Indoor Gardening (8 page)

To prevent it from forming, use tepid water for your plants and keep a close eye on the hygrometer (apparatus to measure humidity). Also, install a vent fan to encourage air circulation and dissipate excess moisture in the air.

If the plant is already under attack, remove all the infected leaves immediately. Then, use an organic fungicide every 3-4 days until you are sure that your plants are safe and recovering.

2.
S
OIL
B
ORN
F
UNGUS

This type of fungus will attack the roots of your plant and it will be visible on the surface of the soil in the initial stages. These types of fungus, like all others, proliferate when there’s too much moisture. This often happens if the soil is retaining too much water retention owing to improper drainage. Sometimes, you may get an infected planting medium when you buy a potted plant or the soil may be infected as well.

To prevent soil born fungus you need to use sterile planting medium, and ensure proper drainage of the soil with the help of drainage holes at the bottom of the container and maintaining proper soil texture.

If the plant is under attack in spite of the preventive measures, use a biodegradable soap solution for the soil (1 oz Dr. Bronner’s soap with 15 oz of water is what I use). The fungus would die after 3-5 applications. Ensure that you mix the fungicide as per the instructions and the drainage is proper.

C
HAPTER 8.
I
NDOOR
G
ARDEN
D
ESIGN
I
DEAS

There are many ways to bring in the outdoors inside. The sky is the limit when it comes to choosing designs and ways to arrange your lovely potted plants around your home. Each home is unique and as is its interior décor and its owner’s taste. So there is no hard and fast rule; you can design it to please your eye.

To inspire you, here are a few suggestions:

A
W
ALL OF
G
REEN
P
LANTS

You can create a beautiful live wall with a simple metal rack and a number of foliage plants to fill it. This will help you focus your light on the plants and also create a stunning effect in the room. To sustain it lively and green, you need to focus on the intensity of light, humidity levels and be careful that pests don’t get to it. Rotate the plants from time to time so they are exposed to light evenly and you will have something that everyone who comes to your home would admire.

There are many styles in which you could implement this idea. Here are some examples, but you could try various other arrangements depending upon your home interior décor, plants you love and the amount of money you want to invest in supporting implements such as lighting and the plant holders, etc.

F
ERN
G
ARDEN

Ferns are very beautiful, hardy plants that will grow well wherever you place them. They require little light and do not need much watering either. Try placing large pots in a typical arrangement to create a fern forest or place them all over the room. Their rich green color and splendid foliage would enhance your mood 24x7 and your room will look more inviting. Ferns are also excellent plants for cleaning the air and they’re one of the reasons why the air in a rainforest smells so good!

C
ACTUS
G
ARDEN

A cactus garden is one of the most beautiful types you can have indoors. Cacti are among the most unpretentious plants and you will, with very little effort, have a most beautiful garden with the least of effort.

B
ONSAI
G
ARDEN

The bonsai garden is not for amateurs. This is something you nurture for years before it takes the shape you plan – but in the end it would make your heart sing literally. You can make the most exquisite designs with the bonsai trees – provided you have the time and patience to build it. It takes about 5-15 years to have a proper bonsai garden.

If you are looking for a short-cut you could buy bonsai trees and replant them in the indoor landscape you have in mind. However, the trees do not come cheap so, you should be prepared to invest a small fortune if you intend to go this way.

J
APANESE
G
ARDEN

The Japanese Garden may be unparalleled in its beauty. There are plenty of resources on the Net that will teach you how to design a Japanese garden indoors. The most attractive part of this type of garden is that it would have to be around a body of water like a mini pond or fountain.

It takes a lot of ingenuity and creativity to make a veritable Japanese garden. It has beauty in its asymmetry and is most natural looking even though it is manmade. The beauty of this garden is that it demands that you (the creator) imitate Mother Nature in its elements and arrangements.

T
ERRARIUMS

This is the latest in indoor gardening today. Once upon a time you would have found this only as school projects; today it is the ultimate in creativity. You can have them open or closed – and the challenge lies in creating a complete ecosystem based on a theme of your choice – i.e. a miniature complete garden.

V
ERTICAL
A
EROPONICS
T
OWERS

If you want to grow food and have never heard of aeroponics before, you’re in for a treat. This is an awesome way to grow fresh food at home, indoors, outdoors or even on rooftops. There are so many great advantages of growing an aeroponics garden.

First of all, aeroponics gardening uses absolutely no soil, meaning you don’t have to deal with weeding, fertilizers or soil management. Secondly, aeroponics systems use only about 10% of the water compared to traditional gardens. All the water in the system is recycled so there’s no runoff which is why you can grow plants with much less water than traditional gardening. With aeroponics the plants also grow much faster as well (NASA quoted that plants in aeroponic systems grow at least twice as fast as soil gardens).