Archive for August, 2009
August 31st, 2009 | 
Author: Plants grown for the shape and or color of their leaves, where these traits are the more prominent characteristic are called foliage plants. Often utilised as part of the decor of living rooms and such, can be quite stunning additions, provided they are looked after. Foliage plants work well as indoor plants as they are more tolerant of inside conditions than most plants.
As a focal point, the large leaved varieties such as monstera deliciosa, rubber plants (Ficus elastica), saddle leaf philodendron (P. bipinnatifidum),umbrella tree (Schefflera), become “living decor” pieces and can give years of pleasure.
The size of the plants you choose for your living decor, of course depends on the available space you have. However, there are numerous small or dwarf varieties of most species.
How to Buy House Plants
Indoor plants that are raised in glass greenhouses in which the atmosphere is controlled and feeding and watering is regular, when brought into the average home, all of a sudden are faced with an entirely new environment, and can go into shock and sit there, sulking for weeks. Certainly there is less light, inadequate ventilation with doors generally closed, warmer temperatures, drafts, and dry air, all add to conditions for these plants that could be considered adverse. Then, of course, there is YOU. For some people the feeding, watering, and general care of their house plants is decidedly “hit and miss”.
If you have purchased your plants from a supermarket, they are probably already suffering greatly. From fairly rough treatment by hordes of customers, passing traffic, desultory care by pimply teenagers, and the weakening effects of flourescent lights. I would always recommend visiting a reputable indoor plant nursery, for quality plants.
Here are a few pointers to take into consideration when purchasing your indoor plants.
1.Health.
Run your hands through the leaves, depending on the variety – in any case, “feel” the plant. A plant that’s unsteady in its pot may not be well-rooted. This may be an indication of root-rot, or similar disease problems. Do the leaves and stems have resistance – do they spring back into position? Or are they limp, or “tired” looking? This can be an indication of a greater problem with the plant, or poor care – either way do not pick these plants. Being tactile with the plants, also gives you the opportunity to observe anything which may fall, or fly off, like caterpillars, or whitefly – this again is due to poor care. Change nurseries.
2.Attractive Ability.
Since it will be seen everyday of the year, plants need to be perennial, or evergreen. Nothing less attractive indoors than a pot full of twigs – waiting for spring.
3.Burden of Maintenance.
It is preferable to have varieties that are relatively slow-growing, as this reduces the amount of time necessary for pruning and training. Also, insects are attracted to new sappy growth as found with fast growers. Generally speaking, you really want to be fiddling with your house-plants as little as possible.
4.Crowded roots.
Check the bottom of the plant for roots coming out of the drainage holes. Roots emerging from holes in the pot don’t necessarily mean that the plant needs re-potted, but is often an indication. Root bound plants will require re-potting when you get the plant home, similarly, if the soil is loose in the pot, this is an indication that it has recently been re-potted and is being sold too soon, you can tell this, if the soil pours out of the pot when you tip it on an angle. You are looking for plants that are established in their pots and therefore, stable soil.
5.Leggy plants or burnt leaf tips.
These are signs of a plant that has not received adequate care over a period of time. Spindly plants indicate a lack of adequate light, either due to the nursery itself, or over-crowding from too long on the benches.
6.Compare.
Don’t just grab the first one you see. Separate a few pots out of the bunch and compare them all, for overall size, colour and general vitality. There will be runts in large groups of potted plants – nothing wrong with this, except that runts, will always be runts. Don’t feel sorry for the runts, like you may do for a puppy – runt plants will only disappoint.
I hope these pointers have helped you choosing suitable foliage plants for indoors.
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Growing plants in containers can be for a number of reasons, be it for climatic reasons, available space, or for aesthetic considerations.
Sometimes certain climates preclude the growing of plants year round and container gardening is the only alternative. This affords the option of growing outside, until such time as the cold forces the container being brought inside, next to a sunny window, or into a purpose built sun-room. For those preferring a changing scenery, plants in containers are an easy way to achieve this, by merely moving the pots from place to place, until the desired effect is achieved.
Container gardening has become all the more popular with the increase of people living in apartments. It’s always a pleasure to have a colorful, living thing in an apartment, that requires little maintenance and gives beauty in return. Those in apartments, or flats, lucky enough to have a balcony, of any size, have the added advantage of being able to grow a greater choice of plants, including vegetables and or herbs, in containers.
