Rosefiend Cordell - Petal to the Metal

Petal to the Metal:

Growing Gorgeous Houseplants

Easy-Growing Gardening Guide, Vol. 5

Rosefiend Cordell

Rosefiend Publishing.

Copyright 2017 Melinda R. Cordell

All rights reserved. Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from cussing sprees, singing I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie, sheer absentmindedness, existential crises, not knowing how to pronounce existential, bad hair days, fits of lovesickness, allergies, rooster attacks, leeches, tornado warnings, tomato warnings, Tribbles, or any other cause.

ISBN: 1548081493

ISBN-13: 978-1548081492

For more information (and books!), visit www.melindacordell.com

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

~Cicero

INTRODUCTION

W hen I was a kid, I used to read my grandmas houseplant books, and I had a small table of houseplants that I got from her or I got from the store. I got a shrimp plant from Grandma Ann, which is a funny little plant, and African violets from Grandma Marys windowsill. She showed me how to stick African violet leaves in the soil, cover them with a little jar or some plastic wrap, and grow new plants. I learned that, if you laid a begonia leaf on the surface of the soil, baby plants would pop up around the edge of the leaf at the ends of the veins. (I didnt pursue these because for some reason I was no fan of begonias.)

Lay a begonia leaf flat on the soil and tiny baby plants will start growing at the junctions of its veins.

L ater on, in college , I got a job at the local garden center. As a result, when they were clearing out their stock of houseplants, I got a lot of free plants. I brought them all home. I had every kind of ivy, more African violets, stuff I cant even remember the names of these days, hanging baskets and a gigantic six-foot-tall Norfolk Island Pine that they simply had no space for, which retailed for $60. I was a college student, so I was pretty poor at the time. But my house was green and lush as a plant conservatory. Win!

Now Im limited to raising plants in the kitchen window at work (my windows at home are no good for plants I have no shelves, no space for tables). Here I have a bunch of Phalaenopsis orchids blooming, a couple of African violets, a sedum, and a cheerful little cyclamen that was languishing until I gave her a drink of weak coffee, and then she perked up right away. So now I make her a pot every morning. Kidding! (I had scoffed at coffee as a fertilizer before Im sold on it now.)

Houseplants can be a challenge when you have poor conditions (poor lighting, freezing windows in winter, humidity levels that match the Sahara Deserts, destructive toddlers, cats that use flowerpots as a litter box, etc.). Ive been terrible about houseplants after my years as a horticulturist. While working outside, Ive always tried to grow plants that can take care of themselves. For a while, that attitude leaked over to my houseplants with terrible results. Of course an African violet isnt going to water itself! Thats my job!

Now Ive gotten better about caring for plants gone back to my roots, as it were, back when I had my collection of plants when I was a kid and did a good job of caring for them. (Except for that asparagus fern that dropped sharp dried leaves all over my carpet. I hated that plant! I should have thrown it out!)

This book goes through a few simple tips for caring for and raising houseplants. I hope that when you get done reading, you should be able to take care of your own plants a little more easily.

IN OCTOBER, BRING HOUSEPLANTS INSIDE

M y Missouri Department of Conservation calendar says that early October is the average day of the first frost in northern Missouri. Have you brought your houseplants in?

Clean up a sunny area inside the house or garage where you plan to keep your houseplants through the winter. You might even clean the window and trim back any branches outside that block the sun. A south-facing location is best for the plants that have spent all summer outside. However, if your plants prefer shade, filter the light with a sheer curtain

Try to give the sun-loving plants as much sun exposure as you can. Though the winter sun is actually closer to the earth, the earth is tilted away from the sun, which drastically cuts down on the lights intensity (and this is also why the sun hangs so low in the south through the winter).

If you have large fluorescent lights, halogen lights, or metal halide lights, your houseplants will do just fine.

Even if you have good light for your plants, you will still see some leaves falling especially if theyre those little fig trees, which need a lot of light.

Before you bring the plants in, clean them off. Pick off all those dead leaves. Lift the rootball out of the pot and knock off any pillbugs that have made colonies on the roots. Take off the saucer if you can and clean it out, and clean the dirt off the outside of the pot.

Cut the plant back if its tall and leggy, making your cuts above any buds that are leafing out. Rub aphids off the leaves, add potting soil to the pot if it needs it, and wash off the plant if the weather is nice. Spray the plant well with insecticidal soap to be sure youre not bringing in any unwanted guests.