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How to Grow Houseplants Bring the warmth and life of nature indoors and brighten your home with plants. They not only create a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, but they also help clean the air. Choosing and caring for house plants depends on the light, temperature, draughts, and humidity conditions of your home. Follow these simple guidelines, and you will be rewarded with healthy indoor plants that will add colour and style to your home. Positioning your indoor plants All plants have likes and dislikes. The key is simply to read the plant labels carefully. Below is a guide that will help you decide which room will best suit your new plant. Living Room – Generally well lit and warm: African violets, spider plant, croton, weeping fig, flowering begonia, kalanchoe, poinsettia, radermachera, kentia palm. Dining Room – Varies warm/cold: Azalea, Christmas cactus, peace Lily, dracaena marginata, umbrella Plant. Kitchen – Well lit and warm during the day, cold at night: Geranium, chrysanthemum, parade Rose, cacti. Bathroom – Warm and humid: Maidenhair fern, Boston fern, bird’s nest fern. Bedrooms – Well lit but cool: Bottle gardens, cyclamen, ivy, hyacinth, parade rose, geranium. Hallways – Shady and cool: Grape Ivy, parlour palm, peace lily Porch – Light but not heated: Ivy, primrose, yucca, polka dot plant, dragon tree, kalanchoe, freedom bells. Caring for indoor plants Watering Most indoor plant failures are caused by over watering. People are just too kind! Be particularly careful in the winter, when plants may only need watering once a fortnight. Check your plants once a week. If you can feel no moisture when pushing your finger into the potting mix, the pot should be watered. Fill the pot to the top with water. A few minutes later, throw out any excess left in the saucer. Leaving the excess water can cause the roots to rot. Certain plants like African violets and vyclamens should be watered by immersing the pot in a bowl of tepid water. Top watering causes the stems to rot. Allow the pot to drain before returning to its saucer. Feeding An easy and convenient way to feed indoor plants is with a slow release fertiliser such as osmocote that will sustain your plant for up to 6 months. Another fertiliser that is easy to apply is one that is mixed in with the water when watering for example Baby Bio or Nitrosol. Again, be careful during the winter and feed rarely, as with outdoor plants, houseplants need a time of little growth. Freshly potted plants will not need feeding for up to 4 weeks. Warmth Choose plants carefully to suit the temperature of your home. Sudden temperature changes will damage almost all plants. Avoid placing plants too close to a window as direct sunlight or coldness can damage the plant resulting in brown marks and dryness or bleaching of the leaves. Grooming Make it a practice to “look over” your plants when checking if they need watering. Check under the leaves for insects and diseases. Dust on the foliage clogs leaf pores and stops the plant from breathing. Wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. Smaller leaved plants such as ferns and palms can be mist sprayed with water regularly. Pinch back the growing tips of tall, leggy plants for a more compact, bushy plant. Leaf spots and damage can be removed with a sharp razor blade. Re-potting Indoor plants are best re-potted during the warmer months, from October through to March. If the roots start to emerge from the bottom of the pot, or the potting mix dries out rapidly, it is time to re-pot. Water your plant well before transferring to a larger pot. Put a layer of new potting mix in your new pot (one size larger than the old pot) and place the plant (in its old pot) on top, with the rim of both pots at the same level. Fill with potting mix (never use garden soil) between the pots, to 1cm below the rim to allow for watering. Tap out the plant from its existing pot and place it in the new one. Water well and allow to stand in a cool place for a few days. Pests, Diseases & Ailments Prevention is better than cure, so try to keep your plants in their ideal growing conditions to keep them as strong and healthy as possible. Always isolate your infected plant to prevent the infestation spreading. For further information please refer to Palmers Guide to Pest & Disease Control. Or take a sample from the infected plant to your local Palmers garden centre. Some commonly found household pests: Whitefly: Look like tiny white flies, which fly around when disturbed. Spray with Confidor aerosol. Aphids: Clusters of insects gathered around the growing tips. New leaves curl and become distorted. Spray with Confidor aerosol. Botrytis: Brown spots and blotches appear on leaves and sometimes stems. Under humid conditions, grey mould on leaves, flowers and stems. Reduce humidity and increase air movement. Space plants out. Remove dead flowers and leaves regularly. If problem persists, spray with Fungus and Mildew spray. Mealy Bugs: Look like wooly patches under the leaves or on the stems. Spray with Confidor aerosol. Badly infected plants should be discarded. Red Spider Mites: Tiny yellow, brown, or red mites on undersides of leaves. They