What Indoor Plants Need

The ancients described everything as being composed of earth, air, fire and water. We know more detail today, but it is a good way to describe the needs of houseplants.

Earth

Your plants need some earth to grow in, but don’t pot houseplants in garden soil. Garden soils are generally too dense and do not allow efficient watering. Instead use a houseplant potting mix which combines good drainage with efficient water retention. Gro-Sure Houseplant Potting Mix with Seramis® baked clay granules is ideal.

Air

Plants need air. When photosynthesising they combine carbon dioxide from the air with water to produce the foodstuff of the plant. However, there is more to it than that; it is not just leaves that need air, the roots of houseplants also need some oxygen penetrating the potting mix which is one of the reasons the well-draining Gro-Sure Houseplant Potting Mix is important for your houseplants.

Like you, your houseplants like fresh air, so open doors and windows when weather permits, but don’t place plants in strong draughts for long.

Fire

OK. Plants don’t really need fire, but they do need suitable temperatures. In the natural habitats of subtropical and temperate plants, the temperature tends to go up as day length increases and down when day length shortens. When brought indoors these plants often experience the opposite; we turn on the heaters in winter and the air-conditioners in summer.

We can compensate by placing plants that like high summer temperatures on sunny windowsills and moving plants that need cooler winters to un-heated rooms or cool corners away from the heater.

We can also help by misting the plants with Gro-Sure Houseplant Mist'n'Feed to compensate for the drying effects of the heaters in winter and the air-conditioners in summer.

Water

Correct watering, humidity and drainage are the keys to healthy indoor plants. The Gro-Sure Houseplant range makes this aspect of growing indoor plants easy.

Pot or re-pot your houseplants using Gro-Sure Houseplant Potting Mix to ensure good drainage and oxygen availability around roots.

Use the Gro-Sure Watering Indicator to take the guesswork out of when to water; water when red, don’t water when blue.

Give your houseplants the nutrients they need for healthy growth by using the Gro-Sure Houseplant Pump’n’Feed fertiliser.

Keep the leaves healthy and humidity up by using Gro-Sure Houseplant Mist’n’Feed regularly.

Your plants will ‘love you’ for an occasional trip outside in the rain. This washes the leaves and clears the pores so that they can efficiently take up air. And so, the cycle continues.

David Brittain
Kiwicare