Air plants are epiphytes If you’re like me, you can’t resist these amazingly varied plants in the genus Tillandsia, commonly called air plants. Some have unusual leaves, while others look like grasses. Many exhibit interesting textures, spiral patterns, unusual twists, or pleasing symmetries. Many air plants have small purple flowers, but some have red, [...]
Cascading plants are easy to prune Has that formerly gorgeous goldfish gotten gargantuan? Is your cordatum crawling into the corridor? Is that Hoya not so bella any more? All vining plants in your care—whether newly installed or in accounts for years—need regular grooming to stay in shape, or get back in shape. If you [...]
Monstera deliciosa is another plant prone to thrips In caretaking indoor plants, it's not unusual to go for months without ever seeing thrips. This pest tends to run in batches. When you discover thrips on one plant in an account the pest will very likely be on many plants throughout the account. But most [...]
Flying insects can harm your plants Having trouble getting flying pests such as fungus gnats under control? Try controlling them with traps coated with sticky materials. Commercially made sticky traps are pieces of colored cardboard or plastic coated with polybutene-naptha inert rubber polymer. Wow! Long description for such a simple solution! Flying insects are [...]
Dracaena Warneckii has fragile leaves You can always tell a novice plant technician by the way they handle plants. “Oops, sorry! I guess those were some leaves I heard crunching when I grabbed the plant by its sleeve.” “Oops, would you look at that! I guess it isn’t rooted well enough to carry it [...]
Do you know when to replace Chamaedorea metallica? The four per pot Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’ in the entry is down to one cane -- one nice cane, but it does look a bit thin... The kentia in the corner window office only has three fronds left on it -- though these three are quite [...]
Yucca plants make great additions to indoor spaces with pools or saunas Sometimes it's easy to forget that there's no such thing as an indoor plant. When we have the perfect well-lit, high humidity, climate-controlled atrium it seems that all plants are able to adapt to interiors. Not so, all plants are natives to [...]
Snake plant is beautiful and drought-tolerant Plants have adapted to survive dry periods in many ways. Some fold their leaves, others close their stomata. Interior plants living out their lives with their roots limited to the available moisture in a container, and their leaves exposed to chronic low humidity, are likely candidates for dehydration. [...]
Do plants actually sweat? How many times has someone pulled you into their office, pointing to their Ficus, saying, “ My plant is covered with bugs!! What are they and what are you going to do about them?” No matter how many times this happens, it can always give you a little start. Your [...]
Plants make the essential nutrients they need through photosynthesis Plants are amazing. Did you know that they manufacture their own food? Unlike any other organism, plants are able to make their own nutrients through photosynthesis. They create their own food through their leaves. Leaves are the food factories of a plant. The raw materials they [...]
