The Rural Voice, 1998-02, Page 37By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Many of us turn to the greenery on
our window sills during the dull
winter months to help get us through
these dark days of winter. Merchants
appreciate this fact and offer a whole
array of wonderful new plants from
the tropics that we eagerly buy up. As
many as 40 per cent of these newly
bought plants will die off within the
first year and when you consider the
conditions in an average home during
the winter months, I am sure that this
figure is on the low side. Houses are
extremely low on humidity, waterings
are erratic, air circulation is nil and
sunny window sills and bright corners
are hard to find on dull February
days. But there are some things we
can do to make the winter season
pleasant for our houseplants and help
get them through the winter.
When you bring a new plant home
you should give it a shower on both
the upper and under side of the
leaves. This will raise the humidity,
get rid of spray residue, and wash off
a great many of the insects that may
be lurking. Now you have to look for
a bright place to put it. Most of these
plants come from bright, well -lit
greenhouses. A plant gets a lot of its
nutrition from photosynthesis, a chem-
ical process the plant goes through to
manufacture food from light.
You have to research your plant to
know just what quantity of Light it
prefers. There are dim -growing
orchids that do well with no direct
sun (like moth orchids). Direct sun
may bum their leaves. Succulents
vary in their light requirements too.
The popular aloe vera looks as if it
should need full sun, but it will bum
in a southern window and should
have no more than an eastern
exposure. Norfolk Island pines are
often sold for dim corners but they
need plenty of sun to thrive. Them are
always good reference books in the
library but if you don't have a name
for your plant a good rule to consider
is to offer as much Tight and sun as
they can stand without reacting
adversely. This is without burning or
going pale (two of the symptoms of
too much sun). Watch them for about
two weeks. Just remember that your
plant most likely started in a
greenhouse so you may want to give
Gardening
Save the houseplants
it more Tight than you think.
One problem that goes hand in
hand with the benefits of bright light
is heat. An enormous amount of heat
can build up a few inches from the
glass in bright sun, even during the
cold winter months. Put a thermo-
meter almost against the glass and
check. You may have to provide some
extra circulation to keep your plants
from burning in a south or west
window. Most plants need a bit of air
circulation to do well and to help
reduce fungus disease problems.
When we can't open windows we
have to look to other means. You can
use a small quiet fan to circulate the
air. Many homes have installed ceil-
ing fans to move hot air down from
the upper levels. This also provides
circulation for your house plants.
Outdoor plants undergo many
changes triggered by weather but
houseplants are usually not overly
affected by temperature. Most of us
keep our homes at an average 65
degrees throughout the year. The
changes in temperature are not as
severe to our plants as they arc to us.
Most plants will lose a leaf that
touches an icy window, but only a
leaf. Some plants are very sensitive to
temperature: gardenias will drop
leaves if the temperature goes much
below 60 degrees F.
The really big danger to
houseplants is water, either lack of, or
too much. Of course plants in larger
pots can be allowed to go dry a little
deeper than plants in small pots.
African violets and gloxinias should
be watered even if only the surface of
their soil is dry. Most of the shrubby
house plants we grow in pots like
azaleas, gardenias citrus etc. will die
if allowed to really dry out. But many
annual plants and juicy tender
perennial plants such as basil and
coleus and tomato plants can look
dead for want of water, yet they come
back with only thc loss of a few
leaves or drying on leaf edges.
Leaf loss is a frequent sign that
you're watering too little.
Dieffenbachias and dracaenas for
example, quite often grow in a palm-
like way with a tuft of leaves at the
top and a long bare stem because they
are allowed to go dry between
waterings. Usually you can Ict a plant
go dry in the first 1/4 inch of soil
before watering again.
Humidity is another variable
indoor condition that affects many
plants. If the outdoor temperature is 1
degree C. and it is raining (90 per cern
to 1(X) per cent humidity) by the time
that wet outdoor air is brought in and
heated to 22 degrees C., its humidity
goes down to around 20 per cent. And
what if it isn't raining, but the outdoor
humidity in nearer 40 per cent? Then
the air indoors is as dry if not drier
than a desert. Few plants do well do
well in a humidity of 20 per cent or
lower. Some of the exotics you may
want to grow like ferns and gloxinias
won't really do well below 50 per
cent. The easiest way to raise your
humidity is with a humidifier for your
growing area. Higher humidity is not
only good for your plants but good for
you too since your tender tissues like
inside your nose need humidity too.
Misting your plants with tepid
water is good but very short term.
Pebble trays set near heat vents or on
rads work well. Use a waterproof
metal or plastic tray with about 3/4
inch of gravel covered with water.
You can also group your plants
together to help raise humidity around
the plants. Remember the same
problem occurs with air conditioners
which take moisture from the air as
they cool it.
Then there is thc question of
whether to feed or not to feed during
the winter months. Newly potted
plants should not need feeding for a
month because there are nutrients in
the soil and damaged roots can he
further damaged with a fertilizer
solution. Normally our plants are
dormant during the darkest weeks of
the winter. Once you see some new
growth you can safely fertilize with a
water soluble solution. Remember
less is best and you are safer starting
with a weaker solution than what is
recommended with the fertilizer
instructions. Only fertilize a healthy
plant. Feeding will not fix problems.
Now you are off to a grand start
with your windowsill garden. Next
month we will deal with some of the
pests that escaped the rinsing off.0
Rhea Ilamilton-Seeger raises two
children, and is a skilled cook and
gardener.
FEBRUARY 1998 33