Growing Houseplants Tips
Although the temperature outside was several degrees below freezing point on a balcony, basking in the sun, became almost unbearably hot during the day, dropping to below freezing at nights. It had no means of heating, the sun alone in the clear air being sufficient to effect the wide range of temperatures. This is a clear indication of the warmth of the sun, trapped and concentrated in a heavily windowed room.
If this material is kept constantly moist, but not soaking wet, this moisture will be absorbed by the plant pot as it is required. This moist material will also give off a surprising amount of humidity, normally wafting it upwards through the leaves of the plant above.
But there remains the problem of humidity, sometimes difficult to obtain under these circumstances of highly ventilated heat. Obviously personal comfort must come before the special requirements of plants, so we cannot adopt greenhouse practices such as wetting the floors and installing automatic spraying devices that will deposit a fine film of moisture in the air to settle on and permeate the foliage of the plants.
Happily, what is good for them is usually good for the general decor too, for with the greater degree of light available in these situations we also need a greater degree of color, a greater concentration of vivid hues. Just as in the herbaceous border in the garden we do not place our plants singly but in groups, so in the garden room we should concentrate a number of plants together to gain the greatest benefit from their color, shape and form.
This trickle irrigation equipment, in simplified terms, consists of an elevated water container with small bore rubber or plastic tubing coming from its base. This tubing leads down to the plants below. It can be terminated by an adjustable drip nozzle on the gravel layer of the tray mentioned above, or a series of similar nozzles can each be inserted in the soil of each plant pot. In this way there is a constant drip of moisture which will ensure that no plant dries out completely. The adjustable nozzles allow certain plants to receive more or less moisture according to their requirements.
Simultaneously conditions are such that comparatively large plants in comparatively small pots are sure to dry out at the roots, sometimes at alarming speed, so we must make arrangements to see that the soil around the plant roots is kept as cool and as moist as possible.
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