produce fine cobwebs. Mist regularly to increase humidity. To control, spray with Mavrik at regular intervals Scale Insects: Small hard yellow, brown insects cling to stems and leaves. Generally scrape off the scales using tepid soapy water, then rinse. To control, spray with an oil based product such as Conqueror Oil. Repeat applications may be necessary Mildew: White powdery patches on stems & leaves. Spray with Bayer Baycor. How to Grow Natives There are native plants for all garden situations. Renowned for dramatic foliage, textures and contrasts, they fit in well with any garden design. For hardiness, low maintenance, longevity and to add interest to the garden, native plants cannot be overlooked. Planting The best time for planting is winter through to early spring. However, planting can be done at any time of year as long as plants are watered well through dry periods. Natives do not require a particularly rich soil, but benefit from the addition of compost, mulch or organic material dug in before planting. Some native plants are frost tender; take care to plant varieties that suit the conditions in your area. Soak the plant in a bucket of water before planting. Dig the planting hole twice the width and depth of the root ball. Dig in compost and organic material. Add Blood and Bone or Sheep Manure Pellets to the planting hole and mix in well. Remove the plant from its container, run a sharp knife down the root ball in several places to encourage new roots. Place the plant in the hole and firm soil around it. Plant to the depth of the plant’s original container and water well. Natives for containers Native plants suit today’s landscaping trends with bold dramatic foliage creating a tropical effect in contemporary gardens. Many native plants are suited to growing in containers. They are hardy and easy care, look good all year round and can remain in large containers for several years with regular watering and the occasional application of a controlled release fertiliser such as osmocote. agathis (kauri), astelia, carex, cordyline (cabbage tree), fuchsia procumbens, hebe, griselinia, libertia, meryta (puka), pittosporum, pohutukawa, phormium (flax), pseudopanax (lancewood), xeronema (poor knights lily). Natives for dramatic foliage Some of the most striking foliage plants are natives and are sought after as features for modern architecture. Combined with river stones, crushed shell or under planted with ground covers they create a contemporary look. Arthropodium (renga renga lily), astelia, cordyline, carex, ferns, griselinia, hoheria, meryta (puka), phormium (flax), psuedopanax (lancewood), xeronema (poor knights lily). Natives for shade Shady areas can be difficult because of the varying conditions found there. However, many native plants suit these conditions. Smaller plants will usually adapt to difficult conditions quicker than large trees and shrubs. Arthropodium (renga renga lily), coprosma, cordyline, corokia, griselinia, libertia, meryta (puka), myosotidium (chatham islands forget me not), pittosporum, ferns, pseudopanax (lancewood), rhopalostylis (nikau). Varieties of natives Native climbers Native climbers are useful for softening hard landscape structures, climbing along fences, trellis or archways. They are usually evergreen and are among some of our most colourful and distinctive plants. Clematis paniculata, metrosideros (rata), tecomanthe speciosa. Natives to attract birds One of the benefits of planting natives in the garden is the attraction to native birds. Tuis, bellbirds and waxeyes will entertain for hours as they flit from flower to flower. Alectryon (titoki), clianthus, coprosma, knightia (rewa rewa), metrosideros (rata and pohutukawa), phormium, sophora (kowhai), tecomanthe, vitex (puriri). Natives for bright flowers New Zealand native plants are not known for their bright flowers. However, with modern plant breeding techniques, native plants now rival introduced exotics. Clianthus (kaka beak), clematis paniculata, hebe, leptospermum, metrosideros (pohutukawa and rata), myosotidium (Chatham Islands forget me not), senecio, sophora (kowhai), xeronema (Poor Knights lily). Native ground covers Native ground covers create a good effect with their foliage and texture. Ground covers keep the soil surface cool and moist in hot summer months, stabilise banks, cascade down walls, help create easy care gardens by suppressing weeds. Carex, coprosma, cotula, fuchsia procumbens, hebe, leptospermum (manuka), pimelea prostrata, pratia, raoulia, scleranthus. Watering Regular watering in dry periods is required. Deep watering is more effective than light watering. Mulching and feeding This is essential for success. Apply a 5cm thick layer of compost or organic material around plants in late winter and again in mid-summer to ensure roots stay cool and moist. Regular feeding is not required. However, Blood and Bone or Sheep Manure Pellets applied in late winter and again in midsummer can be beneficial. Pruning Pruning is not essential, but native plants can be shaped as required. This is best done in early spring, after frosts have passed in frost prone areas, and again in summer if required. Flowering native plants can be trimmed after flowering has finished.