Indoor Plants Care

There was a time when houses used to be surrounded by flowering trees and lush green plants. There was no need to visit a park, because stepping outside was enough to get fresh air. However, with the ever-growing population and limited space, all this has become a thing of the past. Today, apartments and flats that have just balconies, in the name of outdoor space, seem to be burgeoning. If your house also counts amongst them, then the best bet is to bring nature indoors, by keeping indoor plants. They will enliven your house and bring some freshness inside. In case you want to know about indoor plants care, the following tips will come handy.

Taking Care Of Indoor Plants

In majority of the cases, indoor plants can tolerate normal temperature fluctuations. So, always try to maintain a color temperature at night, as compared to the daytime, as it will promote plant growth. As a rule of thumb, night temperature should be kept 10 to 15 degrees lower than the day temperature.
Never ever subject your home plants to excessively low or high temperatures. This is because such fluctuations might result in plant failures, leading to stoppage of growth, or even cause spindly appearance and foliage damage.
Exposure to light is as much important for indoor plants as the outdoor plants. So, make sure that your plants are kept at such a place where they receive enough sunlight, though not direct. In case it is not enough, provide artificial sources of lighting.
Indoor plants need to be rotated on a regular basis; otherwise they would end up growing in one direction only. This is because they seek light and tend to bend towards the light source. Rotating them periodically will ensure that all the parts get equal amount of light.
At least once every 15 days, you should bring your home plants outside. This will help them get fresh air. However, make sure that when outdoors, you keep them at a place where they do not receive direct sunlight. Otherwise, their leaves will get scorched within minutes.
Be very careful while watering your indoor plants. They should neither be under-watered, nor over-watered. In this case, remember that if the soil in the pot is damp, you do not need to water the plant. In case it’s dry, water till the time it drains out from the drainage holes at the base of the pot.
Air conditioning robs the indoor plants of humidity and their leaves start turning brown. To avoid this, always keep your plants on a tray of wet pebbles. At the same time, group the plants together and spray water on their leaves.
Never ever expect a plant to remain in the same pot forever. As it grows, its roots will gradually fill up the pot and you will need to repot it. While repotting, make sure to use a pot of the next larger size, with drainage holes at the bottom. Also use a potting mixture that allows free drainage of water.
Indoor plants need to be fertilized every 14 days, with fertilizers that have a proper balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. You do not need to go for them separately, rather buy fertilizers with a proper mix of all the three nutrients.
Pruning should be done only when the plant is not in an active growing stage, which is usually in the winter season. Prune your plants to make them grow bushier, give them desired shape and get rid of the diseased parts. At the same, always be on the lookout for symptoms of plant disease and pests and take remedial action as soon as possible.

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