HOUSEPLANTS

HOUSEPLANTS

Striking foliage and the stunning colour aren't just reserved for the garden outside. There's a wide variety of indoor plants that can bring colour and life into your home. For people unable to garden outdoors, growing indoor plants have been shown to boost moods, increase creativity, reduce stress and eliminate air pollutants – making us healthy and happier too. Whether your style is fiddle leaf figs, or maidenhair ferns, creating your very own indoor oasis is the perfect finishing touch to your living spaces.

Planting:

Indoor plants rely entirely on the potting mix and pots you choose for them. Check that there are plenty of drainage holes – most indoor plants hate wet feet! Sometimes a decorative “outer” can dress up an ordinary nursery pot. Partly fill your pot with a premium-quality potting mix like Tui Indoor Plant Mix, which has a starter fertiliser to prevent transplant shock and a slow-release fertiliser for sustained feeding up to six months. Use a cactus and succulent mix for plants needing a coarse, sandy soil that drains very well, an African Violet mix for African Violets and their relatives (“gesneriads”) as well as Cyclamen or a Bonsai mix for those delightful miniature shrubs.

Gently take the plant from its pot, loosen the root ball. Place the plant in the new pot and fill with appropriate potting mix up to 3cm from the top. Gently firm the mix around the plant. Water your plant well and continue to water regularly. Read the labels to see whether your plants like being kept moist or if they prefer to dry out between watering. Re-pot indoor plants every two to three years in spring to keep them strong and healthy.

Care:

Plants grown in containers require regular watering in summer and less frequent watering in winter. Touch the surface of the mix, and if the top 5cm of potting mix feels dry, water. To increase humidity, mist the leaves with water to stop leaf tips from going brown. From spring to autumn, use a water-soluble or liquid plant food every four weeks like Tui Enrich Pour & Feed Indoor Plant fertiliser to promote healthy growth. If you’re growing orchids and bromeliads indoors, use fertiliser to suit, and for cacti and succulents indoors, apply Tui Enrich Pour & Feed Cacti & Succulent Feed. Use a controlled-release fertiliser twice yearly after that, in late summer and early spring.

Indoor plants are more protected from pests than those in our gardens, but insects may still attack them from time to time. If insects, including aphids, caterpillars, whiteflies, thrips, and mealybugs, are a problem, use Tui Indoor Plant Insect Spray to control. Apply when infestations are first noticed and then weekly while insects are active. Keep leaves clean by occasionally wiping with a soft, damp cloth – don't use detergents!

Types of Houseplants:

Choose plants that suit the theme of your home to liven up empty spaces, tables or shelves. There is no limit to the area of your home you can add a house plant to. The right plant in the right place is the secret to healthy indoor plants. Read the plant label for the best indoor location. Most plants enjoy a bright, well-lit spot but not direct sunlight. Leathery-leafed plants will withstand more heat and direct sunlight.

Foliage: calathea, maidenhair fern, boston fern, swiss cheese monstera, mother-in-laws tongue.

Flowering: Peace Lily, Anthurium, Moth Orchid, African Violet, Cyclamen.

Indoor trees: Fiddle leaf Fig, Kentia Palm, Dracaena Marginata, Rubber Plant.

Cacti/Succulents: Aloe Vera, Echeveria.

Hanging: Chain of Hearts, String of Pearls, Philodendron, Spider Plant, English Ivy.

Bulbs: Amaryllis, Calla Lily, False Shamrock Plant.