| Houseplants |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-514 |
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Q: I clearly do not have a green thumb and need help picking houseplants that are tough to kill. Which ones should I choose? A: (Walter Reeves, Ask DIY Gardening expert) Let me recommend five of my favorite houseplants -- they're so hardy, you'll feel like an expert gardener in no time! - Airplane plant (also known as spider plant) (figure A)
- Rubber plant (ficus) (figure B)
- Wandering Jew (figure C)
- Philodendron (figure D)
- Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) (figure E)
Tips: - Be aware that when the leaves of a rubber plant are cut, they secrete an irritating juice.
- The rubber plant does best in full sunlight -- if it doesn't get enough light, the leaves will fall off.
- Some varieties of wandering Jew have solid-green leaves; others have variegated foliage.
- The philodendron has heart-shaped leaves (the name comes from the Greek philo, meaning "love," and dendron, meaning "leaf").
- The philodendron tolerates low levels of light.
- Philodendrons can be grown in hanging pots or on a log (if you're growing one on a log, water the soil, not the log).
- The variegated leaves of the pothos are eye-catching in a dark corner.
- To propagate an airplane plant, first use scissors to cut off babies (figure F). Place potting soil in a 4" pot and poke a hole with your finger. Put the baby in the hole, set in a sunny window, and in a couple of weeks the baby will have formed roots. These plants make great gifts!
- If your wandering Jew is turning brown, it's probably due to improper watering. Take a pair of scissors and give the plant a "Marine haircut": simply cut around the pot (figure G), removing all the trailing bits and leaving only the healthy green part nearest the roots.
Can't decide whether a plant needs to be watered? Use an inexpensive digital water meter: your finger! Simply insert a finger about 2" down into the soil and pull it back out. If soil clings to your finger, the soil is damp, and the plant doesn't need to be watered yet. This is the only way to determine a houseplant's watering schedule. - To determine the amount of light in any area of your house, you can also use a digital light meter -- that's right, your fingers! Place a sheet of white paper on the surface and hold your hand about 12" above it. Observe the shadow cast by your hand: if it's a dark shadow, the area gets a lot of light. If it's a medium shadow, the light is of moderate intensity, and if the shadow is faint, the area is low-light.
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