Interior (Indoor) Plants

Horticulture College -Distance Education Plant Course

Learn skills to make informed decisions on the selection, care and use of indoor plants.

• Learn to identify hundreds of indoor plants systematically and easier
• Learn how to grow plants inside, their care and use
• Indulge your passion or increase your commercial skills

To be successful with indoor plants, you need to be able firstly, to identify correctly, the plants you are dealing with; and then secondly, understand the conditions required for the specific plant variety concerned.

“Indoor plantscaping and care is a great profession to get into, and this course will help you to build the required knowledge to be able to maintain these plants – both commercially and in the home.”- Tracey Morris Dip.Hort., Cert.Hort., Cert III Organic Farming, ACS Tutor

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Plant Naming and pronunciation
   • Review of indoor plant families
   • Resources
2. Indoor Plant Culture - Part A
   • Understanding interior environments
   • Plants for different light conditions
   • Problems with indoor plants
   • Potting Media
   • Potting up
   • Container selection
   • Managing plant nutrition
   • Pruning indoor plants
   • Propagation and caring for young indoor plants
3. Indoor Plant Culture - Part B
   • Acclimatizing indoor plants
   • Helping plants survive neglect
   • Managing plant health indoors
4. Foliage Plants
   • Growing palms inside
   • Review of palm genera
   • Selecing and Growing Ferns inside
   • Review of other foliage plant genera
5. Flowering Plants
   • Orchids
   • African violets
   • Poinsettia
   • Other genera grown for flowers indoors.
6. Other Indoor Plants
   • Herbs
   • Vines and Climbers
7. Making The Best Use Of Indoor Plants
   • Deciding where to place an indoor plant
   • Managing colour
   • Using mirrors
   • Plants in baskets
   • Hydroponics indoors
   • Miniature gardens
8. The Interior Plantscaping Industry
   • Interior Plantscaping Business
   • Growing in Greenhouses
   • Environmental control

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Distinguish between different types of indoor plants
• Describe the cultural methods used for growing various indoor plants
• Evaluate a range of plants not commonly grown indoors for their suitability for interior plantscaping.
• Select appropriate plants for different interior plantscaping situations.
• Develop innovative ways of presenting plants for indoor situations.
• Explain the interior plantscaping industry, including its nature and scope.

Tips for Helping Indoor Plants Become Acclimatised

Indoor plants can look beautiful all year round providing you choose the right varieties and help them get used to their new environment.
Acclimatisation involves helping plants adapt to changes in things like temperature, light and air quality. It happens to all plants when they are moved from one place to another, eg. from a greenhouse or nursery to the interior of a building or a shaded area around the house. Since plants cannot move themselves from an unfavourable position, they must adapt to the conditions where they are.

Why Acclimatise?
When plants are provided with suitable light, high nutrition, adequate water, suitable temperatures and humidity conditions they respond accordingly and grow beautifully. When they are suddenly moved into the low-light, low-humidity conditions found indoors, most are subject to stress. This can result in leaf drop, reduced growth and even death.

Light intensity and water stress have the most obvious effect in the acclimatisation process. Leaves from light loving plants, when grown in the shade, tend to be smaller and thinner than those grown in the sun. They also have a more reflective surface, and are closer together on the stem.

When placed in a shady spot, changes occur in the leaves over the next 4 to 8 weeks. Food reserves may be depleted and leaves may drop off. With time, the leaves become acclimatised and become a healthy darker green.

How to Acclimatise
The first step is to talk to your nurseryman about the history of the plant you wish to buy. How long has it been sitting in the nursery? Has it been receiving a lot of light? Remove any slow release fertiliser which may be on the surface of the plant. Thoroughly leach the soil by flushing with good clean water. Place the plant in 50% shade in a protected area, either under a large tree in the backyard or on a shaded veranda under other leafy plants.

How to Care for the Acclimatising Plant
1. Never expose the plant to low temperatures, direct sunlight or wind during this period. Bring the plant indoors at night or on windy days and then take it back outside to its protected area when conditions have improved.

2. Throughout the acclimatising period keep the soil moist but never wet, and keep a close eye on any potential pest or disease problems.

3. Light pruning and shaping can be done during this period but don’t overdo it, as the plant may suffer another setback in growth.

4. If the plant shows signs of stress (burnt leaf tips, wilting or leaf drop), move the plant to a more protected position for a few days. You may need to find a new, more sheltered, position for the acclimatisation period.

5. When the plant shows signs of recovery, give it a half-strength liquid feed.
Acclimatising Period
The length of time required for a plant to be acclimatised varies according to species, its previous treatment, and the magnitude of the change. Up to 8 weeks may be necessary for some plants.