If you are keeping indoor plants, you should be aware of how changing of seasons affect their overall health. In general, indoor potted plants should be cared for more during the chilly winter months. How could you keep your indoor plants healthy during the season? Take note of the following tips to help your plants overcome the challenges of the very cold weather.

1.    Increase the natural light. You could start by cleaning your windows from the inside and from the outside. Put the indoor plants near windows that receive sunlight. In general, natural light from the sun provides up to six hours of light during winter compared to about 12 hours of sunshine during summer per day. You may choose to use light reflectors. Light is needed by plants to continue the process of photosynthesis, which is essential for their self nourishment.

2.    Use artificial lighting. You may opt to utilize a compact fluorescent bulb to provide artificial light to your indoor potted plants especially at night. You may provide artificial light about four hours before sunshine and about four hours after sunset. Doing so could help the plants go on and perform the process of photosynthesis.

3.    During winter, temperature in the inside of your home may vary. Heat could be generated by hot furnace vents while your leaking windows could bring about cold temperature. Reduce extreme drying up of your indoor plants by using a deflector that should be placed on the vent. Remember to aim the heat towards the windows. You could reverse or direct the heat into a room. Do not allow any heat stream from a furnace blow directly onto the indoor plants.

4.    Use warm water when watering the potted plants. It is a healthy practice to water your indoor plants during the season every seven to 10 days. It is ideal to make sure the soil is almost dry, though not very dry before watering. Take note that during the winter season, many indoor potted plants are killed by overwatering. Test the soil every now and then to monitor dryness before watering. Squeeze a pinch of soil in between your thumb and your fore finger so you could easily and accurately tell if it is already dry and ready to be watered.

Indoor potted plants should be cared for properly during winter if you do not like them killed. Pots used in holding indoor plants must feature holes in their bottoms. 

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What indoor house plants are best for 'low-light' areas that do not get direct sun? Will they survive well through winter since the windows will not be opened to allow air flow?

One of the best plants for low light is the Peace Lily - Spathiphyllum. These are extremely easy to care for; I've let mine go without water till they droop (not intentionally, of course). A tall drink later and they perk right up. They come in different sizes and bloom pretty regularly too. For more information, see http://www.flowershopnetwork.com/pages/newsletter/NewsletterMarch2003.php

I want a better selection of indoor dwarf trees, ferns, unique flowering plants. Most of the plants I find in neat garden books aren't available in the magazines I get.

The Gardener's Net Shopping Mall has a lot of information on house plants, and the Bulb Mall has a lot of different house plants to buy from.

http://www.gardenersnet.com/Mall/

http://stores.bulbmall.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryMain?catalogId=10083&storeId=10551&langId=-1&partner=166

I really want a bonsai for indoor plant, but the problem is, i don't know anything about bonsai, so is there any tips or instruction how to take care of bonsai ?
And what type of indoor bonsai should i get for beginner ?
i was thinking buying one from the store, not grow them from the seeds, so i was hoping you can give me some tips on how to take care of it

First of all, buy the seeds from a legit place. If your Bonsai is against a wall, you should turn it around every two weeks. If it is not, it may grow out of shape as it grows towards the light. Do not put it directly onto concrete if it is going to be subject to sunlight for very long periods. The heat generated off the concrete paired with the small amount of soil in a bonsai pot can "cook" the roots of the tree and kill it.

• Desert Rose is one of our ultra favorite plants. Native to arid areas of Africa including Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, it is related to the Plumeria
• This plant deserves FAR more appreciation. Desert Rose is excellent in pots especially for people who "kill everything" as the Adenium obesum lives with little care and can take a good deal of neglect.
• The coolest hybrids are produced in China, Taiwan and Thailand, and maybe India. Enjoy our personal desert rose collection.
• The plant will produces LARGE 6cm flowers.

Product Description
plant 5-7 inches tall that is
well-rooted in a 4 inch pot similar to the one in the third photo.
will ship without soil and pot. The diameter of this plant caudexes is about 4-6cm (sometimes it has multiple branches) .and should be planted soon upon arrival .... More >>

9GreenBox - Adenium Desert Miss Beauty House Plant Bonsai

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Introduction

People have worked indoors for many centuries, but it is only in the last few decades that the indoor environment is generally totally sealed, air conditioned, and filled with synthetic materials that can out gas chemicals into the air. These chemicals called VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, can have concentrations several times higher then that present in outdoor city air, and are recognized as having a deleterious effect on the health of people working in this environment.

