We need a trillion more indoor plants.

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks Ganoderma
Mostly we use pissed or pissed off but my lady-like wife gets peeved.

I agree about names. You would get very "P ---fill in own letters here--d" if you saw the Nursery industry misinformation here.

Just bought in a big pot of small bromeliads. They are popular garden plants around here. I only just realised they will survive indoors. You certainly can't kill them in the garden. Although they are supposed to be epiphytes I sprinkled lots of osmocote (slow release fertiliser) over some biggish ones and they took off like rockets- flowering profusely and doubling the size of the clump..
I am told that each "piece" only flowers once. Has that been your experience?

[Ganoderma]

yes, but they pup regularily. and some, like the pineapple, have a new plant after the flower. they do GREAT indoors.....even in canada where they HAVE to be indoors in the winter they plug along nicely. i only even planted them on wood in vivariums and they sure grow faster when in dirt.

[Michaelangelica]

So do you pull out the old ( already flowered ) plants?

[Michaelangelica]

Indoor Gardening | Gardeners World Online

Indoor Gardening



Plants can be just as useful as furniture in you home decorating. Aside from their beauty, they also have some health benefits - use carbon dioxide and product oxygen.

So how do you take care of your indoor beauties?

Lighting:

Plants need light to live and grow. Darker leaved plants usually don't need as much light as others. Be sure to research the light needs of your plants before you set them out.

There are varieties of plants that usually don't require a lot of light:

* Philodendrons
* Boston ferns
* African violets
* Cyclamens
* Creeping Fig

Watering:

All plants need water to survive. But be careful not to over water them. And be sure the roots don't sit in water all the time - they will drown and die.

Potting:

Indoor Gardening | Gardeners World Online

[Ganoderma]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

So do you pull out the old ( already flowered ) plants?

to avoid rot/bacteria etc yes i throw out the dead material. with things like pineapples i just cut the top and start a new plant via cutting. or you can let the plant pup on its own



Creeping Fig is a favourite of mine! nice tiny leaved foliage plants! Actually i like all Ficus sp. and many do well indoors by a window. Croton (sp?) also do well indoors, but i *think* they are toxic when eaten.

[Michaelangelica]

House Plants Clean the Air

If you read Self-Assessment to Determine if You May Have Biological Pollutants in Your Home, then you know how important indoor air quality can be, and how widespread indoor air contamination really is.

The good news is that a classic NASA study found that common house plants could improve air quality. In fact, they reported that houseplants were able to remove up to 87 percent of air toxins in 24 hours. The recommendation? Use 15 to 18 "good-sized" house plants in 6- to 8-inch diameter containers for an 1,800 square-foot house.

Plants can remove a variety of toxic air emissions including ammonia, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene, xylene and trichloroethytene. See the box above for some of the best plant varieties to choose, and remember-the healthier the plant, the more purifying it will be.

An excellent resource for anyone who's serious about using plants to their clean air advantage is How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office.

Plants Make You Happy
http://www.sixwise.com/images/articl...useplants2.jpg

House plants make people feel calmer and more optimistic, says Bruno Cortis, M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. Interestingly, he says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with a garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall.

Plants Fight Fatigue and Colds

According to a University of Agriculture in Norway study, indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by more than 30 percent, partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust.

The Health Benefits of House Plants, Including the Top Nine Healthiest Plants!

[maikeru]

Trying, trying, trying. My banana and fig tree in my room are under attack by spider mites that crept in through windowsill cracks, thanks to the hot, dry weather (about 30-35 C now), and I spray them with water, because I read that humidity helps to keep spider mite numbers low. I didn't think they'd eat the fig, but they are...and eating it alive. I see leaf scarring already. Are there any plants impervious to these damned mites? I'm trying to sprout some seeds for oregano and rosemary next to my other babies, and this isn't good. It puts my entire "mug garden" idea at risk. Maybe I need neem oil. I already know that spider mites will eat any and all herbs I grow.

I'll probably get another ficus fig for my desk or two, once I get things (and pests) sorted out.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by maikeru

Trying, trying, trying. My banana and fig tree in my room are under attack by spider mites that crept in through windowsill cracks, thanks to the hot, dry weather (about 30-35 C now), and I spray them with water, because I read that humidity helps to keep spider mite numbers low. I didn't think they'd eat the fig, but they are...and eating it alive. I see leaf scarring already. Are there any plants impervious to these damned mites? I'm trying to sprout some seeds for oregano and rosemary next to my other babies, and this isn't good. It puts my entire "mug garden" idea at risk. Maybe I need neem oil. I already know that spider mites will eat any and all herbs I grow.

I'll probably get another ficus fig for my desk or two, once I get things (and pests) sorted out.

The best approach to spider mites that I have found is a mixture of water and soap (~10%). The soap does its surfactant work and prevents the mites from puncturing the plant. Spray infected plants, wipe them clean, and then spray again. Problem solved.

Another option which I recently tried is to place the plant outside. I did this with a plant I was keeping inside and within 2 hours of placing it outside there was an assasin bug on the plant, cleaning house.

[maikeru]

Water and soap sound like a good, nontoxic solution to a pesky problem. I'll try it right away. Should be usable on herbs, too.

If I leave my plants outside, either the extreme heat or my forgetfulness will kill them.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by maikeru

Trying, trying, trying. My banana and fig tree in my room are under attack by spider mitesug garden" idea at risk. Maybe I need neem oil. I already know that spider mites will eat any and all herbs I grow.

A friend ,with limited water, used to grow strawberries commercially. The strawberries used to be attacked by red spider mite (tiny like red dust). She found, surprisingly, that a spray with seaweed fertiliser got rid of the mites.

In my own experience red spider mites seem to attack plants that are water stressed.

If you are going to spray with seaweed or soap (don't use detergent) make sure you give the undersides of the leaves a thorough spraying.

Alternatively, can you take the plants outside give them a hit with a jet of water from the hose and stick them in a bucket of water for a day?

The oils in herbs tend to deter spider mite.