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During those long winter months one can bring a little bit of the outdoors in with with some indoor gardening. Having plants in the home can really add to your decor and helps off than the look of every room as well as add to your health. Indoor plants can help add moisture to the air as well as help filter the air by exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen.

Indoor gardening is no more demanding than outdoor gardening and you don’t have to have a lot of plants to make a big difference in your home. Just like outdoor plants those that you keep indoors need some basic things such as lighting water and nutrients.

Different types of indoor plants require different amounts of lighting but most plants will grow better with good light. You can help provide this by placing plants near windows where they can get natural light but you may also want to buy a special plant grow light especially for those dark winter days. When choosing plants for your indoor garden, keep in mind that the darker leafed plants usually don’t need as much light as the other plants.

Many people tend to kill their indoor plants by overwatering them. While your indoor garden needs water just like your outdoor garden it’s important to remember that these plants are in containers and you can’t just load them up with a ton of water that will stand in the container and perhaps wrought the roots. Be sure that each container has a good drainage system, perhaps with rocks at the very bottom of the container, and a saucer for the water to drain out into. You should not let the soil get to dry but don’t overwater either. Check your in your garden at least once a week to to see if it needs watering.

With indoor gardening, humidity can be a problem particularly in the winter when it is very dry. To keep your plants moisturized you can spray them with a fine mist and if it is really dry dry wrapping the plant in a cone of newspaper or wax paper and missing the play and then. The cold will help keep the moisture into the plant.

Different plants require different kinds and amounts of fertilization. You should be aware of each planning your indoor garden and what its needs are. You can buy indoor fertilizer from any home goods or garden store and you can even buy fertilizer sticks that you stick in the container at the grocery store. Some exotic plants like orchids need special fertilizer of most regular houseplants just use the regular fertilizer you can find in any store.

Here’s a few plants you might want to add to your indoor garden:

African violets

These plants have pretty purple flowers and green glossy leaves. They are quite often grown indoors and can add colorful splash to your indoor garden. They like light but don’t put them right in the final get scorched. Avoid overwatering as this will kill them.

Philodendrons

These of the most popular and Hardy of all indoor garden plants. They are full of large green leaves and prefer a medium light. It’s best to let them dry out a bit between wanderings and you can keep the little dryer in the winter. If the leaves turn brown and you’re not watering them enough. They like high humidity but will do okay in most homes. Be sure to wash the leaves off often to remove dust.

Boston Ferns

The Boston fern is a popular indoor plant which produces a thick bundle of leaves. It requires diffused lighting and will need a grow light in rooms where there is not enough natural light. They can be sensitive to chlorine and tap water so watering regularly with distilled water is best. Boston ferns can be a bit difficult to grow as they like cool locations with a lot of humidity. Misting your Boston fern each day can help it be happy and healthy.

Jade Plant

They Jade Plant is a succulent and can tolerate very dry conditions. These plants are extremely tolerant and difficult to kill so few one start in indoor garden but don’t have a green calm you do well to consider one of these.

Article Source: http://www.gardenarticlesexchange.com

Lee Dobbins writes for www.backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can learn more about plants and gardening.

For enthusiastic gardeners, their plants are like their family. They like spending time talking to them, trim them appropriately, and ensure proper care and treatment. Few plants are grown indoors for decorative and scientific purposes. People do spend a lot of time and money on maintaining their indoor garden. This article gives you some helpful tips.

Tackling Pests

You can easily get pesticides to kill the common insects found on your favorite plants. However, a few pesticides might harm the plant itself and would pollute the air inside the house. Moreover, these pesticides should be kept away from children, as they might be poisonous when consumed or inhaled in large quantities. You can use home remedies to get rid of these insects, instead. The following tips for indoor gardening would help you get rid of them without it affecting your health and home -

1. You can rub alcohol on the plant parts like juicy leaves, stems, joints of stem and branches that are usually affected by these insects.
2. You can use chili pepper or dish soap to get rid of the insects.
3. You may not like the smell of asafetida, neither do insects. You can even bury it in the soil to prevent the insects sitting on your plants.
4. You can also mix turmeric or limestone in water and can pour the mixture around the plant in the soil. Take care not to pour it on top of the plant.

Growing Plants Well

Besides pests, there are other enemies of the plants grown indoors. What are they? They are a few environmental conditions like -

- pH and the type of the soil
- Hardness of water
- Sunlight, heat, and humidity
- Fertilizers and other factors.

