Where’s the Air Cleaning Plants?

On a recent trip I noticed the lack of “green” and houseplants in what many would consider a “green” or natural place to find indoor plants yet they seemed very much missing. It’s also funny how at times a thought can get validated by a complete stranger you meet while traveling.

This post began on Friday September 21st at 11:07 in the morning while sitting in a Tampa, Florida airport terminal.

Over the loudspeaker it was announced… “Florida is a clean air State, smoking is not allowed!”

Call me weird but his simple announcement made me stop and look around the terminal to take notice of the commitment the state of Florida had to keeping the air clean for the traveling public. I quickly could see the use of common houseplants to clean the air was not a part of this “commitment.” Florida as a leader is the production of plants for indoor use around the country you would think the airport would be taking advantage of plants to naturally remove toxic chemicals found in today’s modern building materials to clean the air.

Bad assumption!

A quick look around across the immense space showed only a few Dracaena “lemon lime” scattered in some planters sitting approximately 125 feet away. However, they did generously have a few more plants spaced along the next 500 feet or so until you got near the food court where the plantings did get a little more “crowded.” But not enough to even notice many signs of green in the building!
I’m sure the “method” used to clean the air by placing smoking areas outside and instead of using plants as a great natural air cleaner, they have went the industrial route with a HEPA air filtering system.

To help solidify my gut feelings of “talking green” but staying away from really meaning it was my conversation on the plane. I started a conversation with a gentleman across the isle from me. He retired from the floral business in Detroit a few years ago after 40 plus years in the business. He shared with me how for years his business provided plants for many trade shows like the auto show year after year.

However, over the years plants were now longer used and how the trade shows have become all plastic and chrome. Plants are not even considered.

All this makes me wonder what it would take to get more plants used in public spaces and places. I guess when you get right down to it the term “houseplant” can only find it’s true meaning for homeowners who have them in their homes.

Please let me encourage you to do your part and be “green”… learn how to care for indoor house plants better and share them with others by adding a few more plants to your home.

Next I’ll share about my trip and how another “business” catering to the public goes all out in their use of plants.

Houseplants, Micro Climates and Plant Selection

Everyone has “microclimates” in their home. Do you know the microclmates in your rooms?

Over the past few days we’ve looked at microclimate elements:

• Analyzing Your Homes Environment
• Lighting in a Room
• Room Temperature
• Humidity

Now it’s time to bring them all together.

Let’s first define what a “mircoclimate” is! Basically a microclimate is a “mini-climate” which can vary from the overall big climate which surrounds it.
I find San Francisco as great example of an outdoor microclimate. Some places you need a light sweater and other times a t-shirt is fine.

A room in your house is much the same… at least for houseplants. Some areas have a mircoclimate which we can define as hotter, cooler, sunnier, shadier, wetter, or dryer than other parts of the room, plus this microclimate can change during the day depending on room color (light colors reflect more light), windows and the direction of the sun.

Grouping plants together can create a microclimate for example. Grouping the plants can create more humidity than in other parts of the room.

A bright room for example will have some darker areas, these will usually be on the otherside of the room away from the window or on either side of the window. Areas which are directly in front of or above a heater will be hotter and drier than other parts of a room. All these climatic conditions have an affect on the care of your houseplants.

When buying plants for your home which require lots of light they will most likely need to be placed in front of a window where the light is the brightest.

You use dish soap for dishes and a different soap for your laundry. Why? Because the soaps were made or work better in the “conditions” they need to do the job.

Remember caring for houseplants is not hard if you take some time to understand the needs of the plant and put the right plants in the right place.

Don’t put a plant like an Aglaonema (chinese evergreen) which will do l well in a lower light level is direct sun. On the Flip side do not try to put a Ficus tree in a low light area … even if it looks like the perfect place! And expect the tree to do well. Take your time with plant selection. Stay tuned we’ll be getting into selection next.

House Plants - Growing Vertical!

With people finally thinking “green” more are beginning to realize the benefits of plants indoors besides their beauty!

One problem many homeowners and apartment dwellers face indoors is a space problem. They just do not have the indoor real estate to give up for a 10 inch houseplant that stretches 30-36 inches across. We often look only at floor space where the vertical space goes “unused”.

Recently, I purchased some plants from a grower friend and asked that the plants not be well rooted. Why few roots? I wanted to
try repotting the plants into smaller containers to see how well they would do.

Growing houseplants which get a little top heavy in a nursery or greenhouse can be difficult with air constantly moving around. Indoors that is a completely different story.

In doing this “test” I down potted the plant from a 10 inch pot commonly called a 3-gallon in the nursery industry to a homemade pot.

I took a 1 gallon plastic water bottle, cut the top off and planted 4 Dracaena canes into this container using LECA rock. This opens up so many new possibilities. The smaller container “footprint” allows the use of some many other decorative containers.

While in the testing planting mode I also planted up 3 Dracaena marginata canes in a 2 liter soft drink bottle to see how well it will do.

I’ll keep you posted on the results and provide more on going selecting plants when going vertical with houseplants in future post.

Houseplants - Humidity in Your Home

Houseplants dry air, moist air, winter, summer what’s a plant to do. What’s a plant to do….so many “seasons” indoors!

Houseplants are use to more humidity than you find in the average home. There are several methods you can use to figure out the humidity in your home… but why?

The level will be nothing compared to a greenhouse or nursery! The best method is probably to assume your home is always dry. The air-conditioner runs in the summer and the heater warms the air in the winter. Plants don’t fit into the comfort equation when people are involved. The only places in a home to possibly qualify for a humid place under plant standards would be bathrooms, laundry rooms and basements.

However, armed with information abut your “indoor micro climate” - the lighting, overall temperature and humidity you’ll be in a better position when you’re ready to purchase a house plant.

Nothing can stop you from succeeding with plants indoors — let me say that again — NOTHING - will stop you from enjoying plants indoors and have them look great…. if you pick the right plants for the right places.

20 Foot Dracaena - Ikea and Plant Care For Anyone

Many plant owners make plant care too difficult… However, a couple in North Carolina innocently bought a 2 foot Dracaena fragrans back in 1999 at an Ikea store. They just liked the way it looked. Over the years this small Dracaena has grown into a towering 20 foot tall plant. The “giant Dracaena owners” Carole and Tola Oduyoye claims not to follow anything unusual in caring for their Dracaena fragrans. And I would agree!

After receiving so many questions on Dracaena care I wrote a care book on Dracaenas where I shared my 25 plus years of plant growing experience with these versatile plant.

If you haven’t tried owning your own “future giant” Dracaena you should check them out for sure.

Image credit David Rolfe - Winston-Salem Journal

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