Just plants, no soil!

Let SHAAN LALWANI, owner and director of Vriksha Nursery, show you how to help your greenery flourish in just water

Wecannot underestimate the importance of plants and greenery in our concrete homes and stressfilled lives. In India, 80 to 90 percent of our time is spent indoors. Plants are considered to be nature’s best air purifiers. They remove a long list of harmful toxins that are found in furniture, paints, plastics etc. Here’s how they help...

Plants provide a pleasant and tranquil environment for work and relaxation. There are many studies which show the positive benefits of plants on behavioural and health issues.

They reduce temperature and improve the micro climate.

They reduce airborne dust levels

They reduce background noise — their leaves absorb, diffract or reflect background noise

Indoor beauties

There are many varieties of plants which are ideally suited for growing indoors in small apartments. Here’s looking at the top five plants and their requirements...

Anthuriums are probably my fave indoor plant. The fact that it is an air purifying plant and blooms in a myriad of colours works

for most people looking for indoor plants.

Sansevieria or mother-in-laws tongue is one of the plants that is next to impossible to go wrong with. They need very little light, very little water and very little care, all in all.

Fiddle Fig has become an Instagram/ Pinterest baby! People seem to have fallen in love with this plant looking at beautiful pics of it on social media and without a doubt the big leaves of the plant are stunning.

Calathea/ Maranta are most attractive. The leaves of the calathea/ maranta are a piece of art. Each leaf has bright purple backs and vivid leaf designs etched onto the front. I’ve got over 45 different types here at Vriksha Nursery.

Money plants or philodendrons come in many beautiful varieties, from the old school green to the new silver and gold and my personal favourite the swiss cheese (has little holes all over the leaf). These grow very easily and can be grown without soil too.

Soil-less gardening

Yes, you can avoid soil and still have your plants flourishing. There suddenly has sprung up a market for gardening indoors without soil. There are a host of plants you can grow in the water medium, from lucky bamboo to money plant, sansevieria to dracena. You need to keep changing the water weekly and be vigilant for mosquito larvae. You can also use plants like certain orchids, and air plants that don’t need soil or water and take their nutrition from the air to grow. They make for very interesting hanging landscapes.