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 Today, in the XXI century, the desire to "break" a flower garden on the windowsill, to settle in the apartment all the colors, as a rule, of the fleeting summer is stronger than ever. Especially among the inhabitants of city apartments, gradually, but passionately yearning for the vastness of the fields, the richness of forests, the riot of greenery.
And in order to get even a little closer to nature, we "break" a flower bed on the windowsill, making room there for the "bristling" cactus, which loves light so much, and for beautifully blooming pelargoniums, jasmine ... But not only for the purpose of decorating the home, To create comfort in it, we plant a wide variety of indoor flowers. With them, we breathe much easier. It is a fact. After all, they clean the air from dust, acting as natural vacuum cleaners, making it more humid in an overly dry apartment. And absolutely all indoor flowers emit oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.
Another question is how many and what flowers our apartment will accommodate. As in any useful business, it is also important here that the sense of proportion does not change. Where is it good when one window opening is occupied by a ficus that has grown to incredible sizes, eclipsing a good half of the daylight, and on the other window sill there are a lot of flowers of no less size in pots ?! In principle, no good. And it is generally unacceptable if there are children in the house. Let compact, undersized plants bloom on the windowsill. And let them not stand close to the glass, otherwise we will unwittingly doom them to death. In the spring and summer, they will inevitably get sunburn, and in the fall and winter - just look, they will freeze. And even then, most likely, it will be necessary to say goodbye to them, since no doctor will help a flower that has dropped its head too low.
In general, indoor flowers are different, each with its own pronounced individuality, like people. There are light-loving among them. This category includes the already mentioned cacti, as well as euphorbia, stapelia, faucaria, the vast majority of beautifully flowering plants - amaryllis, jasmine, pelargonium ... Asparagus, begonias, gloxinia have enough diffused lighting. Ferns, butcher, ivy, creeping ficus, tradescantia belong to the category of shade-tolerant.
In order for the flowers in our apartment to feel normal, let's not forget that not every temperature in the room has a beneficial effect on their well-being. For example, such a subtropical plant as a cactus is best kept in a cool, but always dry room in winter. Give the begonias warm. That is why it is logical to combine flowers with identical requirements for the conditions of detention to create a particular composition, to group them precisely according to this criterion.
For large plants - place in separate tubs or special containers on stands. Possessing taste and armed with basic knowledge of indoor flowers, you can form a very nice greenhouse in any apartment.
But the fact of the matter is that you cannot do without elementary knowledge. One of my acquaintances, the hostess is excellent in many respects, with indoor flowers at first clearly did not find a "common language." And how she followed them, watered them literally every day! .. And the more she runs with a watering can, the sooner the flowers die.
This lovely woman told her friends and neighbors: they say, something is wrong in the apartment, since even cacti do not take root here. And the trouble was that the hostess so zealously flooded the poor plants with water, and tap water, right from the tap, that those, unfortunate, rotted in the bud. And this is in the literal sense of the word, because in the first place their root system could not stand. Here is the most common mistake in caring for indoor flowers.First, they should not be watered too often. And if you water it, then certainly water at room temperature, not lower. A little higher, about five degrees, please. Secondly, if you use water from the water supply to irrigate your home greenhouse, then you must first let it settle. Let the chlorine evaporate before we water the flowers. And further.
Having got them drunk, let's not forget about the leaves. You should definitely make sure they are clean. This is done in an elementary way. If you don't have a sponge at hand, you can take a small piece of cotton wool and, moisten it in warm water, wash each leaf on both sides. Those who know how to cultivate home flowers do not hesitate to do this weekly, maximum - once every 10 days, realizing that it is the contaminated plants that are often "sieged" by pests and diseases. True, the leaves of far from all indoor plants have a pronounced craving for hygiene. In begonias, gloxinia, they do not need to be washed, it is enough to remove the dust with a soft brush or brush.
Many are deeply mistaken, believing that any soil is suitable for indoor flowers, and even more so any vessel. Different plants require different soils. And mixtures consisting of compost, peat, greenhouse, leafy soil and certainly sand are best suited. As for the dishes, the most preferable are the most common pottery bowls and pots, through the porous walls of which oxygen is freely supplied to the root systems of flowers. But only before planting the plant, the pot must be very thoroughly washed, only with hot water and soap, and disinfected. If the vessel is new, then let it lie in the water for half an hour. This is also a kind of disinfection that will not hurt. The plant itself, before planting it, should be watered abundantly so that the earthen lump is also wetted. If the flower is "sick" or is currently in bloom, do not risk transplanting it from one pot to another, from a familiar environment to an unusual one.
One boy suddenly asked his mother: do our flowers drink them? The kid, as they say, looked at the root. For from April to September, indoor plants, like air, heat, water, need fertilizing with organic or mineral fertilizers. Before and after feeding, indoor plants should be watered very abundantly so that their roots do not get burned.
In general, only proper care of a home greenhouse is a guarantee of its prosperous existence and exuberant flowering. Indeed, even despite the fact that many flowers do not require special care, each has its own little whims. Many do not tolerate a lack of light, excessive watering, and a sharp change in temperature. And from this they "get sick". However, in addition to the aforementioned "enemies", insects such as aphids, scale insects, spider mites, mealybugs can threaten our houseplants ... Spider mites are especially dangerous for roses and jasmine. If such a flower falls, you look - and its petals crumbled, making the window sill look like a hairdresser for a rose. And how dangerous are the scale insects that strive to hit the palm tree, oleander, laurel, asparagus, lemon... That is why in this book we felt it necessary to include basic guidelines for the management of pests in the home greenhouse plants.
Helpful information
Your house flowers will not mind if you feed them with water, which is usually left after washing raw meat. Organic fertilizers (bird droppings, manure) are also good feeding for them. But so that there is no unpleasant odor in the room, add them to the ground, after diluting them very strongly with water.
The following mixture is suitable as mineral fertilizers for a home greenhouse: 1.5 g of superphosphate, 1. g of ammonium nitrate and 0.5 g of potassium salt (per 1 kg of land). The mixture should be dissolved in 1 liter of water and watered with this solution weekly indoor flowers. But don't overdo it. First, water the plants with plenty of water before feeding to avoid scalding the roots.And secondly, there is no need to provide such a service to newly transplanted or diseased flowers. They are not ready for it.
If the house plant is sick, then it must be removed from the pot and the old soil removed from the roots. Then, with a sharp knife, cut off all the diseased parts and sprinkle the places of the cuts with coal powder. After the operation, the flower is transplanted into a smaller pot with soil, which contains as much sand as possible. If the plant that has survived the disease has oily leaves, then it should not be watered for several days, and if the leaves are tender, watering is required.
If there are worms in pots or tubs of flowers, you urgently need to put the pot and even the tub into a deeper vessel filled with hot water (up to 50 degrees). Hot water will cause the worms to rise to the surface of the earth. And here you can easily catch them.
Sashina E.Yu. The ABC of Home Economics
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