In the winter months, the dormant period does not begin in all plants. When purchasing winter-flowering plants for the first time, it is worth thinking that these plants should be provided with maximum lighting, possibly supplemented with phytolamps (plants especially suffer when they are fed in low light conditions). |
The most inexpensive way to arrange flowers is with the use of LED bulbs for electric cartridges Ye14, Ye27. All you need: a piece of wire (1.5 m), an electric plug, a cartridge (Ye14 - small, Ye27 - ordinary), an LED white light lamp (4000 K), at 7.5 W or 11 W. One such lamp is enough to illuminate several small plants or one large one, i.e. approximately cover a section of the windowsill about 60 cm long. Such a lamp can be placed at a distance of 5 cm to the leaves. A standard window sill (window width 140 cm) requires two lamps on both sides. |
The heating season began and the air in the apartment became dry, and many plants cannot stand it. It would be ideal to build up the windowsill, or put a sheet of foam on it, covering the battery, but this is not available to everyone. Therefore, so that the hot air from the central heating batteries does not cause harm, you can arrange a wet towel folded several times on the battery, which will have to be wet several times a day, for example, before leaving for work, in the evening, coming from work and at night. If there is no time to do this, and the batteries are very hot, you can hang it with a dry old blanket, the air from this, of course, will not moisten, but the heat from the battery will not directly hit the leaves. But it is best to fix containers with water on the battery, for this old pallets used for developing photographs are also suitable (someone has preserved, but no longer needed), small basins, etc. |
When transplanting plants, add river, well-washed sand to the prepared soil mixture, it plays the role of baking powder and increases soil aeration. Soil with added sand is less prone to acidification. The proportion of sand in the soil mixture depends on the plant that will grow in it, but on average this is 1/5 - 1/6 part of the total soil mixture. |
When transplanting aroid (calamus, anthurium, colocasia, feces, monster, alocasia, diffenbachia, caladium, monster, philodendron), marant (maranta, ktenante, calathea, stromant), as well as cacti, add several pieces of wood (birch) coal to the earthen mixture. |
Sometimes when purchasing a new plant, it turns out that there is no place to put it, so that you can place more plants on the window, you can make hanging shelves. To do this, you need several glasses of the same size (about 20-40 cm), a keeper's tape or other ropes made of durable material. These glass shelves are suspended on ropes of various lengths, one below the other, which are held on screws screwed into the top of the frame. Only small plants can be placed on such shelves, for example, cacti and other succulents, etc. It should only be borne in mind that with the placement of such shelves on the window, the lighting in the room will be less. |
Remember to periodically loosen the earth in pots with houseplants, if the roots are too tender and sensitive, loosen only the top layer of the earth. Any sharpened stick, even a pencil, is suitable for loosening. Roots, like above-ground parts of plants, must "breathe." |
When buying any new household appliances - from a hairdryer to a TV, you can see that the electrical wire of the device is folded several times and pulled over with a black or white wire. So, this flexible wire is very convenient for garnishing indoor plants, especially when you need to tie several separate branches, for example, like Benjamin's ficus. This wire does not rub delicate stems, easily twists, removes and is much more convenient than ropes and threads. |
When going to start fertilizing, first decide which fertilizer you will use. Reread the instructions, ask your friends, in the literature, at the sales assistant in the store and never feed the plant with different complex fertilizers in one season. |
Sometimes you can observe the following picture: in an office where the windows are covered with blinds, or tightly hung with curtains so that the monitor screen does not shine, the computer has a cactus in a pot. For someone who loves plants, the sight is terrifying. And the one who set this cactus for himself, apparently indifferent to the fact that plants can suffer, even the lack of plant growth, the pitifully elongated skinny top of the unfortunate cactus, will not prove anything to them - they believe that cacti take away harmful energy and radiation. This is complete scientific nonsense, modern personnel have only electromagnetic radiation, and no plant on itself, it does not take it and cannot neutralize it. The plant will suffer from a lack of lighting. |
When you need to tie a plant, everything can go - from a pencil to a bicycle spoke. But if you care about the attractiveness of your plant, then prepare a flat wooden stick sharpened at the end. And if it is still a spoke, or another unsightly object, then wrap it evenly dry and clean tow or jute (to ground level), so your support will look quite decorative. If you know in advance that your plant will have to be tied, then stick the support into the ground during transplantation so as not to damage the roots of the plant. |
When growing indoor plants that love humid air, it is convenient to use cat trays. They have bars on which you can put pots of flowers. It is especially convenient to make small pots of succulents or cacti on such trays (you do not need to pour water into the tray). If you make pots with senpoli, streptocarps or seedlings on trays, then the space between the pots can be filled with wet moss-sphagnum. In this way, air humidity of at least 50% can be maintained around plants. |
With the onset of sunny days in spring, many plants will need shade from direct sunlight. Do not use tissue paper, calico fabrics or other dense materials for this purpose. Best for indoor plants is a "checkerboard" shade, consisting of closed and open areas, i.e. grid. Natural shade - foliage of trees of the highest tier. At home, this role is best performed by non-dense tulle, veil, mosquito net, gauze. |
When buying a plant in a store, it is better not to ask that it be transplanted to you right away. It is better to transplant it at home, albeit with an inexperienced hand, but according to the rules, after passing the acclimatization period for a week. During this time, try to learn as much as possible about the plant, decide on the size of the pot. |
One of the most effective and economical remedies against various diseases of indoor and garden plants is Fitosporin-M. This biological preparation has been successfully used for particularly sensitive and delicate plants that do not tolerate spraying with chemical fungicides. And another remedy that is usually forgotten is colloidal sulfur. This is a wetting powder (not soluble in water), which is powdered or a suspension is prepared (adding a little soap to the water), used for diseases and spider mites. |
From mid to late April, the ground has already warmed enough in the forest for enough substrate to be harvested for your plant collection. You need to harvest leaf humus in a birch grove or in places where alder grows. Under the newly melted snow, you need to clear the upper layer of large twigs and unspoiled leaves and scrape the upper layer of the earth up to 10 cm with a small spatula. Such a land is dark brown in color, contains many inclusions - mostly half-rotted leaves that have turned into an earthen mass. This land is very light and nutritious. Remember to sterilize the soil before planting in a preheated oven (20-30 minutes) or microwave (1 liter of earth 3-5 minutes in a slightly wet state). |
Many put pots of flowers on porcelain saucers, on which over time brown stains appear that are not washed with water. To make the saucers clean again, soak them overnight in a weak vinegar solution. |