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Indoor Tropical Plants Care
Besides adding beauty to your home and office, indoor tropical plants have other benefits as well. They keep your room looking fresh and oxygenated. Plants absorb sound and thus, help to decrease noise pollution. Also, green is the color of healing. After a long day's work, looking at an indoor house plant can reduce stress. You can also brighten up your office by keeping one of the indoor tropical plants in your office. Indoor tropical plants care is easier than outdoor plants care. As indoor house plants are small, you can easily move them around. They are safe from outside pests and require less maintenance compared to outdoor plants. Discover more benefits of indoor plants. Mentioned below are the requirements for indoor tropical plants care.
Light
Light is one of the most important factors for indoor tropical plants. Plants get their vital energy from light. Natural sunlight is the best source of light for plants. Keep indoor house plants near the windows. If you have placed your plant in a corner, use light from an incandescent bulb for 5-8 hours. Proper amount of light is important for plants to grow and flourish. Greenhouse bay windows are a great idea to keep indoor tropical plants healthy. If your plant is appearing long and lean, that means it needs more light. Keep turning the plant, so that light is distributed evenly all over the plant. Special plants need certain specific light requirement. For example, direct hot sunlight might burn the African violet plant, however, a good amount of light is necessary for African violet care. If you don't have sufficient amount of light in your home, you can grow low light house plants.
Temperature
Most of the time, people ignore this factor. For indoor house plants, maintain a warm temperature. Flowering plants need lower temperature. Keep the room well ventilated. Avoid keeping indoor tropical plants near hot appliances. Maintain warm temperature in day time and cool temperature at night for indoor house plants. Avoid any hot or cold drafts.
Humidity
Maintain the right humidity required for the plants you have. With dry and hot conditions, water from a plant can get evaporated, causing transpiration. Some measures to maintain humidity are as follows:
Watering
Most of the problems with gardening occur when the plants are either over-watered or under-watered. The leaves of an under-watered plant start becoming dry and yellow and eventually fall off. Water the plant on a daily basis. Always allow the excess water to flow out of the drainage hole. Check if the soil is well-drained. I had a watering problem with my rose plant. I was pouring the water right over the base stem of the plant. This exposed its roots and made the plant unsteady. If you are using a pipe to water the plant, make sure you water at the sides of the pot and not at center.
Soil Mixture
Never use heavy top soil for indoor tropical plants. Prepare a soil mixture with peat moss, perlite and vermiculite. Mixing the soil with perlite will allow good drainage. You can heat the soil mixture in an oven to kill any harmful organisms present in the soil mixture. For more, read soil science.
Tropical House Plants Growing Tips
- For indoor gardening use clay pots, as the water evaporates from the walls of clay pots easily. This keeps the soil and plant roots cooler, resulting in a healthier plant.
- Collect rain water and use it to water indoor house plants. Rain water is the best source of water for the plants.
- Use commercial soluble fertilizers or release fertilizers. Read the instructions on the product before using it.
- Usually in spring season, there is necessity to re-pot the indoor tropical plants. Here is more information about potted plants.
Now you know how simple it is to take care of indoor tropical plants. If you don't have indoor house plants, go ahead and buy one. You can choose from the different types of house plants. With these guidelines for indoor tropical plants care, you can grow healthy and happy plants.
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