The Beginner’s Guide to Houseplants
Easy Tips and Techniques for Growing Houseplants in Your Home
Table of Contents
How to Choose Houseplants
Different Types of Containers
Watering your plants
Rule of hand Watering Tips
Going for a long holiday – What about my indoor plants?
Feeding Your Plants
Re-potting a plant
What Is the Best Potting Mixture
Training and Pruning Your Plants
Cleaning Your Plants
Common pests and their treatment
Index of common names and botanical names of popular houseplants.
Millenniums ago, a man deciding to build a garden was fortunate because he had all that land right outside his door. All he had to do is clear out a piece of land, and mark it with a boundary wall. After that, he could go hunting for attractive looking plants in the wild, and bring them back home. With a little bit of care and cherishing, he would soon have a tame garden of his own.
But today, a large number of us are not so fortunate. Space is at a premium. Concrete jungles have taken the place of what was once nature’s backyard. And that is why man is looking for easy options to bring beautiful greenery inside his limited space.
And so this book is for all those, who want to know more about indoor plants, how to grow them, how to take care of them, which are the best plant varieties which flourish indoors and tips and techniques with which you can enjoy not only a relaxing hobby, but also greenery around you.
Until just after the Second World War, indoor household plants were limited to ferns, palms, and potted plants, which flowered in season. Surely plants like aspidistras were also popular for interior decoration but soon more and more wide-ranging varieties and species of foliage parted plants began to be known to keen gardeners.
This change is due chiefly to the architects who designed postwar buildings on severe lines. Gone were the rambling houses with huge gardens. Strictly utilitarian designs were utilized by architects to design these houses and flats.
Frankly speaking most of them were chicken coops. The introduction of houseplants in a large variety of colors and fonts provided a flash of color to those austere and severe designs. You could relieve the simplicity and the austerity of the home by growing houseplants indoors.
Thanks to the improved heating and lighting systems, many varieties which were once grown in hot houses, greenhouses and conservatories would now flourish indoors as houseplants. There are many plants which are easier to grow, and last for several years.