Out
On A Limb / November 2006
Home Bound
Mother-in-Law Tongue
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Houseplants brighten a home and are, in addition to being decorative and welcoming, physically healthful. Besides adding color and life, they purify and renew stale indoor air by filtering out toxins, pollutants and exhaled carbon dioxide, replacing them with oxygen. Philodendrons and Spider plants have been found most efficient in the removal of formaldehyde. Gerbera Daisies and Chrysanthemums are effective in the removal of benzene, a known carcinogen. The more vigorous the plant, the more air it can filter. Appreciative homeowners most often kill their houseplants with kindness, not neglect.
The surefire way to kill a houseplant is overwatering, which leads to root rot. Plants should not sit in water and should not automatically be watered on a schedule. House plant roots are usually in the bottom two-thirds of the pot, and shouldn’t be watered until the bottom two-thirds of the pot starts to dry out slightly. To test for dryness in a six inch pot, poke a finger about 2 inches into the soil. If the soil feels damp, don’t water. Keep repeating the test until the soil is barely moist at the 2 inch depth. (For smaller pots, one inch into the soil is the proper poking depth.)
Water the pot until water runs out of the bottom. It washes out excess salts from fertilizer residue and guarantees the bottom two-thirds of the pot, with most of the roots, receives sufficient water. However, don’t let the pot sit in the water that runs out. Don’t water again until the soil dries at the 2-inch depth before watering again.
 Dragon Tree
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When checking for moisture, pay attention to the soil. If the soil won’t allow a two inch deep finger poke, a more porous soil mix may be needed-or the plant may be becoming root-bound. Potted plants often get just enough water so the soil gets wet but is never allowed to drain. Salt builds up, which can inhibit growth of the plant. It may not be noticeable until a whitish crust on the soil or sides of the pot becomes visible
Lack of humidity also does in a great many indoor plants, especially during winter. It may first show as browning leaf tips. Inadequate light is another houseplant killer. Plants that don’t get the light they need are pale instead of healthy green and new growth is spindly with smaller than usual leaves.
Placing an indoor plant, especially a tropical or blooming plant, near a frequently opened outside door or too close to a window with poor insulation is like leaving the plant unprotected outside. Placing a houseplant near a direct source of heat, like a radiator or duct, will slowly bake the plant and speed up dehydration.
Indoor pests are a fact and with no natural predators to keep them in check, they multiply quickly. Spider mites, aphids, mealy bugs and scale can cover a plant in days. If severe enough, the plant may never recover.
 Flowering Cyclamen
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Houseplants that have survived being drenched in kindness may succumb to success and become pot bound. When a plant outgrows its pot, the roots circle around inside the pot and start to restrict themselves, with predictably tragic results.
Most house plants tolerate normal temperature fluctuations but, house plants, especially flowering varieties, are very sensitive to drafts or heat from registers. Forced air dries them rapidly and overtaxes their limited root systems. Foliage house plants seem to grow best between 70-80 degrees during the day and from 60 to 68 degrees at night. Most flowering house plants like the same daytime range but grow best at night temperatures from 55 to 60 degrees. Keeping the night temperature ten to fifteen degrees lower then day temperatures seems to evoke the best response.
Fortunately, many houseplants are easy to grow. Christmas Cactus, a blooming, trailing member of the cactus family, seems to do best when ignored. Dragon tree, Dracaena marginata, looks like a small palm tree and can reach ten feet. Mother-in-law’s tongue, Sansevieria, gets its name because it has long, sharp, pointed foliage-and it never leaves. It’s a long-living, easy care houseplant, requiring just one or two waterings during winter, depending on humidity. Spider plants just keep on giving. Their dangling offspring can be cut off and shared or planted each summer as an annual.
African Violets, Aloe, Croton, Cyclamen, Jade plant and Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) are other tried and true houseplants that thrive with little assistance. PL
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