Professional gardener Mike Hibbard shares tips on the best ways to maintain houseplants.
- If a plant's soil is shrinking away from the edge of the pot, leaving a gap, your plant is not as healthy as it should be. To remedy the soil shrinking, immerse the entire pot in a sink full of room-temperature water. Let drain.
- Some plants require less water and light, and some plants require more water and light. When choosing plants, pick the ones that suit your home and lifestyle. Some plants that require less water, such as succulents, have thicker leaves. These require less watering but more light because they have come from sunny, arid places. Plants with thin leaves or lobed leaves require less light but more moisture. These are plants like ferns.
- When re-potting a cactus, protect yourself and the plant by rolling up several sections of a newspaper and wrapping it around the cactus to transport it. You will not damage the cactus needles or body using this method because the newspaper allows the needles to poke through enough without them sticking permanently in the paper and ripping off the body of the cactus when the paper is removed.
- Divide ferns by removing it from the pot. Take an old, large kitchen knife and divide the root system in half. Pull apart and do it again, resulting in four quarters. Re-pot each of the four plants into their own containers. Use a transplant/startup fertilizer when watering.
- Remove an orchid from the glass container in which it was purchased and throw out any dried, shriveled roots.
- Place moist moss in a clear plastic bag. The moss speeds up the healing process by releasing oxygen and other healing nutrients to the orchid through photosynthesis. Place the orchid in the bag and seal it. Place the bag in a bright sunny area, but not in direct sunlight. In four to six weeks, new root growth will appear. At this point, replant in a new glass container that is suitable for orchids.
Guests Mike Hibbard
Professional Gardener, Bachman's Garden Center
6010 Lyndale Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55419
Phone: 612-861-7311 or 612-861-7676
Toll-free: 866-222-4626
Website:
www.bachmans.com
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