The Interior Landscape: Houseplants and Plantscaping

1. The Interior Landscape:Houseplants and Plantscaping

2. Caring for Interior Plants • Before caring for a plant you need to answer the following questions. • What is the proper way to water the plant? • How much light does it need? • What is the best Temperature for optimum growth? • What type of soil mixture is needed?

3. Caring for Interior Plants • Watering: • You must carefully observe each plant and how many times you water it. • Signs of improper watering are: • Drooping leaves • Wilting leaves • Yellow leaves You will also need to look at the moisture control, and if there is proper drainage.

4. Caring for Interior Plants • There are different ways in watering plants: • They are: • Drench and let dry: This is where water is added and then you let the soil dry out until you water again. • Drench and let dry slightly: This is where water is added and you let the soil dry slightly and then water again. So the soil will be moist when you water again.

5. Caring for Interior Plants • The last method is of water is: • Keep medium constantly moist at all time so it is moist to the touch.

6. Caring for Interior Plants • Lighting; • What is photosynthesis? • It is the process of manufacturing food

7. Caring for Interior Plants • What is Light Meters? • small machines that measure illumination or light. You can find these at florist, garden centers and department stores.

8. Caring for Interior Plants • Light Intensity requirements: • There are three groups, they are: • Direct sun: plant should receive full intensity of natural sunlight. • Partial sun or weak sun: plant should receive less than 50 % of natural light • Indirect or filtered light; plant should receive no direct sunlight at all.

9. Caring for Interior Plants • Artificial lighting; • The fluorescent light enables horticulturist too: • Root cuttings of interior plants more easily • Start seeds of new and different interior plants • Grow tropical plants, cacti and succulents with greater ease

10. Caring for Interior Plants • Temperature: • The recommended temperature for plants indoors are between 50 degrees F to 85 degrees F.

11. Caring for Interior Plants • Humidity: • It is the percent of moisture in the air which is an important factor to consider when growing interior plants

12. Caring for Interior Plants • Humidity: • Humidity around interior plants can be increased by: • Spraying a fine mist of water on the foliage of the plant with an inexpensive plastic spray bottle or any type of mister. • using a watertight try filled with small pea gravel to hold the potted plants. Water is added to the tray to come to the top of the gravel and plant are set on the gravel, making certain that the pots are not actually in the water.

13. Caring for Interior Plants • Humidity: • Using a humidifier to provide the moisture in the air. • Placing the plant in a part of the house that has the highest humidity . Examples are bathroom, and kitchen

14. Caring for Interior Plants • Soil Mixture: • A good general potting mixture includes two parts loamy soil, one part organic matter such as peat moss and ect.. One part course sand and horticultural grade perlite

15. Caring for Interior Plants • Fertilizers: • There are two types of interior plant fertilizers on the market today. They are: • Slow released which is in the form of small beads, which are coated with plastic and dissolved over a period of time and is applied to the soil mixture. • Soluble fertilizer is available in liquid or solid form. When using the solid form it must be dissolved in water before applying to soil.

16. Caring for Interior Plants • You will need your books and will need to read pages 221 starting at potting plants and read to page224 and stopping at indoor plant chart. You will need to take notes over these pages and turn them in for a note grade.