Window


dressing


Picture courtesy of Stephen Tolley stephentolley@btinternet.com


Window and indoor gardening


Depending on the state of your garden, the weather and your inclinations, you may, or may not, wish to consider a spot of ‘window gardening’!


The cultivation of a few plants on a conveniently wide and sunny windowsill appeals to most people at sometime in their gardening lives, even those with little or no interest in gardening in the wider sense.


You have to be aware mind, that there are many problems associated with gardening in a room that is heated to accommodate the human occupants.


However, with a little care and a judicious choice of plants, it is possible to keep quite an attractive display all year round.


The main problem centres around watering. Possibly the main reason there are so many failures or unhealthy looking plants, is because many indoor gardeners keep to a strict regime of watering. The poor plant gets a deluge whether it wants it or not. It will show when it needs water.


On the other hand, spasmodic watering is just as bad. Suddenly the owner realises that watering has been forgotten and immerses the poor plant in a bath. This can do as much damage as forgetting to water.


Yet another bad watering habit is the ‘little and often’principle. It’s just as useless. The poor plant never dries out, is always soggy and the way opens for rot to set in, which it usually does.


The final example is the ‘family onslaught’. Here every member of the family, on the assumption the rest are bound to have forgotten, waters copiously. Result? The poor plant literally drowns.


It’s easy to spot a drowning plant. It develops the characteristic droopy


foliage, yellow leaves and eventually a soggy, soft stem that just collapses.


The first step therefore is to make sure just one member of the household is delegated with the job of watering.


In addition the following rules should be adhered to strictly. If they are followed, the reward will be healthy looking plants that will be a joy to look at and a real enhancement to your home.


These rules and remedies cannot be guaranteed but, if you follow them you stand a good chance of keeping a happy, healthy plant rather than a few dry sticks in an empty pot.


1. When potting for the windowsill, always choose pots large enough to allow a good margin for water.


2. When potting up, put plenty of crock in the bottom of the pot, make sure the hole in the bottom remains clear and unclogged so free and ample drainage can take place.


3. Always pot up very firmly and leave the surface quite level.


4. Never use dust dry compost / soil for potting.


5. Never use waterlogged compost/soil for potting.


6. When re-potting, always water well at least an hour before introducing the plant.


7. When re-potting, always bury the stem a little deeper than before.


8. Should a plant become dust dry, stand the whole thing in a pail of room-temperature water, up to, but just below, the top of the pot, for 15 minutes.


9. If a plant has been over-watered and shows signs of distress, stand it on a dish of pebbles or coarse gravel for a few days out of the sun.


10. When in doubt, don’t water. It is far easier to bring a dry, half- starved plant back


CORNISH GARDENER - summer 2012 7


There is however a lot more to raising plants indoors successfully, than correct watering procedures. Here are a few more rules:


1. Never feed or give stimulants of any kind to a pot plant, until the pot is well filled with roots. And in the case of flowing subjects, stop feeding as soon as the buds begin to open.


2. Never use soil straight from the garden for potting. The compost used must be sterile. ‘John Innes’ of the right number is best and it’s obtainable from your garden centre, just say what you want it for. If you prefer to make it up yourself the following is a recipe you should follow:


Three parts good turf loam One part old manure One part leaf-soil One eighth part silver sand


This should all be mixed well and sterilized. You can sterilize in your conventional or microwave oven, or there are other even less convenient ways of doing it.


The easiest way however is to buy a chemical fumigant, obtainable from your garden centre. It is essential to follow the instructions exactly. However, John Innes is by far the best.


3. When re-potting, always use clean, freshly washed pots. If the previous occupant died in mysterious circumstances then the pot should discarded or sterilized. No point really, sterilizing a cheap plastic pot! You can sterilize with boiling water. Some plastic pots won’t stand this which is another reason for dumping them. If you are using a brand new earthenware pot, one that has never been used before, you


must soak it in water for at least an hour before potting up.


4. During cultivation, and in order to preserve the look of the plant, remember to turn the plant round just a little, every day. This will prevent the plant leaning over in one direction or stop the over-production of growth on the one side.


5. During frosty weather, either remove the plants from the window sill, pull the curtains shut between the glass and the plant, or protect it with sheets of newspaper. It is possible, even in a well heated room, for a plant to suffer frost bite over-night.


6. Soil eventually becomes sour from over-watering or just from the length of time the plant has been in the pot. Obviously re-potting is necessary but, for several reasons this may not be possible. It is possible to set matters right by applying a drenching of lime-water. This will not work however with plants that don’t tolerate lime so you must be careful. Have a word with your garden centre, they may well stock a product you can use in the case of lime intolerance.


Picture courtesy of Ela Cowling


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