It is recommended to check if a plant can survive without natural light and heat before opting for indoor gardening, since a few plants tend to die out when you try transplanting them. Moreover, if the soil is too acidic or alkaline, it may harm the plant. Make sure you do not use water with a high chlorine content, as it may be harmful. Too much or too little water also would be detrimental to plant growth.

It is important to remove dead leaves, twigs from the plants to keep them healthy. You should also maintain the air and surroundings clean for healthy plants.

Suitable Plants For Your Home

There are a few plants that are quite attractive to look at, and can grow anywhere. However, they might be poisonous in nature. If you have children at home or visiting you, it is advised not to have such plants at home. These plants may not cause death but may be harmful if consumed. To be on the safe side, it is better to know about the plants you would like to grow indoors.

If you want to try indoor gardening, here are a few plants that are safe.
- Most types of ferns, a few ferns even have flowers that are consumable.
- Cactus
- Crotons that can be used as decorative pieces
- African Violet
- Rubber plant
- Swedish Ivy
- Peperomia
- Spider plant

Keep these tips in mind when you try your hand at indoor gardening and you will definitely be happy with the results.

Article Source: http://www.gardenarticlesexchange.com

Get all of the latest in gardening tips know how from the one and only true gardening resource at www.herbgardensadvice.com/ Be sure to check out our indoor gardening tips pages on our web site.

Many people worry a lot when it comes to caring for their plants. When talking about house plants, there is no need to worry. There are just a few things you need to consider.

1. Watering
Overwatering kills most houseplants. Looks can be deceptive, so to see if your soil is dry enough to water, try the finger test. Insert your index finger up to the first joint into the soil. If the soil is damp, don’t water it.

2. Feeding
Foliage plants usually have high nitrogen needs, while flowering plants, K2O is needed. Slow release fertilizers can be mixed with the compost. However, certain plants like cacti and orchids need special fertilizer. Feed plants during their most active growth period.

3. Lighting
Plants like Sanseveria and Aspidistra require no sun. They can be placed away from a window. Spider plants need semi-shade. You can put plants like these near a window that does or does not get sunlight. Check the label to see what your plant needs.

4. Temperature
Houseplants can survive in cool or warm temperatures, but drastic fluctuations of temperature may not be good for them. One thing that most plants cannot survive is gas heating. If you have a plant that likes warm conditions, don’t put it near an air conditioner in the summer.

5. Humidity
Some houseplants require a humid environment. One tip to maximize humidity is to put the pot inside a larger pot and fill in the gaps with stones or compost to keep in the moisture. Grouping plants together often creates a microclimate that they will benefit from. If you want, you can spray them with water once or twice a day depending on the temperature.

6. Re-potting
Some plants require re-potting for optimum growth but there are others that resent having their roots disturbed. Or their roots system may be small enough that they don’t require re-potting. One way to check if your plant needs re-potting is to turn it upside down. Tap the pot to release the plant and check its roots. If roots are all you see, then re-pot. Sometimes the roots will come out of the pot. You should either cut them off or re-pot the plant.

You just need to have a little care for your plants and in turn, you’ll reap the benefits. Indoor plants not only add to the beauty of your décor, but also give much pleasure to the indoor gardener.

Article Source: http://www.gardenarticlesexchange.com

House plants can be beautiful, but they may also be affected by things that you are not even aware of. Having a few house plant insects is just annoying, but with to many bugs, your house plants will be destroyed in record time.

There are problems that certain plants can get hit hard with. You have no idea how many times house plants are infected by bugs, pests and insects, and people do not even realize that these mites are actually in the house.

When you purchase your house plants, take the time to make sure that they do not have an insect infestation of one sort or another. Again, when you bring your summer plants into your home for the winter, check for bugs. Sometimes this may be tricky as the bugs will borrow their way into the soil, but you will want to make certain that there is no evidence of a present infestation. By simply taking a few precautions, you will considerably reduce the chances of insects attacking your plants.

Insects will also enter your home because people carry them in. This is nearly impossible to prevent as the insects will attach themselves to cloths or come in through an open door or window. A time to watch out for bugs is when the weather is starting to warm up and again when the weather is cooling down. The insects like to come into the homes for shelter.

Plant insects can easily be controlled because it is on such a small scale. The insects or bugs are much more mobile when they are young, but the are always looking for a place to settle where they wont be disturbed. If fact, this is why your house plants can be bothered with insects. The solution to this problem is a general insecticide.

