Plant Exchange Blog

Welcome to our weekly Plant Exchange blog. Spring is here!

Green haze on trees and first bold color of tulips and daffodils are announcing spring these rainy days. It’s a fine time to give houseplants a hard look before we’re outside most days.

While the red-backed glossy leaves of a favorite houseplant are beautiful, it’s really time for pruning and re-shaping. That’s great, because the cuttings root in water and then may be potted as gifts.

Leaves get dusty without the breeze to keep leaf sun collectors clear. Water-dampened cloth works well to freshen the leaves. Notice the undersides of leaves for pests. Now is the best time to deal with pests. To identify what may be a pest and what to do about it, see South Dakota State University Horticulturist  Dr. David Graper’s article here:

http://igrow.org/gardens/home-and-garden-pests/houseplant-p . . .

Now is a good time to scrape off the top layer of potting soil where some pests breed and replace with fresh potting soil.

Since houseplants are potted and not able to receive natural soil rejuvenation like outdoor plants, we add a bit of time release fertilizer for the indoor growing season.  I also add maybe a tablespoon of diluted fish emulsion for beneficial microbes.

Houseplants are season extenders indoors. Just a little care makes them shine.