Plant Tips
 Spider plant,
golden pothos or syngonium act as house plant air cleaners.
Weak tea or water
with a couple of drops of ammonia and dish soap makes an
excellent plant spray. It cleans the plant and keeps pests away.
To get rid of
indoor plant bugs, put a few drops of liquid detergent in the
water when you water your plants. When the bugs go into the soil
at night, they should die.
A small square of
Vapona Strip, placed on the soil of a plant, will quickly get
rid of spider mites.
Put one tbsp.
glycerin in the water for your house plants. It will make the
leaves shine.
To brighten
leaves on a plant, dip a cotton ball in mint and wash each leaf.
They will shine better than with costly commercial products.
To keep the
leaves on your indoor plants looking green and healthy, rub them
with castor oil or mineral oil.
Wipe plants with
a mixture of a little mayonnaise and a little water. You’ll have
lots of shine and less dust.
Never put clay
pots directly on wooden furniture because water will seep
through the porous clay.
Use cottage
cheese and yogurt lids for inexpensive plant pot stands.
To water your
plants (if they are in clay pots which have drainage holes)
while you are on holidays, set the plants on bricks in the
bathtub and fill tub brick-high with water.
If you are going
away for about a week, fill the bathtub with about 1/4 inch of
water. Set each of your plants on saucer so that the pot doesn’t
touch the water. Cover the whole tub with a dry-cleaning bag.
If you can’t get
someone to water your plants while you are away, put all your
household plants beside a large bowl of water. Drop ends of yarn
into the container of water and then lay the other ends across
the stalks of the plants. Capillary action of the water will
carry enough moisture to keep the plants fresh.
White azalea will
last longer than other colours.
To have fresh
parsley and other spices all winter, plant and grow in
flowerpots in the house.
Take an old pithy
cooking onion which is sprouting and plant it in a pot. Set in
the window or outside and it will continue to grow tops. Just
snip off for salads or soups.
For inexpensive
house plants, grow your own from avocado pits, orange peels,
carrot and pineapple tops.
Always use moist
soil only for transplanting or repotting to avoid root damage.
Moisten soil the day before and dampen peat moss several days
before use.
Egg shells make a
good substitute to pebbles in house plants. They promote
drainage and also add lime to the soil.
When repotting
plants, place a coffee filter in the pot before filling it with
soil. The filter stops the soil from leaking out of the bottom
of the pot and making a mess in the saucer.
Use chipped or
broken cups, bowls, vases or old ornaments for small house
plants.
Save empty egg
cartons to start your spring seedlings in.
You can use old
ice cube trays as plant starters. Leaving the sectional part in
the tray, press a mixture of soil in each section and plant one
or two seeds (depending on kind) in each. Water well. When ready
to transplant, gently lift sectional part and each plant will
come out easily.
Plant seedlings
in styrofoam cups. They are economical and the plants are easy
to remove when it’s time for transplanting.
Save empty
two-quart milk cartons (cut in half) to use as seed flats when
starting garden transplants. |
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