The Houseplant Lifestyle
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The Houseplant Lifestyle Houseplants are an amazing opportunity to merge our indoor spaces with the nature of the outdoors. Here are our top tips for bringing them into your life. 32085 HWY #52 (204) 326-1015 Box 2077, Steinbach, MB R5G 1N6 [email protected] About Us Oakridge Garden Centre is Steinbach, Manitoba’s pre- mier garden centre, proudly servicing all your garden, home, fashion, and food needs. We strive to do our best for the people in our community each and every day, and our customers are our number one inspira- tion in everything we do. Erna, Pierre, and Megan have proudly owned and operated Oakridge since 2000. As a family business, they pour their hearts and souls into every plant and person, always striving for excellence. Passionate in all things garden, they just can’t wait to share their wealth of knowledge with you to empower you in all your growing endeavours! Contact Us 32085 HWY #52 Phone: 204-326-1015 (1 Mile west of Steinbach) Fax: 204-326-4350 Box 2077, Steinbach, MB R5G 1N6 E-mail: [email protected] 2 Foreword Some people beautify their homes with art in the form of pictures and paintings, while others turn to the living art of houseplants. These gorgeous, natural creations emanate the fresh, green life that we usually only get to see in spring and summer, and capture that to be brought inside and enjoyed all year long. It’s no wonder we want them in our lives! Picking the right plant and making it work for you and your lifestyle may seem like a challenge, but with the right tips and tricks, it can be as easy as pie! That’s what this book is all about. We’re here to offer you our best advice for bringing home a new, green addition to your home, with some added tips on how they can improve your life, too. From first steps to road bumps, let us guide you through everything you need to know to seam- lessly integrate a houseplant into your lifestyle. Chapter 1: The Basics of Plant Parenthood 4 Chapter 2: Pet-Friendly Houseplants 7 Chapter 3: Houseplants to Clear the Air 10 Chapter 4: Common Houseplant Problems and How to Solve Them 14 Chapter 5: Holiday-Proof Houseplants 18 Chapter 6: Winter Houseplant Care 21 3 Mastering Plant Parenthood “I grow plants for many reasons... but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” – David Hobson Whether you have fond memories of gar- dening in your childhood that you want to relive or you just want a little more green in your life, houseplants are a great way to bring nature indoors. They are a burst of fresh life, no matter the weather outside, and can come in hundreds of shapes, sizes, and colours to match any aesthetic. Getting started can seem like a challenge, but we’ve put together our top tips to make plant parenthood simple. Choosing the Right Plant for You The absolute first place to start when considering bringing home a houseplant is finding one that fits both your lifestyle and your space. Start with your space: where will you put it? Most houseplants prefer bright, but indi- rect light and are happiest near a south-fac- ing window with dispersed light. On the other side, some plants won’t mind your low-light areas! 4 As most houseplants tend to come from tropical roots that like year-round warmth, they perform better in ar- eas with high humidity. Here in Manitoba, the humidity can be hard to come by, especially in the winter. Boost the air with a humidifier or by placing a saucer with peb- bles and water under your pot. What is your lifestyle like? New plant parents with flexible lifestyles may be able to accommodate bringing home plants with very particular needs, like gorgeous fiddle leaf figson ( the left). Those with busier lifestyles (or simply those that are forgetful) will find a better fit with low-maintenance lovelies, like snake plants (below), succulents, and zz plants. Plants have a difficult time adjusting to frequent or drastic changes, and can even fall into a state of shock if subjected to them. With your space and lifestyle in mind, you’ll be better equipped to choose a plant that will thrive in the environment it can expect, without an adjustment period. Food and Water Just like us, plants are living things that need food and water to survive. Knowing your plant’s specific care needs will better help you to keep it happy and healthy, but here are a few basic rules for feeding and wa- tering houseplants: When it comes to water, less is more. Over-watering can lead to root rot, which is a challenge to cure. Under-watering is generally much less damaging and easier to solve. The best watering schedule to fol- low is none at all. Check your water often for the first while and only wa- ter when the top layer of soil is dry. You’ll soon get into a regular routine. 5 When it comes to food (fertilizer), the same rule applies: less is more. Fertilizer can be a great tool to provide our plants with the “ Less is nutrients they need, but our indoor houseplants usually don’t need as much. In fact, most potting soils will already include more. plenty of food for growing potted plants. If you find your plant does need a little snack, fertilize only during the growing season ” (spring/summer) with some all-purpose fertilizer diluted in water. Pots When picking a pot, you’re not just looking for one that will match your indoor aesthetic. You’re also looking for a pot that will match the needs of your growing plant. New plants will usually need: • repotting from the plastic pot they are purchased in • fresh soil • more room to grow When picking a pot, look for one that is around 2x larger than the pot it is currently in. Remem- ber, not everything is a planter, and you’ll need to ensure your plant’s new home has plenty of drainage to prevent waterlogging. If your plant is growing nice and healthy, chances are it could outgrow its first pot. And that’s okay! If your plant suddenly stops growing and the roots are wound around the pot, it’s time for an upgrade. Speaking the Language It can be intimidating to bring home a living thing you’re responsible for, especially when it can’t just speak to you to tell you what’s wrong. The truth is, your plant actually can speak to you, just with visual cues rather than words. Telltale signs of attempted communications can include wilting, stunted growth, and discoloured or dropping leaves. All these signs can tell you if your plant needs water, light, food, or even air Just make sure that you’re listening. Bringing home a new plant can be an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming, too. Don’t let worries weigh you down, though. With a little basic knowledge and a whole lot of listening to your plant, mastering the art of plant parenthood isn’t hard at all! 6 Pet-Friendly House Plants “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France The popular saying doesn’t stay far from the truth - sometimes our feline friends let their curiosity get the better of them and our dogs aren’t much better! Our pets are always trying to figure out how things work, including our strange habit of bringing plants inside to enjoy. While they are docile and look harmless, our plants could actually pose a serious threat to our furry family mem- bers. Without the sense to know which plants are safe to explore or not, it’s our responsibility as pet owners to do our research to make sure we keep our home safe for our entire family to enjoy and grow in. Pets and Our Plants Cats are the bigger pet culprit when it comes to houseplant curiosity. It seems bizarre to find our domesticated carnivores munching on It seems bizarre to some leafy greens, but it’s actually entirely in- “ stinct-driven. Even our cats know that a bit of find our domesticated green in the diet is the perfect way to top up carnivores munching on on important vitamins and nutrients, making our poor plants seem like a tasty snack every some leafy greens, but once in a while. While we can give them credit for trying, we don’t always appreciate them it’s actually entirely eating our plants. Fighting instinct is nearly instinct-driven. impossible, though, so there’s only so much we can do to prevent a little nibble being tak- ” en from our houseplants on the odd occasion. 7 Our dogs usually aren’t as guilty of grazing on our plants, but as many “dog people” know, there are no rules saying they won’t have a snoop eventually. Our home is just begging to be explored by our beloved dogs, and there’s no telling what kind of trouble they’ll get into next - including victimizing our plants. Where this curiosity can get dangerous is when we bring toxic plants into play. Our poor pets won’t know any better, so it’s up to us to keep our home safe. Toxic Plants for Pet Owners to Avoid Some of our classic favourite houseplants could pose a threat to your pets, so this isn’t as rare of a problem as you may think.