Keeping plants within your home takes supervision and time to maintain them. We’ve had a cold winter and a lot of snow so many plants will have been grown indoors these past few months. Plants being grown within your home need warmth, light, humidity, water and food. The true dedication to maintaining the plants comes when you have a large number of different plants which will of course have different needs to survive. You must find the most appropriate place in your home to grow plants. Using a conservatory or orangery is usually ideal if you want to grow indoors.

First of all, the plants need a habitable temperature and a reasonably consistent temperature as well. Extreme temperatures should also be avoided. The temperature should be around 70°F (20°C), but some only thrive at colder temperatures. For example cyclamen prefer a temperature range between 50°F to 60°F (10°C to 15°C); Cineraria even colder. Sometimes to get the right temperature, a conservatory or an orangery could be a great weapon to have to be able to place the plants in there for a different temperature.

Light again is a main factor you need to consider for your plant. The obvious places like window sills are where plants are most commonly placed and again, a good option is to put in your conservatory or orangery if you own one. The plants with thicker and green leaves tend to need less light than others. Cacti and succulents appreciate the direct summer sun at midday. In winter unshaded sunlight should have no scorching affect on any plant.

Because of the heating systems within homes, the atmosphere is usually too dry for most potted plants. Even when in winter when the heating is on it can be far too hot for the plants to live and you may need to occasionally be spraying them with droplets of water to cool them down. In terms of watering the plant, it seems easy and obvious to do so however watering too much can kill the plant. Also remember to check that the compost is drying out with your finger before watering.

Plants, like people must be fed well while growing. Fresh compost will contain sufficient nutrients to last for around 6 weeks, so supplementary feeding is very important. Do not feed the plants during their resting period, this is in the winter for most plants and with flowering plants this is after the normal flowering period.

Katy is a keen gardener and when she is not tending to her plants she enjoys blogging on the subject for sites such as Best Orangery Quotes.