This is basic information for new plant owners, if you have some plant experience, please have a read of this info as well, some aspects may be useful.
Check out our blog page Plant Care Elements – for a more information on plant care.
Most of your plants will be posted unpotted, we recommend a coco-perlite mix for all plants except Colocasia and Oxalis species, you can source fine and coarse coco-peat, and perlite and mix them with 30% being Perlite, we sell 10L boxes premixed for $35 including postage.
We also sell GT products, and a range of small quantity chemicals for the treatment of basic issues, see our website under the tab “Growers Prescription©” this allows you to try a wide range of chemicals without the cost of buying large amounts all at once.
All Plants require drainage, you will read information about keeping plants in water, we do not recommend keeping plants in water for any long period of time. Choose pots with drain holes and if you use cover pots with no holes, always use a pot with drainage holes inside them. Make sure there is something like gravel at the bottom that will keep the water away from base of the pot and ultimately the roots.
We recommend watering at ground level (either by watering next to the plant, or by dunking the pot in a bucket of water), we do not recommend moisture meters as each area in the pot may have a different moisture level, for example, if your plant has a plug around its roots, you may not get adequate water to it by watering at the sides of the plant, as the plug is more dense, so measuring the water moisture at the side will not give you a clear indication of how moist the plant roots are. We recommend watering very well so that the water “runs” through the pot (about 300ml for a 100-140ml pot), as opposed to dripping a small amount of water into the pot every day.
The biggest cause of indoor plant death is over-watering, during winter most indoor plants can be watered every 10-14 days except for succulents which can go for about 30 days, during summer, you can work around every 7 days but watch for droopiness, this will depend on the heat and light available to your plant, and the type of plant, please refer to any care sheets provided.
We do not recommend misting plants, unless you have adequate ventilation, alternately we recommend placing water dishes close to plants or grouping plants together to create humidity, humidifiers are also a good idea.
All plants require light, you will notice your plants “lean” towards a light source if the light is not adequate, please keep an eye on them and move them, if necessary, most plants can take a little filtered morning sun, even if you can move them into this every now and then this is great.
Most plants will get more pests indoors because when they are outside there are other pests to control them, but inside some pests have no predators and they flourish. We recommend the use of our Growers Prescription© range of small quantity chemicals as a inexpensive way to keep your plants healthy, available on our website under the Plant Needs tab.
You will read many things on Facebook about plugs being called “death plugs” you will never hear this information from anyone who is a horticulturalist, or from a professional nursery, as it is just a myth, plugs are specially created from various fibres (and lots of research goes into this) to protect the roots of baby plants and assist them with growth, removal of these at home and by the consumer is not recommended, growing baby plants is a highly sophisticated business with millions of plants being produced in this way every year, please ignore any Facebook banter on this issue. Plug density is chosen for each particular plant depending on its water requirements, for example if a plant needs lots of water, then the plug will be more dense so that it can hold more water around the plant. Issues arising from plants being in plugs usually stem from the plant being removed from optimal growing environments in a professional setting and going home with the consumer, please be patient and allow for slightly less growth at home due to changes in conditions.
Ultimately you must keep an eye on your plants and address any issues as soon as you notice them. Remember a plant’s root system is the most important part and it is normal for leaves to die off and new leaves to form so please don’t panic if this happens
Happy Growing.