad you
thought ahead as the plants continues to grow.

The container you choose needs a form of drainage too. The most common method of
drainage is one or more holes in the bottom of the pot to let excess water drain out. If
you have chosen a pot that does not have these holes there you still have two options to
provide drainage. You can put your plant in a smaller pot with drainage holes and then
place the smaller pot inside the larger one with no holes. Or place an inch or two of
gravel in the bottom of the container before you put in the soil. The gravel will allow the
excess water to run through the soil and into the rocks instead of staying in the soil and
water-logging the plant.

Temperature Regulation for Indoor Plants

Depending on the individual plant different temperature and humidity levels are
recommended. But in general, plants don’t like it too hot, too cold, or too dry (with
certain exceptions of course). Finding and keeping a balance is important to the survival
of your plants. To make it easier on you, the gardener, select plants that thrive in similar
conditions weather conditions.

Consistency in temperature is important to plants. Once you find the ideal temperature,
try and maintain it daily. It is okay for the plants to be colder at night time; this is natural
as the same happens outside in nature when the sun goes down. An average temperature
range is 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit (18-23 degrees Celsius) during the day and a drop in
temperature to 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit (15-18 degrees Celsius) is acceptable. As this is
within the temperature range most houses are kept at this should not be hard to maintain.

You may be tempted to place a plant beside a sunny window to keep it nice and warm.
Just remember that exposure to extreme temperature ranges is not good for a plant. It can
get overheated during the day and then too cold at night. Give the plants natural sunlight
but doing so on a windowsill is not recommended.

Inside a house is a lot dryer than outside. A lot of plants like at least some moisture in
the air. Controlling the humidity in the house will help the plants and you if it tends to
get dry inside. You can purchase a mister or humidifier for your house or another option
is to get the plant’s leaves wet. By taking a spray bottle, you can lightly spray the leaves
or you can use a cloth or sponge. Take care of any special instructions your plant may
have, some do not like to get their leaves wet.

Safety Considerations for Indoor Gardening

It is most likely that your indoor plants will be safe from hard other than the odd garden
pest. But if you have young children or pets in the home, the danger can be for them.
There are many plants that are not recommended for indoors (or outdoors for that matter)
when children or pets are present. Some plants are poisonous, even fatal if ingested.
Listed below if a few of the more popular plants that aren’t safe to have around.

The seeds of Rosary Pea and Castor Bean plants are lethal. Fatalities have been reported
from the ingestion of just one seed. If a young child or cat chews on one of the leaves
they are sure to get sick. You can purchase necklaces that are made from the seeds of
this plant. These are not meant for children and can cause skin irritations in adults.

Parts of the Oleander plant (the leaves and bark) are also poisonous. It is not worth the
risk to have these in the house. Even with due diligence children or pets are bound to get
into a houseplant at one point or another. It is hard to safeguard against falling leaves or
other unavoidable events.

The bulbs of certain flowering plants are considered poisonous too. Even if you are
planning on planting the bulbs outside, be careful they are stored in a safe out of the way
area that is not accessible to little heads. The flower bulbs in question are from the
Hyacinth, the Daffodil and the Narcissus flowers.

If you own any of these plants and don’t have little animals or children running around to
get into still use caution. Be aware of what plants in your house are potential hazards to
humans. In addition, be a considerate host or hostess and put the dangerous plants in a
safe way when young visitors are coming over.

Pruning and Maintenance Tips for Indoor Plants

To keep your indoor houseplants healthy and thriving they will occasionally need to be
pruned or re-potted. The process is very similar to the plants and just as important. Dead
or sick branches can affect the overall health of the entire plant and should be cut off.
And there is the esthetic aspect of pruning, it gives you plants a nice and tidy shape.

If you are pruning a branch off of a plant that is diseased (with fungus) it is very
important to disinfect your pruning shears after using them. If you do not, and continue
to prune your healthy plants there is a chance the fungus will spread to your other plants.
A solution of bleach and water will kill the unwanted organisms nicely.

When you look at the plant if it appears too full you can thin it out, this is important
around the base trunk or stem. You want good air circulation around the plant and if the
branches and leaves are too congested this will not happen. Trim enough of the excess
foliage away to let the plant “breathe”. When you are trimming branches to keep a
uniform appearance to your plant just trim what is necessary. Prune the new growth to
keep it inline with the rest of the plant.

As plants grow so do their root systems. If your plant isn’t thriving or you notice that the
roots are visible around the outside of the pot, your plant is most likely root bound. It is
important to transplant the plant to a larger pot. Once you have chosen one and have
prepared it for the plant very gently loosen the roots on the outside of the root ball. Then
put the plant in the middle of the new pot surrounding it with new potting soil.