The addition of containers in the garden allows you a changing vista, placing pots of color around green shrubs, or trees to brighten dull corners of your yard. This a great way of displaying flowering bulbs, too. As they come into flower, bring them close to the entertainment areas, or windows, to be able to appreciate them more easily.
Geraniums, are the classic pot-plant. These plants will generally have vibrant flowers most of the year – continuously.
Growing flowering annuals is a great idea for quick, short lived colour inside. If you were to grow pots of chrysanthemums, or marigolds, then as they flower, bring them inside and replace with another pot as each one becomes spent, or a little raggedy.
Plant-pots, or containers, are a huge business and most garden centres, have large areas dedicated to the enormous variety available, from concrete to ceramic pots. However, you don’t have to go to any great expense for plant containers, as just about anything that will hold soil can be used. If you have an old worn out wheel-barrow, or discarded packing crates, hollow logs are suitable, large chipped crockery, a bucket or pail, even old boots – all are suitable as planting containers provided they can hold soil AND will drain excess water. The classic is of course, old wine barrels. If the recycled container you have chosen is a little too far gone, like a wheel-barrow having too many holes, this can be remedied by lining the bottom with several layers of paper-bark, as you would do with a wire hanging basket.
Always use top quality potting mix for container gardening, as nutrients tend to leech out from containers. I would also add some water retaining crystals, as pots and containers do tend to dry out faster than the soil in a garden. Watering and feeding need to be done more often for this reason.
If you have planted perennials, like agapanthus, or similar in your containers, they will need periodical re-potting, as the plants will become over-crowded in time. When this is the case, divide the plants into manageable pieces, re-pot the ones from the outsides of the original clumps, and the plant material remaining can be either put into new containers, or planted out into the garden. If the plants are not the dividing type, then re-pot them into larger containers.
For moving the larger pots, there are available pot-trolleys, that sit under the pot with wheels – having wheels means you can just push the container to where it is desired, this is an excellent option for patios and the like. Your living space is always interesting, using container gardening inside and in the garden.
Failing to plan is planning to fail, and that applies to fat loss diet plans as much as with anything else. Lots of people would love to lose weight, if they could do it while eating whatever they wanted, sitting in front of the TV and never having to break a sweat. Millions of people spend billions of dollars every year into the diet industry or the exercise equipment industry to buy products and programs with dietary restrictions.
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However, all fat loss diet plans are not created equal. A good program for weight loss isn’t just a diet, it’s a re-evaluation of how you interact with food, with a scientific understanding about nutritional goals and how this affects your life. Modern processed food is amazingly calorically rich and dense, and most people don’t realize just how much sugar is in things. (For example, Newman’s Own pasta sauces have more sugar per serving than ice cream). Largely this is because the human taste buds and digestive tract and brain are all geared to make you crave salts, fats and sugars, because they can coax you into storing more calories for times of famine.
A good fat loss diet plan is aware of that. Some will try to disconnect the ‘tasty = calories’ link in the human brain by having you eat mostly bland foods and then, taking a small dose of something almost flavorless with high caloric content about an hour later; the goal here is to get your body to reset its calibration point on how many calories you need. This is the key behind the Shangri La diet, and it works surprisingly well.
The other aim of a good weight loss program is to get you to be aware of how many calories are in things – danishes, rice cakes, donuts, etc. As a general rule of thumb, you want to keep a plate full of food at about 300 calories, tops. This means not eating things that are rich in sugars and fats, but focusing more on vegetables and whole grains. Likewise, avoiding processed foods is a good start on a fat loss diet plan. (In general, the processed food American diet is a disaster; no matter where in the world it’s imported, there’s an explosion of obesity and type II diabetes and other ‘American health ills’.
In general: Cut out processed foods, eat smaller portions (using smaller plates to eat off of is a proven way to lose weight), don’t eat out, and focus on lean cuts of meats, steamed vegetables and whole grains. If you’re going to eat pasta, eat whole grain pasta. If you’re going to eat rice, eat brown rice. Consider buying a bread machine and cooking your own bread – it will taste better, and you’ll be able to control the ingredients going into it.
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