Herself's Houseplants

I’ve been lusting after a small indoor water garden ever since I saw them at a flower show a couple of years back. I have to say growing aquarium plants has been the most challenging for me of all the plants.

This water garden is about 3 weeks old, I’ll post more photos as it matures.

Large glass containers are much easier to find now and much cheaper than they used to be. This one holds about a gallon and a half of water.

The plants you see are from the pet store aquarium dept., nothing special. I also bought a package of bulbs. I added them last week, they should begin to sprout any day now. Small pet stores usually carry a much more interesting selection of plants than do the larger chain stores. The dollar weed that is such a nightmare in your garden also works well in aquariums.

First you need a really clean glass container. I put glass beads at the bottom, what ever stones look best will work. You only need them to weigh down the plants. The stones are about an inch deep. I then added the plants. Add the plants before the water or you’ll be fighting to get them to stay put.

I use filtered tap water. Bottled water turns into an algae nightmare quickly. My water is very hard, the plants don’t seem to mind. Nor does the betta fish.

The fish is just there because I like to watch him. Goldfish eat plants, betta do not.

I placed a fluorescent light onto of the water garden. The plants grew just fine with out it, the fish seems to prefer the light. I found just an hour of dappled sun light is all the plants need to grow. Too much sun grows algae instead of plants.

I add StressZyme and StressCoat 1/2 ml per water change for the fish. and Flourish fertilizer, 1/2 ml per water change for the plants. Any of the liquid fertilizers will do just fine. Avoid the solid fertilizers they turn the water to mud.

The success lies not in any of above mentioned things but in frequent water changes. The more water I change the better the plants do. I drain about half the water and replace with filtered tap water every day while I have my morning coffee.

I received an interesting question by email this week, someone wrote to ask if there was a list of plants preferring to be bottom watered as opposed to top watered.

Most people know that African Violets prefer bottom watering and that’s about it.  While I don’t know of a list of plants preferring bottom to top watering I can give you some rules of thumb:

Bottom water preferring plants:

- Plants that are tropical and prefer moist soil, including African voilets but any plant that prefers moist soil and warm temperatures.

- Plants that don’t like wet leaves, this is usually your warm weather tropicals and plants with fuzzy leaves, like Purple Passion/Purple Velvet plant.

- Bog plants including Venus flytraps, pitcher plants and other bog plants grown inside.

Top water preferring plants:

- Any plant planted in sand like cactus, the sand doesn’t wick up enough water from the bottom to water the plant.

- Any plant in bark, same as above, to bottom water a plant you need  a soil that will wick the water up.  So orchids in bark need water from the top.

Are you one of those people who just must add water every time you walk by a plant? Consider growing some bog plants inside. They are easy to grow and they are far more exotic than your average house plant.

Carnivorous plants: These bog plants love sun So you’ll want a sunny window for them. They average about 6″ some more some less.

Umbrella plant: Would love a sunny window but will do fine in an east or west bright window. These grow to about 2′ potted up inside but can reach 4′.

Alocasias: Most of these do not want direct sun. They will grow 1′ to 2′ talk and you’ll feel your in the jungle.

All of these plants can be grown in sphagnum moss or peat moss, the only stipulation is that carnivorous plants can not be grown in soil that has had fertilizer added to it.

Pot up your plant and put the pot in a dish of water. Any 1″-2″ saucer will do just fine. Water them from the bottom, just top off that saucer when ever you feel the urge to water.

It’s been busy at work or you went on vacation and you come home to a bunch of dried up sorry looking plants. You forgot to water your plants.

How dead is your plant? Plants will come back from just about any state of death.

First take your plant to the sink or a bucket and submerge the pot in water. This may take a few minutes. If the soil is extremely dry it may try to float up and out of the pot so hang on to it and keep an eye on it. Once the plant is thoroughly soaked leave it soaking in water up to the rim of the pot for an hour or more.

Then drain the water from your plant. Let the water out of the sink and give your plant several minutes to drain thoroughly.

Now take some sharp, clean scissors and remove dead and severely damaged leaves.

Give your plant a half dose of its regular fertilizer.

Place it back in its usual home and wait. You’ll be amazed at how many plants will send up new leaves and rebound even though you thought they were dead.

If it is very dried out or a plant you attached to you can also try this:

Un-pot the plant and soak the roots in a bucket of water for about an hour.

Replant the plant in some sphagnum moss ( available at most nurseries ) Soak the moss and drain out the excess water.

Take a clear plastic bag and form a green house over the plant and pot. A few sticks will keep the plastic off the plant. Now put it in a sunny window. After a few weeks you should see new leaves coming. Remove the plastic tent when new leaves appear. After a few months of healthy growth re-pot the plant back in its regular potting medium.

See also:
Use sphagnum moss to make your plants easier to care for