Indoor Plant Care - How to Houseplant Care

Chinese Evergreen-Aglaonema 'Jubilee Petite' Good Indoor Plants for Beginners - Aglaonema This is an Aglaonema 'Jubilee Petite'. The common name for Aglaonema is Chinese Evergreen. Aglaonema make great indoor plants for any office or even in the home. When I first started in the indoor plant care business, about 30 years ago, there were only a few varieties of Aglaonema plants that we used on our commercial accounts. The other day I went to the growers website and did a count of the varieties of Aglaonema that they were offering for sale. I believe the total was somewhere around 32! That leaves a little something for everybody when it comes to leaf size, color and other characteristics of plants. Aglaonema are pretty plants, at least most of the varieties, and they are good for growing in an area of bright, indirect lighting without any sun. They don't take loads of attention but, of course, for any indoor plant to do well, you do need to do a re...

Cattleya loddigesii This wonderful orchid is the "Orchid of the Day" from the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate for August 1, 2017. The Santa Barbara Orchid Estate grows and sell hundreds of different orchids. Check out their website at www.sborchid.com "One of the most beautiful of the bifoliate  Cattleyas ! Since it grows happily as an epiphyte (tree grower) and lithophyte (rock grower) in its native habit it can be grown either potted in stones and bark, or mounted to a tree or bark slab.Temperature Tolerant. August - September blooming. Species from Brazil and Argentina." Information and orchid photograph from www.sborchid.com  Enjoy the day with plants, flowers and orchids!!

How to Prune Your Umbrella - Plant  Schefflera Arboricola, Umbrella Plant Schefflera Arboricola I recently received an email from a visitor to my website asking how to prune her Umbrella Plant. She sent along the picture to the right. Here is her email and my answer: Hello, I'm just wondering how to prune an umbrella plant. My plant is getting out of control, growing upwards and I can't seem to get it to grow like a bush. I'm afraid to cut it to shape cause I might kill it. I've had this plant for over 10 years and from the picture I sent you can see it's still growing good. I just want to trim it down but I want to do it properly. Thanks! Hi Julia When pruning an Arboricola (umbrella plant), cut just above a leaf stem or node. I usually cut the tallest stem back into the center of the plant, leaving some leaf nodes for new growth to start. Doing this every once in awhile keeps the plant fuller and shorter. You can cut the really ta...

House Plants - You Have Questions, I Have Answers, But... Rhapis Excelsa Palm on My Model Home Account Hi Plant People, hope you all had a nice October. Hard to believe it is already November 2016. Just realized that since I started working as an interior landscape technician in 1986 and it is now 2016, I have been taking care of, installing, warehousing, replacing, selling or unloading indoor tropical plants and flowers for just about 30 years. Most of that was direct, day to day care of different types of tropical plants in many different locations, from the west coast to the east coast. There has been a break here or there for a year or two but for most of the past 30 years I have been involved in all aspects of the interior landscape industry. That's a lot of plants! On my website, I offer simple, straight forward advice on caring for your indoor plants. As you can tell from the first few paragraphs, I have had lots of experience to work from. ...

How to Combat Those Little Flying Bugs - GNATS! Although fungus gnats can be a problem with indoor plants at anytime of year, they can be a bigger problem during the warmer months as they are also outside in greater numbers and, no doubt, plotting an invasion of your home...  :) Not a Fungus Gnat-Just One of My Plants Here is a little information about fungus gnats: Fungus gnats are small flies, about 1/8" long, black or dark colored. Adult females may lay up to a few hundred eggs in a 7-10 day period. And they will lay them in the moist topsoil of your indoor plants, if they get a chance. Fungus gnat eggs hatch in about six days, producing small, white maggots. Larvae will grow to about 1/4" in two weeks and then form pupae. Then adults will emerge from plant media in a week or less. And the cycle begins again! While adult fungus gnats do not damage your indoor plants, they can be very annoying. You may see numbers of them about your plants, if they are...

Plant Care for Dracaena Marginata Potted Dracaena Marginata Plant My last post was about the Mother-In-Law Tongue plant, the most searched and researched indoor plant and its care, at least on my website. This post is about Dracaena marginata, the second most searched for indoor plant. The dracaena marginata is sometimes called Dragon Tree. We just call her Marginata or Marg...  Marginata is my favorite Dracaena, I just love the thinner, long, delicate and arching leaves of the marginata. If your Marginata has been growing in really good light in a nursery, the leaves may be thicker and stiff. As it grows in new foliage acclimated to the lower light in your home (or office), the leaves will thin and become more graceful and arching. That is the way I like them best! Dracaenas in general are really easy to care for once you get them settled in and learn how to water them properly. Many of the plants that we use in our interior landscapes are dracaena varieti...

