Houseplants nice addition to home

As important as vegetable gardening or a livable outdoor space are for some of you, houseplants can brighten indoor living space.

Houseplants can bring nature into your home. Besides adding nature, they can improve air quality and increase the humidity in your home. Houseplants can be very environmentally friendly. They give you the feeling of life and nature in your home, but do not require much water. In fact, you can save water by using the water captured from your shower or sink while you are waiting for the hot water.

Houseplants range from very easy to grow, like houseplants and succulents, to more difficult, like orchids. Back when I was growing up, if you did not have a spider plant hanging in a macramé hanger in your home, you were not in style. Today we have self-watering containers and other containers of all colors, materials and styles to match your decor.

The most common cause of death of houseplants is due to overwatering. With less light in your home, your houseplants just do not need much water. If the soil of your houseplant is staying on the dry side, it is probably best for your plant.

Most of our tropical houseplants grow in areas of high humidity and very organic soil; in fact, it can be so organic that there is not any mineral soil at all, just leaf mold. This leaf mold keeps the roots slightly damp, but not wet. We do not like to water our houseplants daily, so we add soil to the mix. Adding the soil causes the mix to stay too wet and hold too much water and the roots begin to rot.

Air conditioners and heaters remove moisture from the air, decreasing humidity. Many houseplants on the other hand grow naturally in the tropics, where the humidity is high. You can buy a spray bottle and every time you walk by your houseplant, give them a quick spray, not to water the plant, but to increase the humidity.

Better than the spray bottles are evaporation pans. Buy plant saucers or decorative pans that are about 1 inch deep. Fill the pan with decorative rock or marbles, and then add water to the pan. Be sure to keep the level of the water below the top of the rocks. Place your houseplants on the rocks. The moisture in the trays will evaporate up into the air surrounding your plants, increasing the humidity.

Do not place the plants directly in the water because the soil will soak up the water, which can cause the plant to rot. Humidifiers can benefit your plants as well as your home indoor environment.

Most of our houseplants like the soil to be moist, not wet. They also do not like the soil to totally dry out either. When we allow the soil to dry out too much, the soil shrinks. When the soil shrinks away from the side of the container, this leaves a space that allows the water to run through the container without wetting the potting soil. If your potting soil has a lot of peat moss it will shrink when dry and once it is dry it will be very hard to get the soil wet again.

To solve the problem, place the plant in the sink or bathtub and prevent the water from going down the drain. Fill the sink with water and allow the plant to soak in water for a few hours. This will force water into the peat moss and the soil should expand and fill in the container. After it soaks a few hours, drain the sink. Leave the plant in the sink and water the plant a couple of times allowing the water to drain out the bottom of the container. Fertilize your houseplant and place the houseplant back in its normal spot.

You can place a saucer under your houseplants to collect extra water, but you should not water your houseplants by filling the saucer or allowing the plant to soak up the water from the saucer. This pulls the salts in your potting soil to the surface and can damage your plants.

The exception to this rule is African violets, which may leaf spot if watered overhead. The best method is to place a layer of decorative rock in the saucer, then place the container on top of the rock. This allows the excess water to drain out of the container and not damage your furniture. The rock prevents the plant from soaking the water back up into the plant.

The best method of knowing when your plant needs to be watered is to use your finger. Stick your finger into the soil. If it is dry about one half of an inch below the surface, it is time to water. It is more accurate than buying a moisture sensor.

As winter turns to spring, many people take their houseplant outside and rinse them off and give the plants some fresh air. It would be best not to take your houseplants outside. The plants will sunburn easily. In a few days the leaves will turn yellow and start to fall off. The bathtub and shower are again your best bet for your houseplants.

When you buy a houseplant, find out how much light the plant needs. On a bright sunny day, we can have more than 10,000 footcandles of light. Your living room or bedroom may have only 50 and a bright kitchen may have 200 footcandles. Either look up the requirements on the Internet or hopefully it is on the plant label. If you have a smart phone with a camera, you can get free light meter apps to measure the light in your home.

This fall, Antelope Valley College has a class called AGRI 212, Interior Plantscape, which is about the identification, care and design of houseplants. The class meets on ThursdayeEvenings. You can now register for this class or any class starting this fall.