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Posted on 6:56 PM by Wanto and filed under
By Scottish Derek
It is no accident that the countries most noted for their displays of plants in the home are all in cool climates, for where it is comparatively easy to warm a house up to comfortable living standards it is not so simple a matter to keep a house cool unless one resorts to hermetically sealed air conditioned practices.
But depending on the shape and size of windows and the presence or absence of trees, walls or buildings outside, there can be a surprising difference in the quality and intensity of light in different positions in the same window.
Less than a hundred years ago only the most stately homes were able to mount displays of plants comparable to those seen today, and these succeeded only because the plants could be brought indoors for special occasions and then removed again by one of the garden staff to the conservatories, greenhouses and stove houses.
About the only plants seen in the less opulent homes were the aspidistra and ficus, the first well named the cast-iron plant for its ability to live in dark rooms lit by gas and warmed by a coal fire.
Some plants require considerably warmer conditions when they are very young and still growing a strong root system than when they are more mature and a significant increase in the growth rate can be induced by bringing this plant nearer to a source of warmth. But too strong a light can be bad for some young plants, in which case place them, for example, on the floor away from direct light but near to a radiator until they are growing away well.
Signs of a lack of light are drawn plants, weak and spindly, with pale color and a lack of vigor. Transfer these suffering plants to a lighter place, but do this gradually to avoid too great a shock to the plants' system. Move them a foot or two each day nearer to a good light source until you see a greater depth of color in the foliage.
But depending on the shape and size of windows and the presence or absence of trees, walls or buildings outside, there can be a surprising difference in the quality and intensity of light in different positions in the same window.
Less than a hundred years ago only the most stately homes were able to mount displays of plants comparable to those seen today, and these succeeded only because the plants could be brought indoors for special occasions and then removed again by one of the garden staff to the conservatories, greenhouses and stove houses.
About the only plants seen in the less opulent homes were the aspidistra and ficus, the first well named the cast-iron plant for its ability to live in dark rooms lit by gas and warmed by a coal fire.
Some plants require considerably warmer conditions when they are very young and still growing a strong root system than when they are more mature and a significant increase in the growth rate can be induced by bringing this plant nearer to a source of warmth. But too strong a light can be bad for some young plants, in which case place them, for example, on the floor away from direct light but near to a radiator until they are growing away well.
Signs of a lack of light are drawn plants, weak and spindly, with pale color and a lack of vigor. Transfer these suffering plants to a lighter place, but do this gradually to avoid too great a shock to the plants' system. Move them a foot or two each day nearer to a good light source until you see a greater depth of color in the foliage.
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