How not to go broke on indoor flowers: 12 tips, Guidelines for those who have decided to green the apartment pt.2
METHOD ## 7
Ask people you know
It's quite possible that people you know are propagating their own plants and would be happy to share the offshoots.
I suggest asking directly if you like your friends' flowers. Popular flowers like ficus, violets, chlorophytums, cacti or begonias will definitely be found this way.
For example, I brought this hoya halfway across the country from my aunt. After this move, it didn't want to grow for a few months, but it took root. Savings of about $12
TIP #8
Propagate plants by cuttings.
You can grow a new plant for free from a cuttings - a piece of plant, a shoot or even a leaf.
To do this, you need to cut off a certain part of the plant with a sharp knife. For example, one leaf with a petiole is enough for a calanhoe, while an anthurium should have its top cut off with two or three leaves.
Cuttings can first be put in water and transplanted when the roots grow. But sometimes they are planted immediately in a mixture of sand, peat and vermiculite. To increase the chances of success, cuttings are treated with growth stimulants
The seedling should be watered and put in a bag to make a greenhouse. When roots appear, the bag can be removed. To keep an eye on the roots, the seedling is planted in a transparent cup: everything is visible there. In a pot, too, you can, just have to wait for the sprouts.
So "clone" almost all indoor flowers. Surplus specimens can be exchanged on the swap or sold on "Avito" - you can also make money on plants.
Cuttings can first grow roots or rosettes. To do this, it is placed in water. This is how this new peperomia grew from a leaf of an adult plant
To propagate succulents, cut healthy leaves and let the cut dry for 3-5 days. Then the leaves are scattered on the ground, put the pot in a place with diffused light and sprayed until a rosette grows in 4-8 weeks.
TIP #9
Save Money on Pots
Consider buying unglazed clay pots for your plants. They're inexpensive, starting at $0.70, and are ideal for cacti, succulents, and other plants that don't require frequent watering. The unglazed clay absorbs excess moisture, preventing root rot.
I've also explored "Avito" for pots, but the selection is limited. A noteworthy find was bespoke concrete cachepots, which are more affordable than their ceramic counterparts. They allow you to build a collection of varying sizes and shapes.
Pinterest offers a wealth of ideas for repurposing old dishes, clocks, and driftwood into pots. With time and creativity, you can create planters from a variety of materials, such as wooden beads, skewers, popsicle sticks, or twine.
TIP# 10
Proper Care
Taking care of your plants requires not just money, but also time and effort. This includes watering, spraying, transplanting, feeding, removing dry leaves, trimming stretched shoots, and turning pots towards the sun. If these steps are overlooked, your vibrant plants might wilt or die. You would then need to buy new ones or abandon the idea of a greenhouse.
By utilizing books, online courses, and articles, you can learn how to select suitable plants, transplant them, mix the soil, maintain proper humidity, and treat diseases. You can also seek advice on forums or hire a home consultant.
As I lack the funds for courses and consultants, I gather knowledge bit by bit, mostly from the internet. I also glean some tips from plant sellers.
My seemingly unkillable Haworthia succumbed to overwatering. I watered it daily during winter, hoping that the sprout would root faster, but it should have been watered only once every two weeks. It's often easier to overwater many plants than to make them dry out.
TIP #11
Make Your Own Soil
While flower stores sell ready-made soil for all types of plants, including orchids, succulents, and violets, not all packages specify their composition. This makes it unclear whether the soil for cacti is different from that for ficus.
A succulent collector advised me to create my own soil mixture. You can buy large packages of individual components - soil, peat, sand, bark, charcoal, expanded clay, and moss - and combine them in different proportions for different plants. Thus, I can use one set for anthurium, succulents, and ficus.
If you have many plants but are strapped for cash, almost all components for the substrate can be found for free:
- Sand can be taken from a children's sandbox, but it needs to be thoroughly washed.
- Charcoal can be sourced from friends who own cottages. Ensure they burn fires without plastic waste.
- Moss can be collected from the forest.
- Tree bark can be gathered in the forest, from Avito, or in the park after tree felling.
- Soil can be taken from the forest, provided it's far from roads.
- Instead of expanded clay, you can use small stones, egg or nutshells, charcoal, or broken bricks at the bottom of the pot.
This can save you around $4-$5 for three or four medium-sized pots. Although finding all the components in nature was challenging for me, I buy soil and peat, take charcoal from the cottage, and use eggshells and moss for drainage.
Externally, charcoal from the dacha - above - differs from purchased charcoal in size. I also know that it is made of pure wood
This is jagel, which I brought from the Altai Mountains. I use it for drainage and as a humidifier: I spray it on and put it between flowers that like moist air
TIP #12
Creating Fertilizer from Food Waste
Although the savings might be small, this method can be a natural progression for those already sorting their waste. It promotes environmental stewardship. For instance, tea brew, coffee grounds, banana peel infusion, algae, and fish waste can be used to feed plants. However, due to potential odor issues, I would be hesitant to use fish waste.
Tea and coffee are ideal for plants that prefer acidic soil, like ferns, ivy, monstera, violets, and peperomia. Conversely, begonia and asparagus favor neutral or alkaline soil - crushed eggshells can be added for them.
In my view, the most effective organic fertilizer is the liquid from a home composter, though I don't own one yet. The resulting fertilizer is comparable to store-bought concentrate. You can even create your own composter using two plastic containers.
- Can you tell me how much you spend on your indoor plants?
