An indoor garden can make your home look warmer and more alive. Plants also improve the quality of air around your home, can be useful in cooking, and make attractive decorations around different areas in your house.
A green thumb, however, is not for everybody. Potted plants can be finicky, messy, and intimidating to care for when each plant has its own requirements to thrive. Still, gardening can be rewarding, even when done indoors. Follow our 5 hacks for maintaining a lively and healthy indoor garden!
Easy Cleanup: Part-time Cleaning Assistance
Gardening is a coping mechanism and a fun hobby for many of us. Maintaining your gardening hobby and working full time can be exhausting, and you still need to do chores around the house to maintain cleanliness! Your indoor garden can get messy too, and soil scattered everywhere can make your home look untidy.
Luckily, you can avail of professional cleaning services with a part-time maid! A part-time maid will be able to help you with the cleaning tasks around the house, so you can check more off your to-do list. You’ll have more time to focus on your work, and have enough time to enjoy your gardening hobby.
Luce Home provides reputable cleaning services around Singapore, including part-time maid cleaning services with their trained and punctual cleaners. Learn more about Luce Home’s services through their website.
Herbs: Self-watering Pots
Having an indoor herb garden is a dream for any kitchen enthusiast and home chef! However, herbs are not exactly hardy plants, and have different requirements depending on the species. However, herbs tend to grow fast, and can be propagated with just a sprig.
For herbs, consider setting up a hydroponic system or using self-watering plant pots to minimize the amount of watering that you need to guess. Simply top up the water reserve, and let the watering system provide your plants with much-needed water and nutrients.
Succulents: Shaded Light
While succulents are known for their resilience to most garden conditions, many of the succulent and cacti varieties sold as potted plants cannot withstand the harsh heat of the afternoon sun. Keep your succulent plants in a warm, sunny location that gets ample sunlight, but also good shade during extremely hot times in the day.
A clean, transparent windowsill allows light to pass through without making it too hot for the plant, so you can prepare an area specifically for your succulent garden. Clear an area for your succulents and cacti. Remember to water infrequently, but maintain a watering schedule for your plants.
Tropicals: Mini Humidifier
Tropical plants are beautiful, lively, and warm. They can make any space look like a paradise, but dying tropicals can do the opposite effect. Tropical plants thrive in humid environments, and so a mini humidifier is perfect for your indoor garden. A mini humidifier runs throughout the day, using a small bottle of water to mimic the environment of a rainforest.
However, as humidifiers increase the moisture in the air, your home may be susceptible to mold and mildew growth. Regular house cleaning is a must to keep spores from settling, and a part-time maid can help keep areas of your home dry and stain free! Growing tropical plants does not have to be a hassle, even for the working individual.
DIY Fertilizer: Kitchen Scraps
Don’t throw away those fruit and veggie scraps after you’ve made your smoothies! Instead, look into composting them or turning them into DIY fertilizer. Kitchen scraps make an affordable and organic alternative to chemical fertilizers, and can be easily processed at home!
Blend banana peels with water for a potassium-packed liquid fertilizer, or crush dried eggshells into a fine powder to mix into your potting soil. Compost your veggie scraps by burying them in soil, and letting them release their nutrients into the soil as they decompose. Acid-loving plants like azaleas love coffee as much as you do, and dried leftover grounds make a great fertilizer!
For any indoor garden, keeping your plants clean and healthy is the key to maintaining a lively garden. Each plant has its own set of requirements, so best to do your own research on what works best for your plants. Generally, keeping your garden area clean prevents pests and fungus growth, so maintain a regular cleaning schedule to keep your plants happy and healthy!