Gardening
Houseplants Troubleshooting Guide
Harriet, from our houseplant area in Leighlinbridge, diagnoses the common ailments houseplants suffer from and provides the remedies.
Yellow leaves = water distress. Check the soil – if it’s saturated, stop watering it and let it dry out completely, then start watering again, making sure the water runs out the drainage holes at the bottom – don’t let the plant sit in water. If the soil is dry, you will need to water it more. Remember that you can mist plants to hydrate them between watering, or place them on a pebble tray to create a zone of increased humidity around them.
Other signs your plants are not getting enough water:
- Dry, edges or tips
- Leaves feel crispy and dry
- Leaves are splitting
- Plant starts to wilt
- Flower buds don’t develop, or they drop off
- Flowers shrivel soon after blooming
Brown leaves = overwatering. Houseplants don’t like having wet feet so make sure they are in a pot with drainage holes in it and don’t let water sit in the bottom of the pot. If water seems to run straight through the soil and collects in the bottom, place the pot in a few inches of water, in a bath for example, and then let it dry out completely. This is called bottom watering.
The plant is leaning = not getting enough light. This is called phototropism. The plant is reaching out towards the light source. Try turning the plant 90 degrees every week so that each part of it gets exposed to the light source. If that doesn’t work, you may need to move it to a brighter place.
Brown tips = rethink how you’re watering it. The main thing is to water consistently. Erratic watering may mean the plant is drying out between watering and moisture isn’t reaching the tips. The Westland ‘When to water’ indicator is very useful. It turns red when the plant needs a drink. The tips may be turning brown because of dryness in the air, which can easily be the case in our centrally heated homes. To create more humidity, mist the plant regularly or make a pebble tray to place the plant on.
Not flowering = not getting enough water, food or light in the growing season. The growing season is from April onwards. Start feeding it fortnightly at this point and make sure your orchid or flowering houseplant is in the right level of brightness fresh casino bonus.
April is also the time when you should repot any house plants that have outgrown their pots. Only move them to a slightly bigger pot as going too big will stress the plant out. Westland Houseplant Compost is a super product, providing nutrients, and perlite promoting optimum drainage and aeration.
For everything you need to keep your houseplants in luscious tip-top condition, check out the houseplants accessories part of our website.
By Harriet Shilling.
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