How to plant indoor flowers in a pot
Speaking about the planting of indoor plants, most often they mean a transplant to a constant place of growth of purchased seedlings. Of course, you can sow the seeds yourself, but when you purchase the finished option in the nursery, the chances of high decorativeness become greater. Sowing seeds and planting finished seedlings imply the same preparatory measures, so further information will be useful to any grower.
Basic rules for planting indoor plants
As in any other business, in order to get a good result from planting indoor plants, you will have to take into account some rules of the procedure.
- Optimum pot sizes. The capacity for the seedlings should correspond to the size of their root part, and if you are going to sow the seeds in small pots, be prepared for an early replacement of the purchased option.
- Suitable soil. When choosing a substrate for a flower, be sure to consider the requirements of a particular plant for alkalinity and soil density (this is especially true for cases of self-preparation of the soil mixture).
- Maintaining the required properties of the earth. To avoid compaction of the substrate and to prevent “clogging” of the root system of plants, before planting, mix the substrate with sifted sand, peeled fine stones or chopped charcoal. In some cases, foam balls are used to maintain friability.
- Selection of the finished soil mixture. When buying a store substrate, be sure to pay attention to its composition and fertilizers present. Also, do not forget to make sure that the product is suitable, because expired options will not have the necessary nutritional value.
- Preparing the soil for transplanting. It is better to open the package with the ground in advance, and not just before planting the plant. The nitrogen accumulated inside must necessarily go outside, otherwise it can seriously harm the roots of the flower. Home-made soil mixtures must be steamed in the oven at a temperature of at least 80 ° C, and in some cases the same will have to be done with respect to ready-made varieties of soils.
- Compliance with landing technology. Depending on the type of root system of indoor plants, the corresponding depth of their planting is selected. In some cases, with excessive deepening in the soil mixture, the flower lags behind in growth and is not very decorative.
- Creating optimal temperature conditions. Each plant has its own requirements for environmental conditions, therefore, in the process of planting and after it, the temperature, humidity and lighting must comply with the declared standards. Think in advance which room of the house or apartment is best for placing a pot with a plant .
Did you know? According to the teachings of Feng Shui, each plant has its own unique energy and is able to affect the well-being and emotional state of the inhabitants of the house. For this reason, it is better not to place lemons or hamedorias in the room where two children live, as they will only amplify the already frequent conflicts. At the same time, an excellent option for organizing a green corner would be the Uzumbar violet.
How to plant indoor flowers in a pot
The procedure for planting home flowers is a relatively simple task, especially if the grower takes into account all the nuances of each individual stage in advance: choosing a pot, preparing a substrate, creating optimal temperature conditions, arranging lighting, as well as the intricacies of direct planting.
Pot selection
Most often, for planting indoor plants, flower growers prefer only two main types of pots: plastic and ceramic. The former are cheaper and more practical, while the latter are slightly more expensive, but more stable, and it will not be easy to turn them over.
In addition, clay containers absorb plastic better than plastic ones and serve as a natural filter, trapping harmful minerals and letting in air.
The second thing you should pay attention to before buying is the required diameter of the container. If you are going to sow the seeds of medium-sized plants in the soil, then in the first few months there will be enough pots up to 15 cm in diameter, but after about six months it will have to be replaced with a large product.
For a finished seedling, a container that is 2-4 cm larger than the previous one is ideal, but here it is worth considering the growth rate of the cultivated crop (for fast-growing indoor flowers, it is better to choose pots with a large margin). So, in which pots it is better to plant your plant exactly - only you can answer.
Important! Sometimes, instead of pots, flower growers buy a more interesting flower pot, forgetting about the lack of drainage holes in it. Despite its high decorativeness, such a product adversely affects the root system of plants: excessive moisture often leads to decay of roots.
Soil preparation
If you buy a ready-made substrate in a store, then before planting, you just need to ventilate it and calcine it in the oven (optimal temperature is 80–100 ° C). Factory mixtures already possess all the qualities necessary for plants, and you just have to choose a specific option depending on the type of crop.
For example, acidic soils are great for camellias, hydrangeas, ferns and rhododendrons, alkaline soils for palms, lemons, cypresses and laurel. Briefillum, primrose, pelargonium and other plants from the same families can be planted on neutral soils.