Plant Care for Mother-In-Law Tongue Mother-In-Laws Tongue Plant The most searched for plant care information on my indoor plant care website is for the Sansevieria plant. You may know it as Mother-in-Law Tongue or Snake Plant as those are common names for sansevieria trifasciata. The Mother-In-Law Tongue is one of the easiest indoor plants to care for and is quite forgiving if you forget to water it every once in a while. As with any indoor, potted plant, providing your plant with bright light and proper watering is going to reward you with the best growth. Light is essential for plant growth so always provide the best light you have available for your houseplants. Although you can place Mother-In-Law Tongue in low light, you are going to have a plant that becomes thin, leggy and weak over time. One important thing to note when caring for your Mother-In-Law Tongue and other houseplants is that the light your plant receives will be a major factor in the watering...

Christmas Cactus Plant Christmas Cactus - Zygocactus truncatus The Christmas Cactus is a beautiful, flowering type of forest cactus. In their natural environment, a forest cactus will attach itself to trees in wooded areas and jungles. So it is not too surprising that they are so different looking from their typically spine-covered desert cousins. The Christmas Cactus is one of many popular plants to give or receive during the winter holiday season. If you know someone who loves plants, you might like to give them a beautiful Christmas Cactus for the holidays. This beautiful plant is usually in full bloom when received as a gift. Zygocactus truncatus or Schlumbergera truncata are botanical names for the Christmas Cactus. It is called Christmas Cactus because it blooms between late November and mid-January. When in full bloom, this is one beautiful plant. Flowers may be white, red, pink or purple. This plant (similar to its close relative the Easter Cactus) ha...

Dracaena Warneckii Plant Plant Questions and Answers Here is a recent email question from Grace, someone looking for some help with her houseplant... "I got a plant for my moms funeral and now it's very tall and don't know if and how to split it. Any help? I attached a picture of it. Card that came with it says it's a dracaena but couldn't find any helpful information on line." Hi Grace, Thanks for the picture. Your plant is a dracaena Warneckii . You can cut back the stem any place that you want to and it should regrow from that point. Is that what you wanted to know? Your plant looks nice and healthy! Good job. Let me know if you have any other questions or if I did not tell you what you wanted to know.... Hi again Grace, Forgot to mention that you can root the piece you cut off in moist sand, then you can plant into its own pot when the roots get a few inches long. You should remove the leaves (from the cut piece) when yo...

Dracaena marginata plant Dracaena Marginata Plant Care The marginata plant is one of the most popular houseplants. It is one of my favorites and I get so many emails asking questions about Dracaena marginata that I have to think it is one of everyones favorite indoor potted plants. One of the care questions that I get most often about this beautiful, indoor plant is about pruning. Is it alright to cut it back if it is too tall? Where should I cut the stem? The answer to the question is yes, you can cut back the stems or canes of dracaena marginata. You should cut the stem just above the height that you want new growth to start. It is best to do this in the spring time when most plants do much of their growing. If you look closely at the stem you will see rings that encircle the stem. This is where the leaf nodes are and where your dracaena marginata will push out some new growth. You will most likely get a few new "heads" starting before you know it. ...

Snake Plant - Houseplant As an interior landscape technician , I get a lot of questions from people during the work day. Some want to know why their plant is not doing well. Others ask what the little bugs on their plant are and how to get rid of them. Some people want to know the best way to prune or propagate their houseplants. Another common houseplant question is: What is the best houseplant to get if I have never had an indoor plant before? That is one of the easiest questions to answer as it doesn't require finding out alot of other information. The answer to this question is undoubtably... The Snake Plant! Snake plants are great indoor plants as they will tolerate an owner that doesn't pay them much attention. They will live in lower light but they will become thin and leggy over time if the light is not sufficient. However, if you are one of those people that likes to water their plants everyday, you should not get a Snake plant! There are not many in...

My New Variegated English Ivy  Thinking About Getting a New House Plant? If you are thinking about getting a new house plant, you should consider carefully before you purchase a new one, especially if you are a little new to house plant care . Pictured here is one of my new plants, a Hedera helix or English Ivy.  Looks nice and healthy, right?  For the most part, it is. However, before I bought it I made sure to check for spider mites. I found what I expected to find...Spider mites! I have been caring for indoor plants for over 20 years and I can't remember any time that I had a new English Ivy that did NOT have spider mites. English Ivy usually come from the growers looking pretty clean and spider mites are hard to detect at first unless you know what to look for (and where to look). But they reproduce rapidly , especially in hot, dry places and can do quite a lot of damage to your house plants. Before you know it your English Ivy will b...

