Thursday, January 7, 2010

Rinse and Fertilize Houseplants

The weather outside is still pretty nasty. So, what is a frustrated gardener to do? Well, now is the perfect time to do some maintenance on your houseplants. Even plants get dusty and periodically, they need a good shower. To illustrate, here is a plant before his shower:


And here is the same plant after:



Big difference, right? You simply put your plant in the sink and lightly spray off the leaves. Just like this:


Another important thing to remember is that plants are living things and just like you and me, they get hungry. So, after their shower, break up the soil gently with one of these:



And give them a nice slow releasing fertilizer like this:

Your houseplants will thank you for it:-)

15 comments:

  1. I need all the tips like this I can get. I definitely don't have a green thumb! :)

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  2. That's a good tip! I used to have live plants but I kept killing them off so I decided it was best to stop buying them. :(

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  3. Oh neat. No wonder hubby does all the house plants. The refreshed plant looks so much healthier.

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  4. I have many plants in need of a bath! Great idea.

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  5. I gave one of my houseplants (I only have 2) a quick shower the other day. It looks much better! I need to get some fertilizer though.

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  6. After the spray shower the plant really looks different. Nice tip there!

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  7. I do not have house plants. I have always killed them. OOPs..

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  8. One of the few drawbacks of having my fantastic feline companion is that she eats any and all plants...so no house plants for me!

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  9. I do not have any plants. I can't seem to take care of them properly...poor little things. I love them, but I am not a very good plant parent.

    Happy New Year!

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  10. one of these days, i'll spend time learning about plants. oh - and I love your scrolling button bar thingy at the bottom of your page!

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  11. That sure did make a difference! Unfortunately I let all my houseplants die. We don't get enough light here. I'd love to try again though!

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  12. Susie, Are you really Martha? No, you can't be. You don't look angry.

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  13. I think I need to come by here more often. Our house plants are sad and miserable...every now and again they get a chance to grow and then the bloody parrot tries to eat them!!

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