Indoor gardening is the art by which you can add more colour and life to your home. It is an amazing activity to be involved in. In this article, I will tell you the top 10 indoor gardening tips to help you be the pro.
Why Do Indoor Gardening?
It does not demand much experience or an expert’s knowledge to start indoor gardening but some simple indoor gardening tips will do you all the good needed. It requires less maintenance than you think. Also, you can choose from many different varieties of plants. You can put particular plants in particular rooms- English ivy in the bedroom, orchids in the bathroom, etc.
Indoor gardening is said to alter your perception of life for good and make you more disciplined. It will help balance your life by reducing stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. It will make you calm from the inside.
What Do You Need To Start?
You need a determined mindset first of all. Only do it if you feel like it. You will need to get genuinely involved because the plants will demand your time, care, and passion for long. So, merely knowing some indoor gardening tips won’t do any good. You have to use them and get into some real action.
Indoor gardening may seem difficult at first, but once you get into it, it will become easier for you. It will delight you and give you the much needed distraction from your daily life. So, devotion to your plants is the foremost requirement for indoor gardening.
Now obviously, you need pots and some space. Choose that place in your home which is well ventilated, and receives enough sunlight.
Are you yet thinking about starting? Or, have you started already? Doesn’t matter what stage you’re in, here are the top 10 indoor gardening tips that will definitely help you out.
Top 10 Indoor gardening tips
- Selection Of Plants: First of all, you need to choose the right plants to start with. It is better to choose plants that take less time, maintenance, and space to grow. Such plants will greatly help you if you are a beginner and also, motivate you to do more. Thanks to the diversity, you can choose from a wide variety of indoor plants. Some easy to grow plants which are recommended are spinach, herbs, micro-greens, bok choy, etc. These plants are easy to maintain and you won’t need any professional help to deal with them.
- Choosing The Right Soil: Growing medium is also a foremost necessity. The selection of the soil and the plant goes hand in hand, both need to be decided about simultaneously. You need to select a suitable soil type for each plant for successful indoor gardening. You should not use regular garden soil, you can rather use some from farmland. Regular garden soil may contain pathogens that can damage your plants. You can also prepare a growing medium or buy some from a gardening store. If you intend to buy a premade medium, then make sure to get some high-quality and nutrient-rich soil. It should also have proper water-holding-capacity so that water does not just sink in like in sandy soil.
- Watering The Plants: You should know how often to water your beloved plants. Broadleaf plants need to be watered once a week. Desert species can go longer without water, but you should water them weekly as well. Note that you should not overwater the plants as it can lead to various problems and even make them susceptible to certain diseases. Some plants don’t need to be drenched in water, for instance, orchids. Rather the air should be humid enough for them. Also, during winter your plants will need less water. And overwatering can kill them.
- Proper But Controlled Fertilization: This is the most important one among all the indoor gardening tips. Make sure that you don’t employ too much fertilizer. This can seriously dry the plants and kill them. If used too much, the salts in the fertilizer will lead to fertilizer burn. I recommend that you should use organic fertilizers. Moreover, your plants don’t need fertilizer during winter as plants are dormant during this season. So make sure to avoid using fertilizer during winter. But during the spring season, you should add organic fertilizers timely depending upon the plant species. Apart from fertilization, pollination should be done in the case of fruiting plants to increase the yield. Pollination also ensures that better quality fruits are produced by the plant.
- Optimum Sunlight And Temperature: You must take care of the amount of light and the temperature your plants get at its particular place. Otherwise, they won’t survive. Different species of plants require different optimum temperatures to grow well. Some need relatively lower temperatures, while some require higher temperatures and some others require moderate temperatures to grow optimally. So, the sunlight demand differs greatly among the various plant varieties. Usually, 4 hours of direct sunlight per day is enough, but some plants require less or more than that. Besides, humidity is also differently asked for by different plant species. It is important to study the specific requirements of the plant you chose to grow.
- Changing Pots: Your plants will grow and in time require newer and larger containers. This will provide them more space to grow further and the new soil will also provide more nutrients to them. But beware not to report them more than once a year. Re-potting becomes necessary when a plant reproduces many new plants. Repotting is necessary to divide them so that they can better grow without competition. But, make sure your new pots are properly drained.
- Watering From The Bottom: If you want to make sure that water reaches the roots of your plants, then this method is among the best indoor gardening tips for you. You can employ this method of watering if your pots have a hole from the bottom-side. All you have to do is to put the pots on a dish, and fill it with water. This is a great method to precisely water your pot-plants.
- Keep Pests Away: Pests may come in from outside and feed on your plants. Mostly it is fungus that attacks your plants and kills them. You should occasionally spray organic pesticides on your plants to make sure they remain disease-free. Many viruses can also potentially damage your plants, so keep an eye for any abnormal symptoms.
- Build A Relationship With Your Plants: This is a serious tip for you if you’re a beginner. It is not that plants don’ts sense things, they can feel too. Do not take the relationship lightly and do not take it for granted. Get on with your plants, like buddies. Spend time with them and watch them add beauty to your home. This is by far one of the most important and useful indoor gardening tips for any beginner to become a pro.
- Bidding Goodbye: Every living thing has to go one day. Your plants will grow old and wither. You should replace them and start with fresh ones. Instead of settling, you should devote your time and energy to grow more plants in their place. It is also recommended to harvest your edible plants at the right time to enjoy the best of them. Pruning should also be done to get a better yield of leafy greens and herbs.
Conclusion
So, now all you have to do is, choose a particular variety or many different varieties, read the above mentioned indoor gardening tips, and make the move. Indoor gardening is a real joy. It is not difficult to start and it is also quite inexpensive. In time, you will get used to it and develop an incredible attachment with your little green friends.
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