Create a plant party!

How to choose the best varieties for your indoor garden

The morning light is perfect for creating your own little indoor tropical jungle. The plants can absorb their energy requirements from the soft light, then spend the rest of the day in the shade they love. Frame your window with a bird of paradise (Strelitzia nicolai) on the left and elephant’s ears on the right, then stage your plants with a carefully arranged tableau of shade-lovers, such as the round-leafed Chinese money plant (at centre on the table), and trailers, such as devil’s ivy (on stool, lower right). Loving the containers!

HOW TO HELP YOUR INDOOR PLANTS GROW AND THRIVE SOIL

You can get indoor potting mix from a good nursery, or make it yourself with one part soaked peat moss, one part potting mix and one part perlite or vermiculite with a bit of slow-release fertiliser. Both perlite and vermiculite aerate the soil – important in pots where there are no tiny creatures moving through as they do in your garden – and have good water-holding capabilities. Both add volume without weight. Vermiculite retains more water and for longer, so use perlite when you want better drainage.

LIGHT

If your plants need lots of light, put them near north and west-facing windows. If they need low light, south or east-facing windows are best. If plants begin leaning towards the light, it means they need more of it.

PESTS

Small black flies around your plants mean you are overwatering them. Mealybugs and scale mean your plant is distressed and needs nutrition. Remove them by wiping leaves with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol, or spray with neem oil. Spider mites attack plants that need humidity but are denied it, so increase the moisture in the air. WATER

All plants need water, but have different water needs, depending on their position and type. Jungle and tropical plants need more water and humidity. Keep humidity up by standing pots in trays filled with pebbles and water. As the water evaporates, it raises the humidity level. Succulents are not so thirsty and prefer a dry air. Check the plant labels for their needs. To assess moisture levels, put a finger into the mix down to your second knuckle.

You have to be tough to want to be a westie. And succulents and air plants fit that description perfectly, revelling in the harsh western sun. Use your curtain rod to hang a string of bananas (or its Senecio cousin, a string of pearls) as the centrepiece of your ‘curtain’. Add other succulents and air plants and they’ll work together to take the heat out of the afternoon.

The bonus of indoor plants is if they don’t work in one spot, you can move them to another.

It has been proven that adding greenery to your office has a positive impact on your output.