When you are having a conversation with your supervisor, client or fellow technician, do you pay attention with your entire body and mind? Or do you find yourself just catching key phrases and editing what they say through your internal filters? Active listening uses a variety of our senses, including sight and sound, in order to pay [...]
Not to be mistaken with an article about the internet, today we are talking about one of our most common interior pests: spider mites. Due to their small size and amazing reproductive capabilities, populations can often get out of our control before we even notice symptoms on plants. Spider mites spin webs as their populations increase [...]
A Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckei' in good light can develop leaf blotches that are troublesome and annoying. A t first glance you may think the plant has bugs that are causing cells to burst as they pierce and suck. But try as you might, you won't be able to find that bug because the source of these [...]
Why Plants Need Sunlight All plants need sunlight It’s a simple fact. All green plants need light to survive and grow. Without light they could not exist. They all use light as a source of energy for photosynthesis, a chemical reaction that occurs only in the presence of light. Natural light from the sun, [...]
Next to our watering cans, scissors, pruners, and saws rank high on the list of required tools for interiorscapers. They function as an extension of our hands, doing the work of shaping plants, forcing new growth, cutting out diseased limbs and trimming off unsightly leaves. By keeping them clean and sharp, they make plant care easier [...]
In the spring of the year, all of us plant enthusiasts' get that annual itch in our fingertips to grow new plants. When we grow new plants we call it propagation. Propagation defined is to cause a plant or animal to reproduce itself; multiply or increase, as by natural reproduction. Two ways -to reproduce There are [...]
A containerized plant with a limited amount of soil around its roots will need a dose of fertilizer from time to time. While plants make their own food through a process called photosynthesis, soil nutrients are used up during this process and eventually those nutrients need replacing. Plants have the ability to manufacture their own food. [...]
Neem oil is pressed from the seed of the neem tree (Azadirachtin indica). Native to the dry forests of eastern India, Pakistan and Burma, this tree is known by several names including "village pharmacy," "cornucopia," "wonder tree," and "the veritable gold mine." Neem leaves, stems, seeds and oil have been used for medicinal purposes and pest [...]
Earth Day is right around the corner! Monday, April 22nd! As interiorscapers, we here at TropicalPlant Technicians feel that we are allies to plants all around the world. Not only do they clean our air, making it possible for us to breathe, but they also make our amazing planet a more beautiful and pleasant place to live. This [...]
All of us have made some mistakes and killed off a few plants. Overwatering, underwatering, not detecting insects until they carried the plant away, the normal stuff. But as the years go on and we learn from our mistakes, we get better at what we do, and new problems arise. Aging plants in aging soil, now [...]
