This supplement is
additional information to the following article as seen
in Issue Seven:
Nothing Shady about Interior
Gardeners (pp. 26-29)
...for a Problem and Solution table for indoor plants!
by National
Interior Plantscape Association (NIPA)
Problem and Solution table
| Symptom |
Possible Cause |
|
New leaves are mushy or rotten
(If it is a palm the whole centre of the plant
may be easily removed by gently pulling on the
new leaves) |
Over watering. Check the water in the soil, carefully
tip the plant up side down and remove the pot. If
the soil is water logged, let the soil dry out before
watering again and then water carefully allowing
the soil to dry out between watering.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, plants should
not be left sitting in water, the root will rot.
|
| Brown tips, dying or yellowing of
older leaves |
Under watering or salt damage. If you don’t
think under watering is the problem, if the plant
has been inside for a long time and has over its
life been fed with fertilizers, the soil may need
flushing. Take the plant outside and give it a good
drink and let the water drain thru the soil. Putting
the plant in the rain will do the same thing, but
if the plant has been inside for a long time it
may not like direct sunlight so be careful. |
| New growth is small or pale |
Lack of light. Move the plant to a position of
more light and watch what happens. |
| Brown circular waxy disks on the underside
of the leaves. |
This sounds like scale. Check with the magnifying
glass. Cut of the badly infected leaves and spray
with an insecticide that kills scale. Scale may
be black or brown and from 2mm to .5mm across. |
| White cotton like blobs on leaves
and stems. |
Mealybugs. Use the magnifying glass to identify
the bugs. If mealies are confirmed, hose down plant
with strong spray or wipe off the bugs with a clean
cloth (destroy or wash the cloth afterwards). Then
spray with an insecticide that kills mealybugs. |
| Dull foliage and dusty or reddish
underneath |
Red Spider Mites. These can easily be seen with
a magnifying glass or by running your finger along
the leaf. If it is Red Spider Mite your fingers
will be wet and slightly red.
Spray with a miticide. |
| Leaves bleached |
Direct sunlight can quickly damage a plant that
has been acclimatised for indoors. |
| Wrinkled leaves or stems |
This is due to under watering but is hard to identify
to the untrained eye. |
The most basic of the interior gardener’s job
is watering. New innovative, world class concepts concerning
the age old use of watering cans and buckets are being
developed continually. Self-watering containers, self-
pressurized water tanks holding as much as100 litres
at a time, drip irrigation, and hydroponics, are just
a few of the newer ideas.
Charles Lewis, a man of great vision and the foundational
inspiration for the modern US-based ‘People Plant
Council’ brought the people/plant interaction
message to horticulture for over 30 years. His ideas,
observations and practical pursuit of improving the
quality of urban life with plants, are embodied in his
seminal book ‘Green Nature / Human Nature: The
Meaning of Plants in Our Lives’. (Charles A. Lewis,
1996 University of Illinois Press). The idea of improving
the quality of life (QOL) with plants is becoming an
accepted reason for the inclusion of plants in your
home.
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