6 Points to Help Us to Understand How to Take Care of Our Potted Plants / GREEN MOUNT
Potted plants are common to see in the world. They do not take up too many spaces no matter we plant them outdoor or indoor. More importantly, if someone does not have a garden at home to plant their favorite flowers, potted plants are a good choice to satisfy their planting hobby. Therefore, how to take care of our potted plants is very important and cannot be ignored. Green Mount organized six points to help you learn it easily.
① Put a tray under the flowerpot to catch drainage
Be sure that there are one or more holes in the bottom of your container so that water can flow out freely. Normally when these caring for potted plants people will use hand sprayers, either electronic or manual or simple water can, but sometimes over watering is very easy to occur. Some people will prepare plant trays to their potted plants, so when the water flows to the trays they can pour it away easily and can also prevent the water flowing to the floor directly. Drainage is an important thing for plants. Insufficient drainage can cause roots to drown, and plants to die prematurely.
(Picture from website)
② Water when the soil is dry or follow the instructions on the plant label
Watering is a hard work for beginner that you have to figure out how much water they need to be watering. Watering too much may cause plants to drown. Watering too little will cause plants dry up and die. For a healthy plant, we will need to find a delicate balance between these two extremes.
The appropriate amount of water depends on our plants, the size of the containers, and the place (indoors or outdoors) we put them.
To determine whether or not it is time to take out the watering can to water the plants, feel the soil, preferably near the edge of the pot. If the dirt feels dry and crumbly, it means that we can water our plants. If it still feels damp, it probably does not need more just yet.
(Picture from bloomscape)
③ Add slow-release fertilizer, or fertilize as recommended on the label
The nutrients in the soil will be lost every time we water our plants, so we need to fertilize our pots regularly. We can use trowel to turn over the soil and put the fertilizer on the plants. As for how to fertilize different plants and precautions, we should check the recommendations on the label or consult a professional.
④ Prune our plants whenever we see dead leaves and cut off any part of the plant with rot or fungus
Use a clean garden pruning shear to cut off the dead leaves, flowers and the plant with rot or fungus. Regularly prune and organize our plants can not only maintain plants healthy but also restrict growth or hazards.
⑤ Keep pests away
Some potted plants which are planted outdoor may suffer the problems of pests, such as rabbits, squirrels or any kinds of animals which just love to get a taste of your outdoor plant. As for indoor plants, there are some common insects such as aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies or spiders which might infest leaves and stems. Early infestations can often be removed by handpick, also you can spray the plant with an insecticidal soap which can often eliminate a pest infestation in its early stages. There is another way, we can use plant pesticides are recommended for specific plants, which are listed on the labels. Most houseplant insect sprays can be obtained at garden centers and farm supply stores. Be sure that the label specifics that use before using a pesticide indoors.
(Top: Mealybugs / Down: Whiteflies, pictures from the spruce)
⑥ Give them sufficient of sun
Although every plant has different preference in terms of shade and sun, absolutely no plant will grow without light. So, the place which can provide enough light for plants is an important point for every family or gardener to pay more attention. The windowsill is a good choice to place our potted plants and is common to see in every family, school and store. But, if your windowsill is not large enough to put, you can also put potted plants on the table, a cart in front of a window or anywhere else they can experiences plenty of sunlight.
(Picture from WCMA NET)
In short, these are six main points that Green Mount thinks they are undoubtedly important to all potted plants. If you want to water the plants you can use watering can for respective plant or water hose nozzle (watering wand) with changeable patterns for multiple plants being watered at the same time, and make sure that every plant have been fully watered. If you have any problems about the detailed information of the fertilizer or houseplant insect sprays you can ask the garden centers or professionals for thorough understanding.
These are the products that Green Mount recommends to use for potted plants for reference.
-Green Mount 16 Inches Sprayer Wand with 8 Watering Patterns