Houseplant Lighting
Light is the most important factor in growing houseplants: Without proper
lighting no indoor plant can thrive. Inexpensive lighting systems for indoor
gardening are now available. If you don't have bright, sunny windows, such
artificial light is a must. Heating is next in importance. Generally, house
plants do best at 60 70 degrees in the daytime and 5 15 degrees lower at night.
Bigger Yields by Pampering Your Houseplants
It's said that W. C. Fields cussed out his plants occasionally, but recent
evidence suggests that you'd be better off treating yours with tender loving
care; speak gently and carry a big watering can might be the motto. It isn't our
intention to go into plant sensitivity theories here; there are many books
available on that subject. But the fact is that many gardeners claim excellent
results from treating their plants like people. It may well be that these
gardeners are simply more aware of and responsive to their plants' needs as they
talk and sing to them, and are rewarded accordingly. Or plants may indeed be
more like people than is generally thought; anyway, here are some of the
specific stratagems that have been suggested:
* Some gardeners play music to their plants, claiming that this stimulates
growth. Scientists say that sonic stimulation may be a valid horticultural
technique, and various experiments seem to have indicated this, though they are
far from conclusive. Classical music, it's said, works better than rock. All of
Bach, "Rhapsody in Blue," "Nights in the Gardens of Spain," and Ravi Shankar's
classical sitar music have been highly recommended. So if you hang a transistor
radio near a plant, don't leave it on an acid rock station; if you do, the
plants will "cringe, lean sharply away from the sound, and die in a few weeks,"
advised one professor.
* Plants are also responsive to the human voice, say other experimenters. Don't
be a W. C. Fields, they warn. Never scold plants; speak gently at all times.
Content, too, is quite important here. Don't even try to curse a plant gently!
It will surely know. Encourage your plants, spur them on, tell them things will
get better when it's too cold, wet, when the insects are coming, and so on! At
least one scientist sings "Happy Days Are Here Again" to her green friends.
* Handle plants very gently as well, we are advised. They respond to petting and
tender care. A noted psychiatrist claims that a person with a "true green thumb"
can heal wounds in plants by simply touching them.
* Don't dare think bad thoughts when close by plants if you subscribe to the
plant sensitivity theory. Several polygraph researchers have written that plants
registered violent reactions on their machines when people even thought about
harming them.
* When students studying sensitivity in plants talked about sex, the plants they
tended showed signs of sudden excitation on their polygraphs. This led the
students to believe that ancient fertility rites, in which humans made love in
freshly seeded fields, may have been authentic stimulants to plant growth.
* A professor of natural science at Blake College in California found in a two
year research program into the "emotional lives" of various plant species that
most are 'susceptible to kindness and flattery". So, if you do talk to plants at
all, lay it on with a garden trowel.
* Finally, two Scottish gardeners have created a veritable vest pocket Eden on a
half acre of soil that is mostly sand and gravel. They have accomplished this,
they say, solely by "communion with the living plants" and "happiness and joy"
in what they are doing.
Ten Houseplants You Can Make for Nothing
* Amuse the children with a carrot "fern." Scoop out a large carrot, fill it
with water, and hang it in a sunny window. Feathery foliage will soon hide the
carrot.
* The top of a pineapple, planted in a pint jar of water, will sprout and root,
soon making an exotic and most attractive palm like plant.
* A novelty hanging vine can be grown from a sweet potato (with as many "eyes"
as possible) by planting it in a hanging basket or pot of sand (or sandy loam),
then watering occasionally. The leaves are dark green and resemble ivy.
* Onions will sprout beautiful leaves in a few days when placed in shallow
dishes of water. White potatoes, beets and turnip plants can be grown in pots of
soil. Pits from oranges, lemons and other fruits can be planted in soil "pan
forests".
Houseplant Watering Tips
* An empty window cleaner spray bottle makes an excellent indoor sprayer for
water, water soluble fertilizers and insecticides. If the bottle is filled with
an insecticide, be sure to label it clearly and to store it in a safe place.
* Place small stones over the drain holes of your houseplant pots to permit
adequate drainage and eliminate unnecessary moisture. The stones also prevent
soil from washing out.
* The best "drink" for houseplants is soft water free from chlorine and
other chemicals. Water from ice cubes or ice collected from a defrosted
refrigerator will do nicely. But be sure to feed your houseplants such
water only after it has melted and risen to room temperature. Treat hard
tap water with a little commercial softener before using.
* To waterproof your flower pots, try dipping them into melted paraffin so that
it sinks into the pores.