With self-preparation of soil at the end of summer, it is recommended to cut the upper layers of sod land from old meadows and pastures. In such places, it is usually slightly acidic, which is ideal for most plants.
In addition to it, you can use leafy substrates (leaves of poplar, hazel, maple, pear or apple tree must lie in a heap all summer) and peat soils obtained from marsh chernozems.
Like purchased soils, a home-made substrate needs to be calcined in the oven and sieved, trying to select weed seeds and some other components harmful to indoor plants.
Ensuring optimal conditions
When the main preparatory measures are successfully completed, it is worth considering the placement of planted plants. Temperature conditions, air humidity in the room and the level of lighting play a primary role in the normal growth and development of the planted crop.
Temperature
For most indoor plants, ideal temperature conditions would be between 22–25 ° C, with a slight drop to 17–20 ° C in winter. This feature should be taken into account when choosing a place to place the pot, additionally paying attention to the presence of drafts or heating devices.
Both options are a kind of extremes and can lead to complete or partial wilting of flowers.
Humidity
This indicator is especially important for tropical and subtropical plant varieties (for example, Dieffenbachia or dracaena) and should be at least 50-60%.
Dry air and lower temperature values (up to +10 ° C) will be acceptable only for crops with juicy leaves, but in this case, the possibility of sudden temperature changes should be excluded.
Lighting
Usually standard lighting of city apartments is enough for the normal growth and development of most indoor flowers, the main thing is to place pots in bright areas: on window sills and next to a glass door.
Such places will be the best solution for decorative species from arid or even desert climatic zones, including flowers with juicy leaves.
Important! Direct sunlight should not fall on plants, even though some species can easily tolerate this effect (e.g. begonia, cyclamen, lily, geranium).
Light penumbra is a great solution for ficus, philodendron, dieffenbachia, aralia, cissus and sweat, and pots with calathea, arrowroot, royal begonia and tradescantia can be set on shelves in the middle of the rooms.
Among the most unpretentious plants that can grow well in shaded places, asparagus, high aspidistra, aglaonema are distinguished.
In the winter, when natural lighting is no longer enough for light-loving decorative crops, you can create an artificially illuminated corner using fluorescent lamps.
Planting a plant
Having successfully completed the preparatory phase, it's time to fill the selected pot with cultivated soil and plant the plant.
Did you know? If you want to protect yourself from other people's evil thoughts and wishes, be sure to put scarlet in the living room. This unremarkable flower perfectly calms the excitement and removes negative energy from the room.
The technology for performing this task is simple and provides for the following steps:
- Laying the drainage layer. So that the water in the pot does not stagnate, a drainage layer is lined at the bottom of the tank, the role of which is perfect for broken brick, small stones or ready-made material purchased in the store. The thickness of the layer depends on the size of the pot and the exactingness of the plant, but in most cases 2-3 cm will be enough.
- Filling the pot with prepared soil. The calcined and loosened soil mixture should occupy about half of the remaining volume, which in the future will allow more stable placement of the seedling. If you decide to sow the seeds, then you can sprinkle more soil, and after the appearance of the sprouts, transplant the seedling into a larger pot.
- Seedling placement. When planting a seedling of a selected decorative plant, make sure that it has slightly moist, but clean roots. Then lower it to the soil in an upright position and carefully level all the roots. Pour the remaining soil from above and lightly tamp with a spatula (when planting seeds, the substrate should not be densified strongly).
- Final events. Place the pot with the plant on the windowsill and moisten the earth a little, but only so that it sticks slightly to the fingers. In some cases, humidification is not required if a slightly moist substrate is used immediately.
Houseplant Care
Proper planting is only the first stage on the way to obtaining beautiful decorative flowers, because the success of their cultivation largely depends on further care. By this definition, it is customary to understand watering, fertilizer, pruning and transplanting of grown seedlings, and each of the processes has its own characteristics.
Fertilizer
For good growth and prosperity, almost all home plants need calcium, phosphorus, iron, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium and sulfur, which they can receive along with regular independent top dressing or by fertilizing during irrigation.
The introduction of nutrient formulations with water is becoming increasingly popular, due to the ease of preparation and use of the nutrient solution (crystalline or liquid fertilizer you just need to mix with water, in a dosage clearly defined by the manufacturer, and then soak the soil with it).
