Indoor Gardening- 9 Reasons To Start Your Indoor Garden

Whether growing a garden outdoors or indoors, all plants require the same amount of care in the form of adequate and healthy nutrition, enough water and plenty of light. This is important because even in indoor gardening, plants are constantly exposed to the threat of diseases caused by pests and insects.

Keep the following considerations in mind if you are going in for indoor gardening--

(1) Your indoor gardening should start on a positive note. Before purchasing houseplants, make sure that they are insect-free and disease-free. Pests always attack weak plants, so the ones you take home should be healthy.

(2) Okay, on the surface, the plants that you bought seem to be sturdy and healthy. But just as an added precaution, keep the new plants separated from the older ones that you already have, for about 40 days. Either keep them in plastic bags that have been sealed or in a different room altogether, ensuring that they receive plenty of light and water. During this time, if any of the new plants exhibit signs of disease or pests, you have the option of treating the plant till it is cured or just throwing it away.

(3) Quarantining as a method in indoor gardening is applicable to other older plants too, should they seem to be weaker or revealing signs of disease in comparison to the others.

(4) Another way to shake off pests or spores that may be hidden from the naked eye is to give your houseplants a shower bath once in every few months. An alternative to the shower is a water spraying device. The plants can also rid themselves of any dust or grime that has settled on them. Only keep in mind that this has to be done early in the morning. The plants need an entire day to get dry before nighttime.

(5) Screens on doors and windows are meant for the dual purpose of bringing in fresh air as well as keeping spores and insects outside the house only. The insect population is more during the spring and summer seasons as well as early autumn. As a matter of fact, greenhouse suppliers can provide you with special anti-insect screens.

(6) Another tip regarding indoor gardening is related to insect-catching sticky traps. These traps can be purchased at nurseries or garden centers. When hung in the same room as the houseplants, it is easy to discover which plants are acting as hosts for these trapped insects. To prevent spread of the infestation, keep the healthy and weaker plants separate for some time. Oh yes, these traps are not to be confused with pest strips.
(7) Houseplants have to be kept clean and neat. Get rid of flowers and leaves that are dead or have changed color. If the plants are healthy and strong, they are capable of giving out chemicals that keep their leaves safe from unwanted pests.

(8) Some people are lucky enough to have an outdoor garden as well as an indoor one. If you have just come from outside and are planning to indulge in indoor gardening, go and have a shower first and a change of clothes. It is possible that your clothes are carrying spores or pests from your outside garden.

(9) Again, gardening tools used for outdoor gardening and indoor gardening should be totally different.