A bit of light, a bit of water... how hard can it be???

Having admitted my failure to look after my indoor plants as well as I should (and indeed to keep my little chilli alive!), I decided it was definitely time to start paying more attention to their actual needs. Our house faces directly north/south, with only one (frosted) window facing west. Most plants are on the south-facing windowsills of the dining room and bathroom, with a few facing west, one or two in the north- and west-facing porch, and just a couple further inside the house and away from windows altogether. Now that I've repotted the things which were crying out for more space for their feet, I'm being thoughtful about where I put them, rather than everything just going back where it came from. Moving the peace lilies to the north-facing and the snake plants to the south-facing windows should help them both feel happier; the cactus which is no longer in the hall but on the bathroom windowsill with the rest of its spiky friends should benefit from the better light; and the shade-loving plant which has been struggling on the sunny south-facing windowsill has swapped places with a sun-loving snake plant which was far away from all windows at the far end of the living room. Let's see how things get on now!

I've been thinking for some time that I also need to try propagating one or two of the bathroom cacti - there are a couple which have produced numerous 'pups', and some reading I've done suggests that actually removing some of these will help the main plant conserve its energy better. So that was also a fun new challenge to try - not difficult, but somewhat spiky! Following the instructions I found online, I carefully removed a couple of the pups from the big round cactus, and left them for a couple of days to heal the removal site. I've now got three small babies in a pot together, and the parent plant straightened up and re-sited to the middle of its pot, with lots of fresh new cactus compost and some fresh top dressing just to look pretty.

We also have one hydroponic plant which has a tendency towards algae around its roots - again, this looks like being a problem caused by too much light and the wrong kind of water(!). Moving it away from the direct sunlight and providing it with rainwater from the butts outside rather than tapwater might make a difference and is definitely worth a try.

I'm not good at catering to very specific needs, so most plants get water poured into their pots every so often - the frequency varies more than the method, and aims to take account of the invididual plant's requirements. Occasionally I'll give the orchids and cacti a good root soaking for about 10 minutes, then drain off the excess water before putting the actual pot back in its decorative pot. Last summer some plants also got put outside occasionally in the rain to give them a bit of a fresh breeze through their leaves and to rinse off any accumulated dust etc. I don't ever treat plants to a water spray in the house, no matter how much they might like it, as I just can't face trying to not get water on the wrong things, wiping down the spray off the windows and all that faff!

So what else can I do to look after their health? I do cut off flower stems from the orchids and other flowering plants after they've died, and remove any dead leaves from things promptly. I also keep an eye out for any insect infestations, and try to treat those as quickly as I can before they take a firm hold and get too deeply embedded. Having looked everything over carefully when repotting it, the dragon plant and one lily are currently out in quarantine on the patio, having had a very thorough spray with insecticide! I'm reluctant to bring them back indoors while I can see signs of white fuzzy bugs on there - particularly while it's mild enough outdoors overnight that they can cope. My chilli (when I have one) also gets semi-regular feeding with dilute tomato food. And of course the compost matters - orchids, cacti/succulents, and 'normal' plants each get the right kind of compost to meet their needs.

Hopefully the learning and thought I've put into things for the Indoor Gardener badge will pay off with happier plants. And as I know I also want to put more plants into my office at work, I've checked which direction the window faces, and will be able to select appropriate plants, and suitable locations for them. Hooray!