Cutflowertips:
- dont buy any flowers of which the leaves beginto become yellow
- dont buy flowers which are allready to open.
- in the case of roses :they may not be too raw:the buttons have to be well-colouredI
- dont buy roses from a vase where you see there are allready some roses that let hang
their "heads",because the rest will allso do it.
- allways go to a florist where you can see that he allways has fresh flowers and where
you see that he takes care of the flowers the flowers by the " rules of the art". In other
words :where the flowers stand in neat water and the vases are allso very neat on the inside.
tips for getting green fingers:
1)Water:
The most important cause of death by indoorplants is too much water.Because the soil often is too wet,their is not enough oxigen in it ,anaerobic bacteries begin to breed and they begin to eat the roots.The roots are "rotting" and the plant dies from thurst.
So when you see that a plant is drying out,get him out of his pot and examine if the rootsystem looks healthy:much roots,white or light-brown.If so,you probably have given too litle water,or maybe the plant is too big for the recipient and needs a bigger one.
On the contrary:when you see that theplant has a poor rootsystem,here and there some rotting roots or if the soil is stinking ,the plant has had too much water for a too long period.
In this case it is much more difficult to recuperate the plant.You can try by putting the plantinto fresh soil,give him very little water in the beginning,out of the sun and regularly evaporate some water on him .
Dont automatically give your plants water once a week.Instead make a tour twice a week and look if they still are wet,only those who are allready dry you can water,skip the rest.
In the winter look out: dont poor ice-cold water on the soil.Let it warm up a little before giving it to them.
2)Light:
Not only water is important for the plant but allso the place:the amount of light.
Most of the plants demand a luminous place but not in the full sun.
On a window on the southside or a veranda,that isnt covered the plant is going to burn if the sun is shining heavily.
Allso at a place that is further than 3 metres of a window the plant cannot survive.Knowing that allready 1 metre from the window we have only 60% of the light left.
when your plants grow to much in the height and you see the stems become thin and too weak,he receives toolittle light.Very few plants can live with very little light.
Next species can survive with little light:all sorts of ferns,kentia,cissus and rhipsalis .
In the full sunlight you can put cactusses,fatplants and evt. yukkas.
3)Fertilising:
After a month a plant has allmost eaten everything that is in his soil,so from then on you can give him regularly some fertiliser.It is best not to exceed the doses that the producers prescribe,because otherwise you can "burn" the plants roots.
4)Other usefull tips:
- Dont place your plants in the winter near a radiator;most indoorplants are tropical
,which means they need high air-humidity.
- In the winterperiod it is best to have a humiditylevel as high as possible.You can
do this by hanging waterrecipients at the radiator or bying a humidifier.
- Try to water your plants as much as possible with chalk-free water.
The chalk disturbs the acidity-level of the soil and makes the roots "burned".
Otherwise replant your plants twice a year.
- When you decover insects on your plants ,try to react as quickly as possible!!
If there are not yet too much,get them off by hand,or break of the young stems
where they mostly sit on.
- If you use an insecticide,follow the general rules:
Never vaporise in the full sunlight
For your indoor plants never use products for outdoor-plants(they would burn)
After 7 to 10 days vaporate a second time to be sure that you also have the
little insects that just came out the eggs ,and before they can breed again.
- If a plant is really overwelmed by insects ,you chould better throw him away
before he infects the others.
|
