Gardening continues to be a popular pastime and a wonderful way to grow your own food. However, there may be multiple challenges that you might encounter when caring for your plants. With temperatures dropping to subzero levels this winter and unpredictable weather conditions brought about by climate change, it can be difficult to keep plants healthy and thriving. Moreover, replacing crops can be quite costly as reports indicate that plant prices have gone up by 30% due to inflation and the rising cost of fertilizer. To keep gardening costs down and maintain healthy crops, it’s important to learn various techniques to keep plants alive. Here are surefire ways to extend the life of your plants and keep your garden healthy.
Do Regular Pruning to Promote Plant Growth
Most novice gardeners think that simply watering their plants and giving them fertilizer every now and then is enough to help them thrive. However, it’s important to prune your plants regularly since it stimulates growth when done correctly. It’s one of the best ways to increase the lifespan of shrubs since it ensures that light and air can reach even the innermost part of this type of plant. According to experts, apart from allowing your plants to grow compact and bushy, pruning also enables you to get rid of dying foliage so your plant’s energy can focus on healthy growth instead of trying to heal it’s dead or unhealthy parts. To prune correctly, make sure to find the node, which is where the leaf stalk attaches to the stem, and cut just above it. Find all of the unhealthy foliage and prune them, and do regular trims in the summer months.
Crop Rotation
If you’re growing some vegetables or fruits in your backyard, consider rotating crops to maintain a healthy garden. Crop rotation can improve the fertility of your soil, reduce the risks of plant diseases, and it can even lessen the impact of plant damage from pests. One of the easiest ways to do crop rotation is making sure that you don’t plant the same type of vegetables in the same area of your garden. For instance, if you have plants from the carrot family in a certain spot in your garden, such as parsley, celery, or carrots, make sure that you plant something different after you harvest your crops. You can plant veggies from the nightshade family, such as eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers, or crops from the pea family, like kidney beans, soybeans, or peas.
Don’t Forget to Care for Houseplants
Houseplant prices have gone up, so it’s imperative to keep your indoor plants in top condition to make them last longer. First, match your plants with their preferred light conditions. You can do so by placing plants that like direct sunlight, such as jade plants, aloe vera, and zebra plants near windows. Meanwhile, plants that grow well without sunlight, such as Monstera Deliciosa, Chinese evergreen, and lucky bamboo can be placed in shadier and cooler parts of your home. Make sure to repot any plants that are growing too large for their container, and keep foliage clean at all times.
Remember that just like all of your things in your home, plants can accumulate dust and dirt over a period of time. The accumulated dirt can interfere with your plants’ ability to absorb sunlight, so clean them every few weeks or so. You can spray them with water in the shower, taking care to use a gentle spray. You can also dust leaves with a microfiber cloth or duster, or wipe down large leaves with a soft, wet cloth.
Keeping plants healthy takes some time and a lot of dedication. But your efforts will be worth it once you see how well your garden looks. Consider these tips to ensure healthy house plants and crops, and enjoy your plants for a long time.
Grow easily and enjoy the benefits of having a garden with fresh and tasty plants right at your fingertips with Natufia One, which grows 20 plants simultaneously with automatic watering and lighting and zero soil.