Over the last twenty years it has become recognized that indoor plants have the ability to remove these VOCs from the indoor air, or at least substantially reduce their concentration.

This article out lines the health effect thought to be caused by these VOCs in indoor air, and looks at the research behind the removal of these compounds using indoor plants. As the most effective way to keep plants healthy in offices is indoor plant hire, it is suggested that indoor plant hire is the preferred option of maintaining plants in offices.

Air quality inside offices

The use of synthetic building materials, printers, computers, cleaners and personal care products, combined with the practice of air conditioning buildings, has resulted in the build up of chemicals called volatile organic compounds in buildings. Below are some building materials and the chemical they exude:

Adhesives, ceiling tiles, paints, printers Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene and Xylene.

Photocopiers, particle board Formaldehyde

It will be shown later in this article that the indoor plants used in indoor plant hire can remove the above chemicals.

Amongst other contaminants, over 300 VOCs have been found in office air (Weshler Shields 1996) as well as other toxic gasses such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide (Ross 1996).

Frequently no single pollutant having toxic potential is present in unhealthy amounts, yet combined they form part of a chemical soup, which when combined with ozone can produce hydroxyl radicals (Weshler 1996).

In Australia the CSRIO can sample air within buildings and is able to measure a large range of potential pollutants.

Health effects of VOC exposure

Research in Europe and the U.S. shows that most people in cities spend 90% of their time indoors (Hodgson, Mann and Cavello 1997), and productivity losses of up to 6% have been shown in buildings where the indoor air quality is poor.

The Minnesota Department of Health in the U.S. lists the following health effects from VOC exposure:

“

Acute

* Eye irritation / watering

* Nose irritation

* Throat irritation

* Headaches

* Nausea / Vomiting

* Dizziness

* Asthma exacerbation

Chronic

* Cancer

* Liver damage

* Kidney damage

* Central Nervous System damage

Most studies to date have been conducted on single chemicals. Less is know about the health effects of combined chemical exposure. The best health protection measure is to limit your exposure to products and materials that contain VOCs when possible. If you think you may be having health problems caused by VOC exposure consult an occupational/environmental health physician who specializes in this area “

The following link is to a Fact Sheet from the Australian Department of the Environment, which gives details on the VOCs indoors and their health effects. http://www.npi.gov.au/database/substance-info/profiles/pubs/tvoc-factsheet.pdf

John Bergs in a study in the Netherlands found that health complaints by office workers have been on the increase since the seventies, and found that on average some 35% of office workers are dissatisfied with the interior environment and 20% suffer from health complaints such as eye complaints and nose and throat irritations. In the same study he showed the benefits that can accrue from having indoor plants in the office.

It is well to remember that indoor air could be found to be under the control of the employer and as such the employer may have responsibilities and potential liabilities.

Indoor Plant Hire Benefits.

Over the last twenty years, it has been proven that healthy indoor plants, as used in indoor plant hire, have the ability to remove VOCs from the indoor air. Research has shown that the system in action is the biological interaction between the plant roots and the potting mix, enhancing micro organisms present to “eat up” the VOCs. Further more; their appetite seems to increase with increased exposure to VOCs.

As early as 1980, Dr. Wolverton working for the NASA space program discovered that indoor plants could remove VOCs from sealed test chambers. This was part of a NASA study into clean air inside closed life support systems.

In 1990 Dr. Wolverton in association with the Plants for Clean Air Council in the U.S. tested fifty indoor plants for their ability to remove various VOCs from sealed test chambers. These finding were published in Dr. Wolverton’s book “ECO friendly house plants”, published in 1996.

A lot of recent research on the subject has been carried out by Ronald Wood and Associate Professor Margaret Burchett from the U.T.S. in Sydney. Research in test chambers, progressed to experiments in real office situations in Sydney, and the results were published in their paper entitled “The potted plant microcosm substantially reduces indoor air VOC pollution: 1. Office field study” February 1996. Some of the conclusions were:

Where indoor TVOC load was above 100 parts per billion, indoor plants reduced the level by up to 70%

Reducing the number of plants per test location did not reduce the VOC levels removed, pointing to increased activity by the micro organisms.

Research in Europe ( John Bergs and Tove Fjeld) and the United States (Virginia Lhor 1996) have shown that in offices with indoor plants ( as compared to offices without plants) worker productivity increases of up to 12% have been measured, and on average health complaints related to sick building syndrome reduced by 20%.