One type of bug that will bother your house plants are aphids. They have a soft body and can be easily controlled with pesticides and insecticide soaps. Other bugs most often encountered include mealy bugs, mites, scale, thrips, whiteflies and various other soil insects. Tiny spiders can also be another problem.

The typical cause of damage caused by the individual bugs includes: Aphids suck the sap out of plants; Mealy Bugs suck the sap out and plants, leaves a cotton-like substance on the plants and also leaves a honey dew substance which attracts ants; Mites suck the sap out of plants; Scale suck the sap out of plants and leaves a sticky honey dew substance that attracts ants and causes fungus growth; Thrips rip and tears foliage and blisters develop where the eggs are laid; Whiteflies cluster on the back of leaves and suck the sap out of the leaves, which turn yellow and die.

Try to avoid adding organic material into your soils. It is not necessary to add fertilizer because the topsoil will have enough nutrients for the plants. You will also want to remove any fallen flowers and leaves, as this would allow moulds and fungus to grow into the soil.

Most of the time there are infestations when the soil has a high organic content because of fungus, gnats, or springtails. If your plant has a fungus or bugs like gnats, you will generally find that your plant is actually decomposing, meaning, it is rotting.

Signs of attacks on your house plants by insects can include leaves turning a yellow or brown colour, plants starting to wilt and stop growing, jagged holes starting to appear in the foliage or a honey dew type substance smeared on the plants.

If you do notice that your house plants are infected with bugs or disease, you will need to take appropriate measures to eliminate the problem. You can consult your local garden nursery for advice or you may want to purchase a pesticide that will not hurt your plants, but will be a solution to your problems. Be sure to use the right product for the insects you have, as some pesticides can actually kill certain house plants. When using any pesticides always make sure to read and follow the warnings that the manufactures puts on the label.

Just remember to examine your house plants every now and then, do not wait for them to start looking sad. By giving the proper feeding, care and fresh air will ensure that you house plants remain healthy and more resistant to insect problems. As always, if you are able to find any problems with insects early enough, it can often be taken care of without the use of pesticides and that is, by far, the best way.

Article Source: http://www.gardenarticlesexchange.com

Darren Lintern publishes articles, guides and reports, on many topics for www.Kerrash.com

Here are several things that you can easily do to keep your house plants alive and well.

In order to keep your plant life looking great you will need to give them the care and attention required. You will want to ensure that you are doing everything possible to enhance the successful growth of your plants.

The first thing that you need to take into consideration is that you make sure you are purchasing the plants at the right time of the year. Many people make the mistake of buying their houseplants at the wrong time of the year; this is a major course why plants tend not to do well.

If you buy house plants when the weather is cold or close to freezing, you are at risk of putting them into shock. Alternatively, you may also kill the plant if buying during the summing and leaving it in your car or outside in the heat for too long.

It is essential that the plant is getting the proper amount of direct or indirect light. Without the necessary amount of light needed, it may die. When choosing your plants make sure to check the care instructions to ensure that it will not be subjected to anything in your home that may harm or prevent it from doing well.

Just by following the simply care instructions will make sure that your house plants will not die before they even have a chance to grow.

Another factor to consider is that you are able to provide the required temperature to ensure the successful growth. Make sure that the plants will receive the recommended amount of light together with the proper temperature in the rooms that you intent to keep them, as this will allow the plant to adjust to its new environment well.

Humidity is another issue that you will need to pay attention to. By ensuring that you place them in area that is kept at the correct temperature and humidity level will make sure that your plants will be able to grow as successfully as possible.

Make sure to keep your plant life watered properly as well. You do not want to over or under water them. If you set a good schedule to water and fertilize the plants, they will do better and be able to live longer.

Keep house plants clean by carefully wiping the foliage with plain room temperature water and a soft damp cloth.

It you intend to move your house plants outdoors during the warmer weather, make sure not to place them in direct sunlight. It is generally best to gradually introduce plants to a new location. Begin this acclimatization by placing outdoors for only a few hours on the first few days, than slowly increasing this over the next 1-2 weeks.

Remember to return the plants into your home before the temperature falls. It will be necessary to repeat the acclimatization steps as mentioned before.

Article Source: http://www.gardenarticlesexchange.com

Darren Lintern publishes articles, guides and reports, on many topics for www.kerrash.com For a wealth of information on Houseplants including the Care Needed, Insects, and choosing the right Plant, visit our House Plant Information Guide