In order not to harm the flowers, at the initial stages of the use of top dressings, you should adhere to the minimum standards for their use, which can be increased only if there are clear signs of a lack of nutrients.
This also applies to the so-called prolonged preparations, which are issued in the form of capsules and, upon contact with groundwater, spread throughout the entire thickness of the soil for 30, 90 or 150 days (the exact duration of action depends on the particular substance inside the capsules).
The best time for applying nutritional compounds is the active growth of flowers, but during dormancy of plants or immediately after transplantation, it is better not to fertilize them, since there is always a risk of burning tender roots.
Watering
The rate and frequency of watering indoor plants directly depends on their type. For example, all aroid flowers, even in winter, do not plunge into a state of rest, but only slow down their growth, so watering can be reduced, but it is not worth stopping completely.
At the same time, representatives of the Mulberry family (for example, Benjamin's ficus) cease to grow with the advent of cold weather, which means that they practically do not need moisture. Ornamental plants with succulent leaves often survive the winter without any watering, since they have enough moisture accumulated inside.
Regarding the correctness of the irrigation, there are several recommendations:
- the introduction of fluid should always be moderate (do not fill the plants, even if they are hygrophilous species);
- watering is necessary only after checking the soil moisture (if the ground is moist, you can still wait);
- watering home plants can only be defended with water at room temperature, a cold liquid with chemical compounds present in the composition will destroy the flowers;
- It is advisable to spray from the spray only those species that are supportive of such a procedure, otherwise the leaves will curl and hurt.
On average, indoor plants are watered 1-2 times a week, but a large role in the regularity of this procedure is played by external climatic conditions: air humidity and room temperature.
Pruning
Beginner gardeners are very wary of pruning indoor plants, but in fact it is simply necessary. Properly executed decorative and sanitary shortening of the shoots will not only not harm the plants, but also significantly improve their appearance, so you should not exclude it from the care plan.
The best time to carry out the procedure is the beginning of summer, although the removal of yellowed leaves and diseased shoots should be carried out all year round to prevent the propagation of harmful microorganisms.
Some types of flowers need a pruning pruning, which will stimulate the active growth of shortened side buds and the appearance of new flowering shoots (usually this applies to roses, ficus, hibiscus and citrus).
Important! Young and not overgrown plants are best trimmed to a minimum so that they are slightly lost in decorativeness.
Most often, a cut is considered to be 2/3 of the length of the shoots, even if only 2-3 live buds remain on the bush. Subsequent feeding of the flower will contribute to its rapid revival, and the decorativeness of the plant will only increase: it will have the strength to form new shoots.
Transfer
Contrary to popular belief, a transplant should not be performed for all problems with the flower. Thus, yellowing of leaves and a slowdown in growth often indicates a lack of nutrients, and not a lack of space in the pot.
You can check your guesses only after carefully extracting the plant: if, turning the earthen lump upside down, you notice that the roots really pierced the whole soil, it means that you still have to think about transplanting.
For large plants, this procedure should be performed once every few years, not forgetting to focus on the growth rate after a previous transplant.
If it came to replacing the pot, it is better to transfer the transplant to the spring period, having pre-selected a larger tank. For large flowerpots, sometimes it’s enough to simply replace the top of the soil, but medium and small plants will have to be completely removed from the old pot, being careful not to damage the root system.
If it has dried or damaged parts, it is better to trim them, after which you can put the flower in a new pot, lined with a drainage layer and a soil mixture of a suitable composition.
All further actions are performed in the same way as when planting seedlings: the plant is placed in the center of the tank and, after spreading its roots, is simply covered with soil. The root neck (the place where the stem transitions to the roots) should coincide with the line of the surface of the substrate.
The remaining soil mixture is poured on top and rammed around the stem of the plant so that there are no empty spaces between the roots. From the surface of the soil and to the upper edge of the pot you need to leave at least 1-2 cm of free space.
Common mistakes
Both planting and transplanting indoor plants usually do not cause difficulties even for beginner gardeners, but no one is safe from errors in the procedure.
