Indoor Gardening Tips

There's noting quite like turning the indoors of a home into a little bit of paradise with a few plants here and there. It's good for the indoor air quality, the overall feel of a home and also the soul. But, keeping up with houseplants can be a little tricky for the beginner. The best advice is to take it slow and create a schedule that's easy to follow for plant maintenance.

Before investing in a ton of plants for a home, consider the areas where you'd like to put them. If you have a window or two that gets a lot of light, those might be good places. Perhaps you'd like to add some foliage to areas that only receive a little sunlight? Maybe some low-light plants would be in order here?

In general, all plants need a little bit of sunlight each day, but some require a whole lot more than others. Examine your lighted areas to decide what qualifications they fit.

Once the lighting availability is determined, pick some plants that suit. If you don't know what works best, ask at the garden shop or nursery. The employees should be able to point you toward great indoor growing plants for all types of lighting circumstances.

After you bring the plants home, it will be important to establish a routine for taking care of them. Even the black-thumbed can do well with plants if a good schedule is followed.

Here's what to look for:

Watering: Set a schedule to water your plants based on their individual needs. Some plants might require water every day while others will do well with weekly or even monthly watering. Make sure you know which plants require what and jot down a good watering schedule on a calendar. If you're likely to forget a watering or two, make sure your pots are well insulated to hold moisture without creating root rot.

Create a feeding schedule: Plants need to have nutrients to grow. Aside from their soil, they will sometimes need fertilizing. Read up on the plants you've picked to learn the best schedule to put them on and jot that down on a calendar, too.

Repotting: If you're doing your job, plants will grow and will eventually need new pots. Watch your plants for signs of container stress. When the roots start to poke through drainage holes, they begin to grow around the container's edges or the plant appears to be falling out of its pot, it's time to repot.

Creating a great indoor garden can be a fun and rewarding project. If you create a calendar to help remind you what form of TLC your plants need on any given day, you're sure to succeed with most indoor plants. Just set a schedule and try to stick with it for the best results.