The above results have all been produced with healthy indoor plants. Whilst in a home situation it is feasible to adequately maintain indoor plants, this requires a professional indoor plant hire service in an office situation, where other duties take priority. The author has seen many offices were the staff “looked after” the plants. In ninety nine per cent of these situations the indoor plants were unsightly and as good as dead. This fact has been recognized by the Green Building Council in Australia where, in order to gain 2 points under their Green Star rating system a two year professional maintenance scheme needs to be in place.

Good Indoor Plants for removing VOCs

The following is a list of the plants that recorded the highest VOC removal rating in Wolverton's tests. The list only includes common plants used in the indoor plant hire industry.

Boston Fern

Dwarf Date Palm

Bamboo Palm

Rubber Plant

Dracaena Janet Craig

Weeping Fig

Happy Plant

Dracaena Marginata

Dracaena Deremenis

Umbrella Plant

---------------------

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Today, tropical plants are grown indoors and are used for landscaping purposes. They grow well in warm climates and humid air.

Tropical plants are common indoor plants because it can live even with low light. However, it should be noted that there is varying needs for sunlight of different tropical plants.

One example of a tropical plant is Dracaena. Such plant is generally shrub or tree in the wild. Its height ranges from three feet to 70 feet. Because of this, they are kept pruned and trimmed when grown indoors. Home growers usually keep Dracaena to a height of a little more than one foot.

Although Dracaena flowers in the wilds, it does not when grown indoors. However, it has been a common indoor plant because of its distinctive leaves. It has oval leaves with white cream spots.

The Neanthe Bella palm or parlor palm grows up to three meters tall with a cane-like stems. This small palm tree came from rainforests of Latin America in Mexico and Guatemala.

Because Neanthe Bella grows up to three meters only with a very slow growth, it has been often used as indoor plants. Like any other tropical plants, it lives in high humidity.

Spider plant, a native to South Africa, is another tropical plant that is often used for landscaping. In addition, beginners of home growing usually use this plant. One of the nicest spider plants is Variegatum. It has two yellowish bands along the length of every leaf. There are green plants available.

Peperomia, another specie of tropical plants, is native of tropical America. With thick stout stems, it is generally used for ornamentation. Nevertheless, there are varying styles of Peperomias. The leaves of this plant may be oval, heart-shaped, or lanced-shaped. This is a small plant, which can only grow up to one foot and are propagated only through seeds.

The Golden Pothos is also a tropical plant that needs a low light. This plant gives a variety of patterned leaves that is why it is widely used in many shopping malls and office building. The Golden Pothos can climb or trail. It is usually put in a pot or in a hanging basket. It may be toxic to animals like dogs and cats, but the Golden Pothos has some benefits such as reducing pollutants.

Other tropical plants used indoor include the Dragon Tree or Corn plant, the Ficus, the Peace Lily, and the Arrowhead plant.

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Whether you plan to set up an indoor garden or simply place some plants in specific rooms and corners of your house, you need to know how to take care of them. Caring for indoor plants varies according to types and varieties, but here are some general tips you can follow.

1. Place your indoor plants where they get the best light. Different plants have different light requirements. Some favor full sun, others prefer shaded light. Your job is to find out which areas in your house can give them the amount of light they need and keep them there. Remember, indoor plants will be entirely dependent on you for their light needs. You'll know these needs are not sufficiently met if the plants demonstrate stunted growth.

2. Water according to the plant type. Like light requirements, the plants water needs vary. There are plants that like perennially moist soil, while there are those that require dry soil between watering. All the same, there is one thing you need to be wary of: over-watering the plants. Over-watering is the easiest way to kill the plants, because if the roots are excessively saturated, they will rot and eventually die. Leaves turning yellow are a good sign of over-watered plants.

3. Use good soil. It is best not to use soil from the garden because plants grown indoors have different soil requirements than those grown in the ground. For one, indoor plants require well-drained soil to prevent over-saturation. It is important to remember that garden soil is a likely potential source of pests and diseases. To be on the safe side, get soil specifically recommended for indoor plants from reputable nurseries.

4. Fertilize your indoor plants. Fertilization is dependent on the types of plant, so it is wise to know the specific needs of your plants. What you want to avoid, though, is giving too much fertilizer because that can, at the most, kill the plants. To avoid endangering the plants, always follow the recommended amount of fertilizers and schedule fertilization at least twice a year. Use the fertilizer specially made for your types of plant.

5. Give them a bath. Caring for indoor plants also includes sprinkling or spraying adequate amount of water on the leaves, stems, and branches to wash away dirt and dust. The bigger and smoother leaves are best wiped with damp cloth. Do this in the morning to allow the moist to evaporate. Remember, most plants don't like sitting wet in the evening.

