How to Garden Indoors
We enjoy growing tropical plants indoors. After a full season of gardening, the idea of nurturing green, living things where we live indoors has great appeal. For new and seasoned gardeners alike, it’s good to know that many of the skills you have developed during the outdoor gardening season are transferrable when your aspidistra needs attention, or your rosemary needs gentle pruning. Moreover, understanding the language of plants is not an exclusively “outdoor” skill.
Take watering for example. A thirsty tropical plant sends much the same signals as do its outdoor growing
cousins. Leaves may begin to droop, and your philodendron may begin to look a bit lethargic. The best test for a thirsty indoor plant is to use your finger: push your index finger into the soil up to the second knuckle. If the soil is cool to the touch, it likely does not need watering yet, but will soon. The central heating in use in
most Canadian homes tends to dry soil out quickly. However, we caution that most tropical plants like to be on the dry side before you provide generous application of water. The short days of winter combined with the natural down-cycle of most tropical plants means that there is less demand for water than there was in the summer.
We recommend that you let most indoor green plants become quite dry and when you do water, be generous.
More water less frequently is a good rule.
Tips for Bringing Outdoor Plants Indoors
Did you bring tropical plants in from the garden this fall? If you did, it is likely that you may have moved Chinese hibiscus, oleander, mandevilla vine, bougainvillea or a leafy green tropical-like fiddle leaf or weeping fig. Whatever plant species you have sharing living space with you now, there are a few things to watch for.
CHECK FOR SPIDER MITES. Look for fine webs on the underside of the leaves. Rub your fingers gently on the underside of a leaf that is not looking 100% healthy. Do you feel tiny, grain-like bumps? If so, you likely have spider mites. The best antidote is to spritz the underside of the leaves daily for 10 days, as the insect prefers a dry state. Left unattended, spider mites can suck the juices out of leaves and create a yellowed appearance that can cause leaves to fall off.
WATCH FOR LEAF DROP. Two plants that famously drop their leaves when brought indoors for the winter are Chinese hibiscus and Ficus Benjamina (Weeping fig). When you see leaves turning yellow and beginning to drop, reduce watering and move the plant near a window with the highest possible light exposure. And be
patient. In time, your leafless wonder will produce new leaves and look like a million bucks. Do not overwater while the plant is leafless.
PREVENT FUNGUS GNATS. The first clue to a fungus gnat infestation is often a swarm of adult gnats around freshly watered container plants. These small grey bugs that resemble mini mosquitos are a necessary activist in the complex process of breaking down organic material. In the summer, you may have seen them hoovering around the decomposing fruit in your composter. Then, they were just doing their job. Now, they are a nuisance. To discourage them, simply reduce the frequency of watering of your culprit plants. Fungus gnats thrive on moisture, unlike spider mites. An effective control is to place small sticky yellow traps in the soil, a product that you will likely find at your local garden retailer.
Group Plants With the Same Requirements Together
To maximize the performance of your indoor plants, we recommend that you “cluster” them together in groups according to their needs. Tropical plants that demand a lot of water gathered in one area, flowering plants like African violets in another, cacti and succulents, which require very little water or attention in another and of course, all plants that require lots of sunshine in your south and west facing windows.
Where there is competition for the most sunlight (after all, who has all south-facing windows?), prioritize the plants that need sunshine and consider moving them around your living quarters so that all sun-lovers
get their share.
Late winter is an ideal time to repot an overgrown tropical plant as the growing season begins, the sun gains strength, and days lengthen. As your collection of indoor plants speed up their metabolisms as spring approaches, the new soil and larger pot you have moved the plant into provide the perfect environment for root growth.
Be Mindful of Drafty Areas
Avoid placing indoor plants near heating vents, where blowing warm air speeds up some of the maladies caused by our excessively dry indoor air this time of year. Also, avoid drafts from opening doors. Some plants are more tolerant of drafts than others, but the #1 draft intolerant plant in our books is the poinsettia. For that, a high-light, draft-dodging environment is best. Do not overwater poinsettias. They are a member of the euphorbia family, which are often found naturally in the desert.
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Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster and tree advocate
and holds the Order of Canada. His son, Ben, is a fourth-generation
urban gardener and a graduate of the University of Guelph and Dalhousie
University in Halifax. Follow them at markcullen.com, @MarkCullen4
(Twitter) and @markcullengardening (Facebook) and look for their latest book, Escape to Reality.
Follow them at markcullen.com, @MarkCullen4, facebook.com/markcullengardening and biweekly on Global TV’s national morning show, The Morning Show.
