Yours in Green

Yours in Green is a garden blog for not-so-green thumbs and keen gardeners alike. It's written in layman’s terms with a dash of humour thrown in.

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Posts with Tag: indoors

22 March 2011 ,09:40 Bring the green inside
By Jody Rigby
fittoniasNow is the perfect time for re-potting those sad indoor plants that have become potbound over the years.
 
Potting mix does have a 'used by' date, especially the cheaper brands that can sometimes shrink over time. This poses the problem of water simply seeping down the sides and not even getting into the root ball at all. They can also become hydrophobic and the water will run off the surface and bead rather than saturate the mix as it should.
 
When buying a potting mix, take into consideration that some are formulated for specific plant types (eg. African violets, or cacti and succulents) so be sure to have an idea of what you're potting up before you select your mix. Look out for the ticks of approval from Australian standards also.
 
To transfer into another pot, remove plant from existing pot and see if it has become potbound (where the roots grow around and begin to strangle itself). If so you may need to tease or gently pry apart some of the roots to loosen them before potting up.
 
To assist in transplanting, water in with Seasol and throw a handfull of slow release fertiliser around the top of each plant to give them a boost. Oh and to avoid soil falling out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot,simple cut out a square of shade cloth to pop over the holes. Some indoor plants that I like at the moment are Madonna lilys, Zamiocalcus (you cant kill them unless you over-water them), Anthurrium, and Fittonia (with amazing white veins on small green leaves).
 
 
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img Jody Rigby
Jody Rigby is a well-known horticulturist and TV presenter.
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A constant learning curve, gardening is all about trial and error. Knowledge grows from sharing information between friends, passing down through generations, or just getting it wrong a few times before you get it right. It's about getting grubby outside and aching from digging too much, but then feeling that fall away when you get your first flower or prize fruit off a new tree... and getting so excited you need to tell everyone.

Yours in Green is everything I’ve learnt so far - what to do when, how to do it right the first time, and of course, some frustrations along the way and how to remedy them.

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