nurturing plants

a) Watering:
Water according to the needs of the plant,not according to the calendar. (Some plants do not need frequent watering such as the cacti and succulent variety)
- Feel the soil to see how dry it is,you can’t tell by looking.
- Don’t pour water directly onto leaves unless you know it doesn’t bother the plants.
- Brown leaves and wilted leaves mean you need more water.Yellow leaves on bottom mean you are watering too much.
- If you are not sure whether it’s time to water,wait a day or two.Less is definitely better than more.

b) Light /Sun:
- Flowering plants need light /sun to make flower buds.
- If light conditions are very poor,the plant will die;if they are marginal,the plant will hang on but not thrive.
- Do note that not all plants require a lot of sunlight, many indoor plants require at least a quarter of sunlight to thrive.

c) Humidity:
- Spray a fine mist of water on and around the plant.
- Brown leaf tips are usually a sign that the humidity is too low.
- Plants that need very high levels of humidity will benefit if kept in the bathroom or sprayed regularly.

d) Fertilizing:
- Best to feed the plants every two weeks with the correct type of fertilizer.
- Fertilizer is not medicine.If your plant is doing poorly because of bad light or a disease,fertilizing will only make matters worse. First fix the basic problem.

e) Grooming:
- Keeping plants clean or away from dust is one way to keep disease conditions under control.
- Don’t let the dead leaves stay on the plant or on the soil, they tend to foster disease.