Episode 119: how to give your houseplants a health check
Cacti and succulents hanging out under Vaxxer growlights from IKEA UK held in Bobby Lamps from Habitat. Photograph: Jane Perrone.
Transcript
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One of the best things you can do this winter is give your houseplants a health check: I explain how it’s done. Plus I answer a question about what to do with fallen leaves, and we discuss developments in OTL’s quest for a monstera emoji with my assistant Kelly Westlake. And we meet listener Nick.
Start with the pot
Take plants out of any cachepot and have a look at the bottom: if there’s a puddle of water, your plant is likely to be suffering from alack of air around the roots.
If it’s just damp, you may find tiny creatures moving about - these are often springtails which are nothing to worry about. Look underneath the pot for any hitchhiking slugs or other pests. test the weight of the pot: if it feels light, the plant may be drying out.
Check for any roots emerging from the bottom: tropical plants are often fine to be repotted over winter but dormant plants can wait until spring. repot cacti and succulents if necessary using dry cactus potting mix.
Check the top of the pot for mosses and liverworts which mean the soil is overly moist: white fuzzy mould isn’t usually a major problem and can be scraped away, but do check moisture levels around the rootball.
If you can, take plants out of their pots and check the roots are firm not smelly or mushy. If there are lots of roots on the surface of the soil, this usually means that you are watering little and often, which isn’t great for plants as it exacerbates plant stress.
Use a chopstick or similar to poke some holes in the rootball while you are at it: this will improve aeration and relieve compaction.
Stroke your leaves
Giving foliage a feel can give you some clues as to the condition of your plant. If they feel limp and are curling under AND the soil is dry, your plant needs a drink. Remember though that wilting and softness can also be a sign that the plant is overwatered and starting to rot.
If your leaves look dirty, you can spray with rainwater or distilled water to clean smooth leaves, or a clean soft brush to clean hairy leaves.
Turn leaves over and check underneath for any signs of pests, eg debris, mottling, webs and the pests themselves: also check crevices of plants for mealybugs.
Remove dead and dying leaves straightaway so you don’t encourage disease.
If leaves are touching windows in winter the may be damaged by the cold, so pull them back from the glass.
If you are going to mist leaves, the best time of day to do it is morning so that plants have a chance to dry off before nightfall.
Remember that pruning encourage new growth, so only prune judiciously in winter, removing dead, dying or diseased leaves.
Check water propagation vessels to make sure that the water hasn’t turned smelly, expecially if fallen leaves have entered. This can mean the water is low in oxygen, so replace immediately with fresh water.
Turn plants a little (a quarter turn, say) every few days so growth remains even.
LEGENDS OF THE LEAF
How exciting would it be to get all the wisdom of On The Ledge condensed into a beautiful book?
I’m currently writing Legends of the Leaf: The story behind 25 iconic houseplants and the secrets to making them thrive - a book that will do just that! I’ll be telling the stories of plants that we know and love, including Monstera deliciosa, the venus fly trap and aloe vera, and offering up the care tips you need to keep your plants in perfect health.
I am working with publisher Unbound to produce this book, so if you want to get your hands on a copy before it’s available in the bookshops, you can pre-order and get your hands on extras such as a print of one of the book’s bespoke illustrations by Helen Entwisle.
Find out more and pre-order your copy now! If you’ve already pledged, use code UPGRADELEAF15 for 15% off to upgrade to a higher reward.
Question of the week
Gabby wants to know if there’s something she can do with the fallen leaves that collect in her porch: she thought about chopping them up and mixing with her houseplant soil. I warned that slug and snail eggs can lurk on fallen leaves, and until they are rotted down to leafmould, they probably won’t add much to houseplant compost. Leafmould is magical stuff - here’s an article written by Alys Fowler about what it does to soils - but it takes a while to make. Collect leaves into plastic bags with a few holes in the sides (old compost sacks are fine) and leave them somewhere out of the way for two years. If that’s not possible, maybe Gabby could ask a friend or neighbour to store them for her, or give them away to someone else?
If Gabby wants to use some of the leaves now, a couple of leaves can be placed at the bottom of a pot when repotting to stop potting mix coming out of the bottom of the pot, or Gabby could try adding a few (checked for pests) to the top of pots as a mulch.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!
Jessie Ward’s first draft of our Monstera emoji. What do you think?
Monstera emoji first draft!
As you probably know, we are trying to get a Monstera emoji added to the official list of emojis which is decided by Unicode.
Listener Jessie Ward of Eastward Designs has come up with a draft - take a look and let me know what you think!
If you can help us with Google research for this project, or have any suggestions, do let me know!
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, Chiefs by Jahzzar and Endeavour by Jahzzar. Ad music was Dill Pickles by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons.
Logo design by Jacqueline Colley.