Choosing your Indoor Houseplants
When you are choosing a house plant you need to go beyond the appearance of the plant although that is a good place to start. If there is a certain kind of plant that you want to have look into the care instructions first. Some plants need more care and others are best left to an expert gardener as opposed to a novice one. If you fall into the latter category of gardeners you will want plants that are easy to care for, are hardy, and have a low maintenance schedule.
Ferns are a popular choice for indoor gardens as they are easy to care for, do not require to be repotted very often and are attractive. There is a wide range of fern varieties available and each one has a unique look. Some of the different ferns great for houseplants are:
* Maidenhair Ferns
* Davallias
* Fishbone Ferns
* Cretan Brake Ferns
Begonias are a great choice for the indoors too especially if you do not have a great light source. This plant can survive on very little light each day. Some will flower indoors but the leaves are beautiful on their own too. They also don’t mind cooler temperatures either, but it should not get colder than 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius). A few the begonia varieties available:
* Rex Begonias
* Iron Cross Begonias
* Begonia Masoniana
The fern and begonia aren’t the only breeds of houseplant that will survive even the newest of green thumbs. Here is list of different kinds of plants you can try too:
* Spider Plants
* Devil’s Ivy
* Cast Iron Plants
* Chinese Evergreen
Once you have a few plants in your indoor garden and are comfortable with the care required, you will have the skill and confidence needed to take care of a higher-needs variety.
Take Plant Cuttings Indoors
If you love an outdoor plant but it is too big to bring indoors you have the option of taking a cutting from that plant. Once you have taken a cutting, you can start a new plant that is smaller and more appropriate for an indoor garden. Depending on the type of plant you are taking a cutting from there is a few methods you might want to try.
Taking a cutting from a plant is also known as propagation. If you have a hardwood plant that you want to propagate the process is slow but easy to do as the cuttings are quite hardy. Take the cutting (about 5 inches worth) when the tree is dormant (in the middle of winter) and place the cutting cut-side up in a pail of sand. Fill the pail with water and wait until spring. Then submersed side will have little nodules that will turn into roots once planted.
When you are taking a cutting from a soft-wood plant, it will require more care and attention. Taking cuttings from soft-wood yields quicker results and you do the actually cutting when the plant is in the active growing phase. You are cutting off the new growth back to a nodal (from the point it stopped growing the year previous). This method
benefits from the use of a root producing medium found at nursery stores. It is important to place the cutting (cut-side down) into the root medium immediately. If the cutting dries out it will lessen the changes of a successful cutting.
Next, pick a pot or container suitable to the type of plant you are growing and plant it once the roots have developed. At this point, you can follow the regular care instructions for the type of plant you have just propagated.
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