What Plants Should Be Kept In The Room

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

The endless summer is given to people by indoor plants. Outside the windows is a dull landscape: the branches of bare trees are fluttering in the autumn wind, the earth is swollen with moisture, and a small annoying rain whips and sweeps across the windows of the loggia. Occasionally the sun will dazzle with its sparkling sparks and even hide behind the usual solid clouds.

It would seem, how long has it been August with its lush flower carpets and the harvest ripening on fruit trees, but again I really want summer to come soon. The kingdom of greenery and sunshine is absolutely necessary for a person for peace of mind and a joyful outlook. Therefore, many of us diligently, sparing no effort and money, plant real gardens of indoor plants at home, which give us endless summer.

The plants in the home are not only beautiful in themselves, they literally bring the atmosphere of the home to life. First of all, flower plants absorb carbon dioxide and enrich the air with the oxygen necessary for our breathing.

In winter, the air in the apartments is too dry, which is not useful for both people and plants. Flowers growing in the house significantly humidify the air by evaporating moisture. Cyperus, ornamental banana, sparmannia, monstera and other large-leaved species do it especially successfully.

As it has now become known, many synthetic materials with which apartments are decorated and household items are saturated, emit many substances harmful to life into the air. Experts have found that indoor plants are the best living filters that save us from the real danger of breathing poisonous substances that exude artificial materials from furniture, linoleum, wallpaper, paints, etc. Actively absorb and neutralize formaldehyde familiar to all aloe, gerbera, chrysanthemums, chlorophytum, epipremnum (scindapsus), dracaena, philodendron.

In kitchens with gas stoves, it is absolutely necessary to keep chlorophytum and scindapsus - they effectively absorb excess carbon dioxide. Chlorophytum can generally be called a champion in air purification: several of its copies are able to neutralize the formaldehyde released by thermal insulation in an entire medium-sized apartment, in addition, it has a good bactericidal effect.

We are relieved of benzene vapors by indoor lianas - ivy and scindapsus, which so generously braid any supports provided to them, be they lattices, cords, parts of bizarrely curved tree branches from the forest and garden.

Spathiphyllum, dracaena, sanseviera ("pike tail"), aglaonema have the same ability to purify the air. Even trichlorethylene is neutralized with their help. As for the sansevier, this genus of ornamental plants has so many garden forms and varieties, varied in the height and color of the leaves, that she alone can create a stylish interior both in the apartment and in the office.

One cannot but recall the familiar pelargonium, which is often incorrectly called geranium from a botanical point of view (geranium is a meadow plant that is very beautiful and grows beautifully in gardens). Various types of indoor pelargonium (zonal, fragrant, large-flowered, ivy) have the invaluable property of releasing their essential oils and phytoncides into the environment (biologically active substances that kill staphylococci and streptococci, which cause a huge variety of diseases in people).

Pelargonium essential oil has the ability to calm the human nervous system, relieve stress and insomnia. It is good to keep such plants in the bedroom, living room, nursery. (An ancient folk remedy for ear pain is the leaves of fragrant pelargonium, which are laid in a sore ear.) Pelargonium is easily propagated by stem cuttings and blooms with large caps of bright flowers (red, pink, crimson, white), simple and double. In summer it can be kept in the garden and on the balcony, even in direct sunlight.

Ficuses, variegated dieffenbachia also have phytoncidal properties. It is especially useful to keep them in well-lit places, but not in direct sunlight, in rooms overlooking highways, factories and factories.

The noble laurel, an evergreen shrub that grows well in rooms, also has the ability to destroy bacteria and viruses. It is useful to keep it for those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, intestinal spasms, biliary tract. In summer, the laurel can also be taken out onto the balcony, arranging a fragment of the southern garden there.

With the advent of computers in our life, biologists have found that even phlegmatic cacti, especially with long needles, not only decorate the house, but also actively protect us from microbes and electromagnetic radiation, which is why they are kept near radiation sources.

Classic phytoncidal plants are conifers, which live well in rooms, exude their coniferous aroma, heal the air and tone us up. In a pot culture, almost any conifers can be grown, especially miniature garden forms: thuja, junipers, cypresses and cypress trees, thueopsis, spruce, pine, etc.

They will need a bright place, moist air (a pallet with moistened claydite, sand, spraying), moderate watering, in winter the air temperature is about 12 ° C (this is the case on the windowsill). At the same time, the house always has a live "Christmas tree" for the New Year, and in the summer there is a forest corner on the balcony.