House Plants at Gate C7 - Airport Adventures Sure a lot of people that really like to  ‪#‎ grow‬   ‪#‎ houseplants‬ !  I was at the local international airport on Friday, taking care of plants and replacing some #Pothos with Hoyas. The new plants were so full that I had to drastically prune them to fit in their new containers.  I left all of the cuttings on my cart on the concourse and when I came back there was a woman stuffing all of the  ‪#‎ Hoya‬  cuttings into one of her pieces of luggage. I just had to laugh.  Nice to know that so many people  ‪#‎ love‬  #houseplants.  Hope she made it to her flight on time!

Rhapis Palm with Insect Problem Indoor Potted Palm Problem A recent email from Ernestine about a plant problem that needs a solution...  My Rhapis Palm has mealy bugs as there are white masses on leaves and stems.  I have sprayed with Confidor two or three times, but, the palm still has white areas on leaves and stems.  Could you suggest a better solution for me to attack this pesty little beast!!! Thank you for reading my notation. Ernstine, It sure looks like mealy bug but could possibly be some kind of scale. I personally would just wipe this off with a sponge or rag with some water/alcohol mixture or water/soap mixture. Another option is a hard spray from a hose to just rinse them off. This is best done outside, of course and must be repeated. Mealybugs are hard to get rid of and the only other things I might use would be Safers Insecticidal Soap or 1600 X-clude. Don’t know if they are available where you live but if you do use them, make sur...

Do you love to  ‪#‎ travel‬  and also love  ‪#‎ plants‬ ?  Love to visit the local  ‪#‎ botanical‬  gardens when you visit someplace new? If you happen to be in the vicinity of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, you might want to set aside a few hours to visit  ‪#‎ LongwoodGardens‬ .  The grounds of Longwood Gardens encompasses over 1,000 acres of woodlands, meadows, gardens and fountains. Spring and summer are great seasons to visit as many plants and flowers will be in glorious bloom! Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania The largest conservatory in the U.S. is located at Longwood Gardens with 4.5 acres of wonderful plant life to enjoy. And please don't miss the Orchid Room in the conservatory, a grand collection of more than 9,000 plants. Sounds like a wonderful trip! And if you visit in September, plan to take in the 30th Annual Mushroom Festival on September 12 and 13, 2015. Known as the mushroom capital of the world, this ...

Beautiful Blue Orchids Everytime I go into the local home improvement store, I automatically gravitate to the greenhouse area. It is my favorite area to walk through and enjoy all of the displays and the lovely plants. Even though I spend all day caring for tropical plants on commercial accounts, I still love to browse through the tropical potted plants and the orchids are some of my favorites. But I guess everyone loves orchids , how could you not?! You can grow these beauties in your home and they add so much to any room for such a small tropical plant. If you find you have brought one of these blooming beauties home and now wonder how to care for it, well maybe I can help out. If you are thinking of acquiring an Orchid, it is handy to know some things to look for when you buy. When your Orchid arrives home, you should place it in a window, if possible. East or West facing spots are ideal but be sure to protect it from hot afternoon sun. Direct sun, especially through...

To attain peace and harmony, you need only accept them into your heart... Such a simple concept, it is hard to understand why there is so much unrest in the world today.

Cute, unique decorative planters... Saw these cute and quite interesting planters while browsing around the internet. While they may not be ideal for all indoor plants, as there are some that really don't do well when they get water in the leaves, they certainly are more fun than just pouring some water into the soil. Maybe use them on your deck, in the sunroom or on the patio?? What do you think of these planters? Would you use them? What would you plant in them? See more about these unique, decorative planters ...

Warneckii A recent letter from a PlantAndFlowerInfo.com visitor: "Hello. When I purchased this plant it was distressed and about 1 foot tall. It is now 7'2" tall. Is it a type of Dracaena? It's in an 18" pot. It does not have a woody looking stem. The leaves are 20" long, and are dark green down the center, with a small white stripe on each side of the dark green, and then a lighter colored green on the outside of the leaf. I would like to know the name of the plant. Can I cut it shorter? Can I plant the piece I cut off? Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Attached are 2 pictures - one is a full view and the other is a close-up of a leaf. Thank you very much. Hortie" Close up of Dracanea Warneckii leaf At first, I had not received the attached pictures and replied that it sounded like a Dracaena Warneckii. Eventually the pictures confirmed that it is a Dracaena Warneckii .  Yes, you can cut or prune the stalks back ...

Poinsettia Plant Every Christmas season  for twenty or more years, I have had hundreds of these lovely "flowers" in my care.They are delicate and fragile and you must use care when handling them. Place them out of high traffic areas and away from places where they might get a cold draft. If you are moving them during cold weather be sure to enclosed them in a loose fitting sleeve or plastic bag. Just be careful not to break them. They are quite fragile and easy to damage. When shopping for  your Poinsettia, be sure the bracts are well colored up. For maximum use of your flowering Christmas Poinsettia, the flower, small and yellow in the center of the bracts, should be.... read more about Poinsettias