INDOOR GARDENING

Indoor gardening is a hobby that helps you relax during those times of the year when the weather does not let you have much outdoor fun. It is an art that gives you a chance to learn more about plants and flowers. It will be an enjoyable experience to learn about how to grow flowers in conditions that are not entirely appropriate for their growth. Impoverished sunlight is one of the major challenges you might face as an indoor gardener.

Indoor plants beautify home interiors. They also fill the house with good air because plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Moving them indoors

People move plants indoors in winter, when the outside temperature is not favorable for plantgrowth. To be realisitic, let us be sure of the fact that not all plants can be moved indoors.

Because of the low sunlight inside, especially during winter, only those plants that survive in complete or partial shade are better suited as indoor plants. A plant that has been grown in conditions of relatively intense light should not be abruptly moved to a setting of low-light.The moving of a plant from outdoors to indoors in Fall should be done in a step-by-step manner with a gradual decrease in the intensity of light. This process is called acclimatization.

The medium in which the plant grows

The soil you fill the pot with is the medium in which the plant grows. The medium should be of superior quality -- porous enough for air-circulation and drainage; however it should not so permeable that water and the nutrients get lost. There are a number of non-soil artificial media that are commercially prepared. Such artificial mixes have as ingredients slow-release fertilizers. Such agents, as the name suggests, gradually release the fertilizers and keep the plant healthy for many months.

Repotting

For the indoor plants to remain healthy, it is important to move the plants periodically from one pot to another. This process is called repotting. Usually plants are repotted when they grow too big for the pot. Plants that are grown for their attractive leaves, called foliage plants, need to be repotted when the roots have filled the pot and are growing out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. When it is time for repotting, you should make sure that the new pot should not be a lot bigger than the present pot. The diameter of the new pot may be two inches more than the old pot.

Water and fertilizers

Water the plants only when the soil is really dry. Regarding fertilizers, it would be important to keep in mind the fact that applying fertilizers should be minimized in winter because the growth of the plant is slowest in winter and as a result, added nutrients would be stressful to the plant.

A list of plants that are good for raising indoors

• African Violets
• Amaryllis
• Begonia
• Bonsai
• Cactus
• Coleus
• Forced Bulbs
• Geraniums
• Ivy
• Paper Whites
• Paradise Palms
• Philodendrons
• Poinsettia
• Rubber Plants
• Spider Plants