The modern design of office premises pleases the eye with the presence of live pot and tub plants, which creates a cozy and welcoming environment for both employees and visitors. At the same time, the microclimate is noticeably improved: the air in the premises is refreshed, humidified and aromatized.

It helps to avoid or at least reduce headaches, fatigue, dryness and inflammation of the mucous membranes. The simplest or most exotic flower plants adorn our habitat, improving mood and increasing efficiency, and this is already a lot.

How to provide the most favorable conditions for indoor plants? From childhood, everyone knows that plants need light, warmth and moisture for life.

Light, more precisely, sufficient illumination, is the main condition for the successful culture of indoor plants. Only in the light in green leaves the most complex biochemical processes of synthesis of substances necessary for the growth and development of plants take place.

In winter, the amount of natural light entering the rooms through the windows is very small. It is estimated that even through southern windows, plants receive just over 50% of the light they need. Already a meter from the window, the illumination is halved. In the depths of the room, at a distance of about four meters, there are simply no conditions for the existence of plants without artificial lighting.

Based on this, it is better to place views that require good lighting close to the window glass itself. Shade-tolerant flower plants will be able to winter at a distance of no more than a meter from the window. In this case, they are placed on various stands, flower stands, which must be equipped with special lamps with the "bio" brand for additional illumination of the plants.

The duration of the light period in the winter months should be at least 10-12 hours, of which about 6 hours fall on additional lighting in the morning and evening. If the place for flowers is determined away from the window, then in winter they will need artificial lighting for all 12 hours a day.

A conventional incandescent light bulb does not provide adequate lighting for plants because most of its light is in the red spectrum. Plus, it gets very hot and can burn flowers.

Optimum is light that combines the blue and red parts of the spectrum. Such radiation is possessed by fluorescent lamps and high pressure lamps (mercury, metal halide or sodium). It is very important at what height the lamp is located: for flowering plants it is 15-30 cm, for decorative deciduous plants - 30-60 cm above their tops.

What plants to choose for a home garden? Of course, those that they like, but with an understanding of what conditions they need to be beautiful and healthy, and as far as possible to provide these conditions. From the point of view of natural light in rooms, the greatest freedom of choice of flower plants is given to us by windows facing southeast and east. Here, at any time of the year, growing conditions are suitable for any species.

In winter, southern windows are preferred for all potted flowers, as they receive the most light and warmth, even from the rare, low sun. The southwest and west windows are not well lit in winter, so plants will need additional lighting. For northern windows, it is necessary to select shade-tolerant plants and take care of supplementary lighting.

Even without knowing the names, in appearance it is quite possible to determine that the plants are shade-tolerant. As a rule, they have dense leathery leaves with a rather dark color.

Many indoor plants are shade-tolerant: anthurium, araucaria, aspidistra, aucuba, Rex begonia and its other species, bilbergia, dracaena, clivia, arrowroot, monstera, muhlenbeckia, ophiopogon, palms (date, chamedorea, centia, etc.); ferns (maidenhair, asplenium, derbyanka, gonioflebium, leaflet, nephrolepis, cytomium, pteris, polypodium, pellea, platycerium, etc.), pittosporum, ivy, rodea, sanseviera, selaginella, sparmannia, strelitzia, scindescumdapus, ficus elastica, philodendron, fuchsia, chlorophytum, hoya (wax ivy), cyperus, cissus antarctic and others.

All of these species grow better in good lighting, but they completely put up with a lack of light and do not like to live in direct sunlight in spring and summer (then they need shading on the southern and western windows).

On the northern windows, with good care (this means timely and correct watering, top dressing, clean content from diseases and pests), it is possible to grow flowering plant species. Azaleas, Saintpaulias, semperflorence begonias, gracilis, etc., pelargoniums, Thomson's clerodendron, fuchsias, chrysanthemums and even indoor roses grow and bloom here.

Additional lighting of violets, fuchsias, chrysanthemums blooming in winter, of course, will benefit them. On the other hand, pelargoniums, fuchsias, roses are in a dormant period in winter, they need a low air temperature (10-12 ° C), rare watering in low light.

Most of them belong to light-loving flower plants, especially flowering ones. From the group of decorative deciduous - all types with brightly colored leaves and variegated garden forms and varieties. With a lack of light, the variegated patterns and stripes on the leaves turn pale and completely disappear, and the recently elegant plant becomes simply green, almost inconspicuous. But if you put it in a bright place or add artificial lighting, then pretty soon the bright colors will return, and the decorative effect will be restored.