When is required the first aid for house plants? House plant varieties have changed over the years, but one would expect their problems to be quite unchanging. This is surprisingly is not so – the menace of coal gas fumes has disappeared in recent years but it has been replaces by an equally serious but completely different menace – the hot, desert-dry air of the centrally-heated room. Even pests and diseases change – Pelargonium rust was virtually unknown until a few years ago.
The problems that can occur are many and varied. Inspect the plants regularly, especially under the leaves. You may detect the first signs of rot because you forgot to reduce watering as winter approached.
Likewise, you may notice symptoms of light deficiency if you have redecorated using much darker wallpaper. The secret of successful plant care is to look for and act on the first signs of trouble.
When we’re talking about the first aid for house plants, we should know that prevention is always better than cure! So you follow these instructions for the preventive measures and apply the first aid for house plants:
1. Don’t bring trouble in with the compost. Never use unsterilized soil. Buy a specially-prepared compost, which you can be sure will be pest- and disease-free. Alternatively sterilize soil if you wish to prepare a home-made compost.
2. Don’t bring trouble in with the plants. Inspect new plants carefully and take any remedial action which may be necessary before putting them with the other plants.
3. Don’t put plants in the danger spots. These spots are: between an open window and a door, on a windowsill with poor-fitting frames, in an unlit corner or a dark passageway, between closed curtains and the window during frosty weather, near an air-conditioning heating duct, or on the TV or radiator unless extra humidity is provided.
4. Remove dead flowers and dying leaves. Hygiene is important. Fallen leaves can become covered in grey mould, and this will spread rapidly to healthy leaves if conditions are cool and humid.
5. Act promptly when there is trouble. Don’t wait. Move the plant to a better location or spray the leaves if such treatment is recommended.
