Houseplants and Containers
Introduction:
Gardening is not limited to outdoors or in the ground! Houseplants, or indoor plants, offer many benefits beyond decoration. Growing plants in outdoor containers can provide alternatives to poor soil conditions, limited space and physical accessibility. Growing plants in containers, regardless if they are indoors or outdoors, still require proper plant selection, care and maintenance (cue the IPM!). As you read through the material and watch the videos, what steps are you going to take to help your indoor and outdoor container plants be more successful?
Objectives:
After completing the reading in the manual, online module, and class activities, you will:
- Understand the need to apply the right plant, right place idea when selecting houseplants for an indoor environment;
- Identify the factors to consider when acclimating houseplants to a new environment;
- Describe how indoor conditions (such as air, temperature, water, soil, light, and nutrients) affect plants growing indoors;
- Recall indoor plant care techniques involved in integrated pest management. (potting techniques, monitoring, pest management);
- Describe key points in successfully growing plants outdoors in containers (choosing suitable containers, growing media that provides good drainage and moisture retention, choosing varieties suitable for containers, proper watering and fertilization).
Read:
- Chapter 13: Houseplants, Pages 235-255
- Chapter 9: General Gardening Practices section on Growing in Containers, Pages 165-166
Watch:
- There are several videos in this playlist that we are using from University of Wisconsin Division of Extension and our friends at the University of Maine and Nebraska Extension.
- Videos included: Raised Bed and Container Gardening, Gardening in Limited Space using Container Gardens (2 parts), Houseplant Selection and Houseplant Care.
- There are five required videos for a total view time of approximately 27 minutes.
Practice:
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Supplemental Materials:
Preventing, Diagnosing, and Correcting Common Houseplant Problems from Penn State Extension
Fertilizing Houseplants from University of Connecticut Extension
Key to Diagnosing Your Own Houseplant Problems from Purdue Extension
Winter Care for Houseplants from Nebraska Extension
Container Design, presented by Mark Dwyer, former Director of Horticulture at Rotary Botanical Garden, Janesville, WI.