These Useful Tips Make Home Gardening Super Easy

Whether you have a huge apartment or a tiny balcony, home gardening is always one of the best ways to bring greens and flowers indoors. Here are some easy expert tips.

Gone are the days of having the luxury of a spacious garden or a big farm to flaunt your gardening skills in the heart of the city. While a handful of us may be lucky enough to enjoy the privilege of the countryside or have enough space within our city homes, most of us are bound to apartments that leave us with no other option than a balcony, rooftop and interior home garden. However, that shouldn't weaken your green finger and spirit. All you need to know are some tricks to help you better care for your home garden.

Shivani Kapoor, an environmentalist and nature lover, shares some valuable tips on home gardening. 

Here's what you must keep in mind while prepping up a home garden. 

How much time you can invest in caring for your home garden: You must be realistic when it comes to home gardening and decide on the time you can make for taking care of your plant babies. "If you have time just once a week, choose plants that survive without much care or with infrequent watering," says Kapoor. 

Identify the kind of sunlight at home: Before setting up your home garden, determine the type of sunlight your home receives - is it the strong sunlight or the soothing morning sunlight. If indoors, is it a well-lit space with natural daylight or indirect sunlight? Is it at a distance away from the window or a dimly lit corner? "The type of plant you choose must depend on the type of sunlight your space gets," she says. 

Your planter matters: This is something most of us tend to overlook, but the size, quality, and look of your planters play an essential role, believes Kapoor. 

Identify the right soil: You must learn to point out if the soil you are using is of good or poor quality, and based on that, you need to find ways of enhancing the soil quality. 

Over-pampering your plant can kill it: Too much of anything is not good, and so is the case with over-pampering your plant babies. Over fertilisation and overwatering can damage your plants and even kill them. 

Remember, no plant can grow without light: All plants would need sunlight to thrive. Some can grow in the shade, and some need bright light. The degree of light required for each plant can vary. Hence, it is an excellent idea to sun or air all your plants once a week. 

Stale air damages your plants: If your plants aren't getting fresh air, there is a higher risk of damage. Stale air from air conditioning (AC) within the home can damage your plants more than lack of sunlight. Thus, keeping your plants exposed to fresh air is always necessary. 

Top tips for having a healthy home garden

Kapoor shares the best hacks to grow a healthy home garden that makes you proud:

• Buy plants that suit your lifestyle.

• Keep a spray bottle handy to mist your plants, moisten the moss stick of money plants, and spray insecticide if needed.

• The safest fertiliser is vermicompost.

• Starting with gardening as a hobby but wary of spending too much on it right away? Locate a government nursery in your city – most plants and saplings are free.

• Grow local flowers and help the bee population!

• Consider planting a flowering or fruit tree instead of a date palm if you have space in your garden.

• The best spots for keeping a plant home depend on the plant type. However, it is ideal to place plants right beside a window. 

Red flags of home gardening.

If you are a newbie, you may not be aware of certain red flags indicating damage to your plants. So how do you know if you are going the right way? "If you find your plant has too many soft yellow leaves, it indicates you are overwatering, and you must stop immediately; otherwise, the plant could die. But, on the other hand, if you find too many brown and wrinkled yellow leaves, it indicates underwatering, and you will have to water that plant more frequently," says Kapoor. 

Did you know?

Syngonium, Pothos, ZZ, Snake Plant and Snowwhite Aglenoma are the easiest to maintain indoor plants. 

"Home gardening can be a great healer, especially among older adults. It is a gentle exercise and keeps your mind and body active. Raising a plant keeps you engaged and engrosses you with its growth journey. Green is soothing. A healthy green surrounding is in itself calming," says Kapoor. Follow these tips, flaunt your home garden and heal yourself. 

Silver Talkies has a thriving Gardening hobby group called The Green Thumb for our members who are plant parents. It is one of the many hobby groups we have -- from books to quizzing and astronomy. These hobby groups are free for our members and often become lively discussion spaces to share news and pictures of your hobby. To know more or join us as a member today, visit: https://silvertalkies.com/community.html

All images courtesy: Pixabay