Gardening - Articles, Tips And News

Useful Tips For Maintaining Optimal Health Of Plants

1. For most plants the rule is to water them only when the first inch of the soil feel dry.

2. Do Not Overwater the plants - an underwatered plant has higher chance of survival than an overwatered one.

3. Mostly the houseplants do not require fertilizers and wrong fertilizer or too much fertilizer can actually cause your plant to die.

4. People are more enticed to buy a larger plant but it is actually a good idea to buy a small plant as its growth rate is better and being established at your place it will have a longer life.

5. Pruning the plant to get rid of dead ends and leaves will help in new growth just as we need haircuts plants also need some pruning mostly at the end of winters.

6. A very important thing to note when buying a pot is to make sure the pot has a hole at its base rather than at its sides. Pots with holes at sides tend to make the root rot as water can assemble at the base.

7. Dusting the leaves if you see too much dust collecting on the leaves will help the plant get more sunlight. This can be done few times a year or when you notice too much dust.

How To Get Rid Of Mealybugs Or White Insects On Your Plants

Its actually quite simple. Just add 10 to 30 ml of shampoo in your sprayer with 1 liter amount of water and spray this solutiion on all the leaves having this white thing on them.

Make sure you do it in the evening time not during the day as it will harm the plants.

Next day before around 12 o clock in the afternoon make sure to wash off the leaves with normal water.

If there are still some mealybugs left you can repeat the treatment after one week. Happy Gardening.

There is a very simple way to find out if your plant is dead or alive. Just scratch on its top surface and if it is green inside then its definitely alive and can be saved.

Tips for growing winter annuals:

They should be planted in a sunny area close to each other.

Avoid overwatering but keep the soil moist.

The bright colorful annuals like petunia, cockscomb, zinnia are suitable for ornamental edging, container gardening and also for hanging baskets

We can also use colorful pots which are readily available these days to enhance the beauty of the garden.

These below bright color annuals also help in attracting butterflies and honey bees in your gardening area.

Petunia, cockscomb, zinnia, calendula, chrysanthemum, cineraria, and marigold.

Do Houseplants Really Purify Air ?

Yes although it is true that houseplants do help in purifying the air in your home but according to NASA scientists you need atleast 10 to 100 plants per square meter to make any impact.

But apart from cleaning air , plants also help in uplifting your mood , reduce anxiety and even enhance your productivity levels. So plants will help in improving your overall health.

And they are the simplest and truly the best way to connect with nature in your own home.

A lot of people wonder as to how much water do their plants really need. Here we have compiled a list of plants and the amount of water they would require to keep themselves fit and healthy.

Succulents - They are easy to maintain and require watering every 10 to 15 days.

Rubber Plants - Watering once 5 to 10 days is sufficient.

Peace Lily -  It requires water every 5 to 10 days.

Parlor Palm -  Five to ten days is fine.

Fiddle Leaf Fig - Five to ten days.

Peperomia - Five to ten days.

Spider Plant - Five to ten days 

Calathea - Five to ten days

Snake Plant - Five to ten days.

How To Treat Areca Palms Leaves Which Have Turned Yellow ?

Areca palm also has a common name yellow palm because some parts of the plant  like petiole are naturally yellow.

But if parts which are green also turn yellow then it is time to treat the problem in the plant.

If old leaves are developing yellow spots and eventually turning completely yellow. then it is sure sign of potassium deficiency.

If new leaves are already yellow then the plant is lacking in nutrients like manganese, iron or zinc.

If older leaves are turning yellow then there are spider mites around.

Solution

For potassium deficiency- remove the yellowish fronds and use sulfur-coated potassium sulfate on the soil.

For Micro Nutrient Deficiency - Best tip is to use a foliar micronutrient soil.

For Spider Mites - Use a pesticide which you can get from the market specifically meant for getting rid of spider mites only.

The above tips will surely make your areca palm fit and healthy all over again.

Insects in garden are one of the major turn off when you want to enjoy your favourite cup of tea sitting in the midst of your beautiful garden.

Here we list some plants which apart from being beautiful are great insect repellants too.

Basil

It is an effective herb as well as repels house flies and mosquitoes.

Basil can be plants in containers near the doors or area where you sit and relax so that insects stay away.

Lemongrass

It is widely used to repel mosquitoes.

Mint

Mint helps in keeping mosquitoes at bay. It is better to grow it in pot because its spreads very fast in its surroundings in an aggresive way.

Marigolds

Marigold helps in keeping aphids, mosquitoes and even rabbits away. Also known to keep whiteflies away.

Petunias

Apart from being a beautiful addition to the garden petunias also help in getting rid of Repel aphids, tomato hornworms, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers and squash bugs.

Geranium

Leafhoppers and other types of insects stay away from garden where geraniums grow. Pelargonium citrosum variety of geranium also keep mosquitoes away.