Green (In) House

Rainy March weather doesn’t exactly give me many opportunities to capture lovely landscapes outside. So instead, I thought I’d share a snap shot of one of my indoor house plants. It may not sound exciting but growing indoor plants has been quite the challenging and competitive indoor sport. It was seriously hard maintaining indoor plants. First off I made the biggest noob mistake by over-watering. Many a plant were lost at sea because of my “let the cup runneth over” mentality when it came to watering. And the weird part is that most of the plants dried up because of the over watering. I found that very interesting...but not interesting enough to look up and put it here. And despite not researching why the plants respond poorly to certain actions I can still give you all some first-hand tips I learned. Hopefully these will help your green thumbs down turn into a green thumbs up:

1. Wait till they wilt - the plants will tell you know when they need water, till then do not water it when it looks perky and fine
   
2. Have good drainage - if you are going to water from the top make sure it is draining into something where the roots wont sit in water; i.e rocks. Or you could place it in a container that will catch the water but be sure to pour out excess water.
3. Water from the bottom - my rule has been plants that are less hearty (my definition is one that wilts after a week of no water) receive water well from the bottom...My heartier plants I water from the top; I consider my Amaryllis, Ivy, and my terrarium plants all to be hearty; the not so hearty are the Primroses, Lilies (don’t even know if I can grow these indoors but I love them, thanks Nidhi!)
4. Let the light shine - I have the hardest time with this because I don’t get the greatest of light (see next tip) but try try try to get your plant some sunshine. It may involve moving them around at certain times of the day but they should get at least, in my experience, 2-4 hours of light. Some plants actually need direct sunlight, like succulents, but I don’t mess with those since I'm form the midwest. If you are from the midwest and grow succulents successfully please write your tips in the comments, I’d love to know them.
5. Rehab your plants - I was having a hard time with the above African Violet and even though its little cup isn’t runneth-ing over with blossoms, it was saved because of the wonderful fluorescent lights at my work. Fun fact; fluroscent lights are used as grow lights for plants. And that’s probably why plants in store do so darn well. So if your plant isn’t getting enough light and is looking lame, take it to work and let it bask in the glorious fluorescent glow of your office or cubical.
6. Don’t give up! - I’m embarrassed and saddened to tell you all I’ve killed at least 5-7 plants. And I was sick of the waste (and heartache) when I finally realized that plants need what's called “considered neglect”. I got that phrase from the charming southern woman at my work...can’t you just hear a honey sounding southern accent say that. It means that plants need you to NOT dote on them and doting usually entails over-watering. Just ignore the plants and believe me, after a week or so you will see all this new growth which is quite thrilling.
   

So to summarize; drainage, sunlight, and an easy hand at the watering and you will be an indoor plant extraordinaire. Please comment your tips as a noobie (or professional) indoor plant grower.