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The most effective way to start in growing indoor plants is to purchase the right type intended for indoor use. When buying indoor plants, please ensure you choose only the ones that are freed from insects or any other pests. You can make sure that the plant is unfettered by any pests by checking the undersides of the foliage and leaves for any likely indicators of illness or insect. Ensure to choose plants that look clean, well-potted, and with healthy foliages. You need to avoid plants that have yellowish leaves, shriveled foliages, brownish leaf margins, and the ones that bear spots and smears. You should ensure that you don't purchase plants with leaves that are torn or have been polished with leaf shines. Try to search for plants that have new flowers and leaf buds because they're customarily of top of the range.

After buying indoor plants, it might be better if you transport it in your space personally. This will ensure you can take care of the plant as you now own it. Apart from that, you need to be privy to the 2 seasons in the year that will damage the plant : the hot summer and the cold winter months. When transporting indoor plants during summer, make efforts to avoid putting it in an automobile with its windows shut as the temperatures may change, this unexpected change in temperature can destroy the plant in almost no time. Make certain that you shade the plant from direct sun although it is within the auto.

Transporting indoor plants on winter months proves to be more dodgy due to the invariable temperature. If it is inescapable for you to move that plant during these months, make certain you wrap it thoroughly before taking it out of the store.

You can wrap the plant with a paper or thick paper bags.

Remember that the time span you may use in carrying the plant to your automobile can hurt the plant if the temperature isn't right. Within the automobile, make efforts to place the plant in front of the auto before turning on the heater. ( TIP : don't place the plant within the trunk because it is too cold. ) in the event of a unexpected extended trip, make efforts to organize the plant correctly so it won't be frozen or spoiled by colder weather. Since many plant foliages are damaged to a significant extent because of changes in temperature, make efforts to maintain the warm environment for the indoor plants.

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Through the years many plants were considered to be only greenhouse subjects rather then house plants. That, thankfully, has changed and many species can be considered as house plants to decorate your home. Here is a house plant guide to the basics of caring for your plants also known as container gardens. It is best to choose plants that have thick leathery foliage. The reason they can withstand heated rooms is that they have tough leaves and can withstand adverse conditions. This also cuts down on house plant care. It is wise however, to keep the foliage free of dust so as not to interfere with the plants pores.

It pays to get your house plants ready for indoor life. If it is possible buy your plants when you no longer need to heat your home. This way they will get plenty of fresh air to harden the developing foliage, giving it strength against a hot dry atmosphere of heated rooms. This is especially important for tropical house plants. If you buy a tropical plant, such as a begonia, keep it in a room that is warm and moist, like a bathroom. They thrive on moisture and because of the steam from showers tropical house plants will get the necessary humidity.

To keep house plants species hardy they must be in a cool a place as possible. An unheated room that does not fall below 45 degrees is ideal. If you have a very cold spell, bring the plants into a heated room but be sure to get them back to the cool atmosphere as soon as possible. If you have a very large house plant that is not easily moved cover it with material, like several layers of burlap, to shield it from the elements.

When it comes to house plant care, watering is usually the trickiest. The amount of water will depend on how fast the plant absorbs the moisture. Obviously, a house plant that is in active growth requires more water than a dormant one. A good rule of thumb for house plant care is that they will require more water during the growing months, April through October. All container gardens should be watered when relatively dry. Sufficient water should be given to the house plant to reach to the drainage hole. This is important because the feeding roots closest to the bottom need water to continue growth.

A good trick for house plant care is to tap the pots half way down with your knuckles. If there is a hollow sound the plant needs water. But, if you hear a dull sound there is still plenty of water. The exception here is if the soil has been compacted firmly into the pots, then you will always here a hollow sound. If possible use rain water for house plant care. If you cannot use rain water on your container gardens, you can use tap water. Be sure to inspect your house plants daily to see if they need moisture.

If the tips of your foliage turn a sickly yellow you are over watering the plant. Do not water it again until the soil is quite dry. Over watering will also cause a moss or algae to grow on the soil. This must be removed, then use a sharp stick to aerate the house plant.

Another task of house plant care is feeding the plant. Plants that have rooted well and are growing freely need the most feeding. This extra nourishment is especially needed from May to August. Flowering house plants benefit by feeding them as soon as there flower buds appear. There are many types of fertilizers, speak to the people at your garden center to find the right one for your house plants.

These are some tips on caring for house plants. Keep your house plants feed, watered and clean so that you will have years of enjoyment and beauty.

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Technorati Tags: care, Container, garden, Guide, House, plant