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The most common of them include the following:
- неправильный подбор грунта (в некоторых случаях даже универсальные варианты приходится «корректировать», исходя из потребностей экзотических цветов, тем самым добиваясь снижения плотности, или, наоборот, ещё большего уплотнения субстрата);
- неправильный подбор горшка (в очень больших ёмкостях происходит понижение щёлочности субстрата, загнивание корневой системы и появляются проблемы с цветением);
- неполная пересадка: не старайтесь сохранить на корешках купленного растения максимальное количество «родной» почвы, ведь она является лишь временным местом произрастания на время продажи и транспортировки (размягчить старый субстрат можно с помощью тёплой воды, причём это нужно сделать так, чтобы на них не осталось даже малейших песчинок);
- повышенное содержание в почве питательных веществ (внесение большого количества подкормки сразу после пересадки грозит разрастанием зелёной массы при одновременном измельчании самих цветков);
- замена горшка у растений, не нуждающихся в этом (например, для гиппеаструмов теснота даже полезна, так как не позволяет разрастаться деткам и одновременно стимулирует процесс цветения);
- совместное выполнение посадки и обрезки цветов (это в два раза сильнее травмирует растение и не позволяет ему быстро восстановиться).
Какие цветы нельзя сажать дома
Далеко не все растения можно размещать дома, пусть они и кажутся вам самыми красивыми. Представители отдельных видов экзотической растительности способны выделять в воздух ядовитые вещества, опасные для всех жильцов. Поэтому, прежде чем купить понравившийся саженец, стоит спросить у продавца о возможности его домашнего выращивания.
В список «нежелательных» домашних цветков попала полюбившаяся многим диффенбафия. Её действительно часто используют для декорации жилья, но при попадании сока на кожу он оставляет ожоги и может вызвать сильное отравление.
Этот факт сделал растение условно безопасным, в то время как некоторые другие попали в список полностью запрещённых к домашнему выращиванию.
Именно такими являются:
- Мимоза. Цветок обладает интересной способностью реагировать на прикосновение человека сворачиванием листьев. Эта его особенность привлекает внимание многих цветоводов, вот только распространяемый им аромат опасен для здоровья. При постоянном нахождении в помещении мимоза вызывает продолжительный токсикоз и способствует выпадению волос.
- Монстера. Никаких ядовитых паров она не источает, но её сок ещё более токсичен, чем у диффенбафии, и может привести к серьёзным ожогам.
- Паслён. Это растение безопасно только до того момента, пока на его побегах не появляются ярко-оранжевые плоды. Именно они содержат в себе ядовитые вещества, и должны находиться подальше от детей и животных.
- Азалия Симса. Эта разновидность намного опаснее других похожих растений с привлекательными пышными листьями. Сок цветка способен вызвать сильнейшее отравление, сопровождающееся коликами, судорогами и болями в желудке.
- Комнатный молочай. При попадании на кожу сока появляются ожоги, а употребление внутрь вызывает тошноту и расстройство желудка. В некоторых случаях возможны ожоги слизистой оболочки и головокружение.
Конечно, аккуратное обращение с данными видами комнатной растительности может снизить риск отравления, но полностью исключить его не получится, поэтому лучше подобрать для дома полностью безопасные цветы.
Useful Tips for Beginners
Новичкам в цветоводческом деле часто не везёт с выращиванием полюбившихся цветов, поэтому при посадке и дальнейшем уходе за растением стоит прислушиваться к мнению уже опытных цветоводов.
Основными рекомендациями в данном случае будут следующие:
- подбор оптимального размера горшка (он может быть больше предыдущего только на несколько сантиметров);
- выбор наиболее подходящего периода для посадки саженцев (обычно он должен приходиться на март);
- необходимость в аккуратном обращении с корневой системой, но с обязательным удалением высохших и омертвевших корешков;
- использование дренажного слоя для любых видов комнатных цветов;
- применение только специальной почвы, состав которой будет полностью соответствовать потребностям каждого отдельного вида;
- отсутствие пустот под земляным комом растения и вокруг него;
- свободное пространство над землёй: уровень грунта не должен доходить до самого края горшка, чтобы при поливе вода не стекала на подоконник.
В целом процесс посадки комнатной растительности займёт не больше часа, но только если вы заранее приготовите всё необходимое. А в награду за старания цветовод получит отличный декоративный элемент, который, к тому же, может положительно сказаться на общем эмоциональном состоянии домочадцев.
