Green Windows & Green Thumbs
- Asha Mohan
- Jun 6, 2020
- 2 min read
We are a budding green thumb enthusiasts / new entrant to the indoor plant club and this our journey so far..
(Plants : Polka Dot, Plants of Steel, Zamioculcas Zamiifolia, Coin-Leaf Peperomia, Foliage)
Most of our experience with plants has been limited to outdoor / balcony seasonal flowers. To be honest we weren't great at it and barely keeping them alive for the season.
When we moved to this place and realised we aren't going to have an outside space and so realised 'Indoor Plants' are the way to go. It was a fun shopping experience with getting some basic indoor plants from Home Depot.
Our only initial requirement was less maintenance and nothing fancy. So that started our plant journey and I am happy to report we are now into 8 months and 8 plants strong :).. Some basic observations we picked on the way:
Plants that are easy to care for:
- That was our one and only requirement, to start with. So after a bit of research we found out that some plants require specific environments in order to thrive, while few plants like ZZ plant, Money Tree (Pachira Aquatica) and Plants of steel requires less maintenance and are easy to manage. Also most succulents are easy to grow and manage.
- Also most of the indoor plants we have got, does already come in a nicely potted containers. Which means we didn't have to re-pot it immediately. So far, we had to change the soil just for one plant.
(Plants:Zamioculcas Zamiifolia, Foliage)
Water, Water, Water:
- This was a real eye opener for us, and realised that over-wetting the soil is actually detrimental to the plants and there were times I was guilty of it and the leaves would start wilting
- One of the things we do now is, to touch the soil and see if it's wet and accordingly pour water.
Also some plants like 'polka plant' usually thrives with water and the sign of dehydration for this one is dried and loss of leaves. For others it could be slow growth
- Finally, this is one we are still trying to make it work properly. That's to ensure all the plants have a drainage source at the bottom. At the moment it hasn't caused much of an issue. But will keep you updated on this on a future post.
Light source:
Our apartment gets good amount of natural light and there are plentiful windows to keep it adequately bright and warm.
- We usually place the plants near the windows or window sill. Generally we avoid placing them under direct sunlight
- The plants have their usual spots across the room and we ensure there is no drastic change in temperature
- These indoor plants will tolerate lower light and humidity. Also another good part was less pests to deal with.
(Plants: Plant of Steel, Foliage, Money Plant, Aglaonema, Money Tree(Pachira Aquatica), Mojave Croton Petra)
This has been a great learning & rewarding experience for us and it brings a smile every time I see them thrive.
There are many Indoor plant guides / tutorials out there, but ones I have liked are these:
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