Fall may signal the end of the outdoor gardening season, but it also initiates the beginning of the indoor gardening season! This is a wonderful time of year where you can focus on what you can grow indoors. Have a great Autumn Season!
Copper Leaf
With its striking leaf coloration, this handsomely bushy, robust plant is an eye-catcher wherever displayed. The foliage is a richly bronzed green, enlivened with a variety of colorful marbling-copper, reddish-purple, or yellow.
It is a native of the islands of the South Pacific, where it grows as tall as a tree. As a houseplant, this branched, full plant is best kept at 3 to 4 feet (90 to 120 cm) and grown near high light, which produces the best leaf coloration.
Copper Leaf grows best with high to very high light with a temperature of approximately 65° to 80°F (18° to 26°C) and an average humidity of 25% or more. Can tolerate 40°F (4°C) without damage. Allow the surface of the potting mixture to dry out between waterings.
Special Notes: If new leaves are green or colorless, move to higher light. If plant becomes too large, fertilize less often.
In addition, you can cut back to 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) from potting mixture to stimulate bushiness. Repot annually if plant grows rapidly, using well-aerated potting mixture containing 50% organic matter.
Moon Valley Pilea
Though native to tropical America, this pilea produces curiously puckered leaves which in a way resemble the rough surrface of the moon.
These spectacular leaves are light green when they first emerge, but turn bronze around the main veins as they mature.
This relatively small plant will grow 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30.5 cm), and is excellent for a windowsill where the high light will produce the loveliest leaf coloration.
Moon Valley Pilea grows well in Medium to high light with a temperature of approximately 65° to 75°F (18° to 24°C) and an average humidity of 25% or more. Can tolerate 50°F (10°C) without damage. Allow the surface of the potting mixture to dry out between watterings.
Special Notes: When plant is 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) tall pinch back to encourage new growth and bushiness. Repot annually in well-aerated potting mixture containing 50% or more organic matter.
Also, if tips of stems die, raise humidity. If leaf loss occurs, leach out excess soluble salts.
Red Nerved Fittonia
All fittonias are prized for their lovely oval leaves, which have overall patterns of delicate veining.
This red-nerved fittonia is especially cultivated because, as its name indicates, it has striking dark red veins instead of the more common cream-colored ones.
Besides being beautiful, it is ideally suited for use in hanging baskets or as a ground cover for large planters, as it will grow 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) and then trail gracefully.
A native of Peru, the Red Nerved Fittonia requires a warm, humid growing situation.
Red Nerved Fittonia grow best with low to medium light with a temperature of approximately 65° to 80°F (18° to 26°C) and an average humidity of 40% or more. Can tolerate 50°F (10°C) without damage. Keep the potting mixture moistat all times, but not saturated.
Special Notes: Repot if plant becomes too large for pot, using well-aerated potting mixture containing 50% or more organic matter.
Also, if plant wilts, raise humidity
#4 Proper Plant Lighting
The total number of hours of light a plant receives in a given day (duration) is as important as the intensity of the light. If the intensity is sufficient but the duration improperly regulated, the plant's growth and flowering are both affected.
The plant's light-duration needs are usually predetermined by the conditions that were present in its original environment. Specific rhythmic periods of light and dark as they occur in nature are what the plant is programmed to need for growth and in some instances for flowering.
Some plants need as much as 14 hours of light daily to flower: Others won't flower unless they get 14 hours of darkness. By manipulating the light and darkness requirements, you can also force bloom.
Darkness-Ioving plants can be made to bloom out of season by putting them in a closet at night or covering them with a dark cloth. Light-Ioving plants can be forced into bloom by growing them under artificial lights.
Some flowering plants like the African violet are able to grow in a lower light level and shorter duration than they need to produce flowers. Therefore, to obtain flowers increase light intensity or duration.
In general, when the light intensity you provide is at the low end of the suggested requirement, at least 12 hours or more of light per day should be provided. If it is at the high end, then 8 hours of light will be adequate.
During the winter, supplement with artificial light. If the proper minimum light intensity is not provided, an increase in the duration of light does little good. The reason is that each plant has its own survival level of light intensity. The survival level allows the plant to produce enough food to live on, but not enough to allow it to grow.
For example, if survival light were supplied for as long as 24 hours a day, no growth would result. On the other hand, if the light intensity is just a little above the survival level, the additional light provided by increased duration {beyond 12 hours a day) would produce new growth. If the light intensity is well above survival, any additional light beyond 8 hours per day would produce abundant new growth.
