Easy And Simple Tips For Cleaning Houseplants
Growing houseplants, keeping them clean, and loving nature seems instinctive to me. I believe there is a strong relationship between human peace of mind and green plants.
As per my belief plants are not just mere sources of oxygen. They are our true friends, they can smile and make us smile, they are worth loving and they can love us in return. They are no less human than us.
Plants Boost Your Mental And Physical Health
You might have witnessed some people in the morning Parks, doing exercises yoga or just sitting lame in the parks. what they are doing? Why are they here? They are there to see their relatives?
They are actually in the parks to meet their plant friends, to improve their health, for fresh oxygen, they are here for a pleasant atmosphere. They go to Parks with lush green plants for healthy living.
Bring Home Nature Love with House Plants
Plants Do Need Love and Care As Your Lovely Pets DO
These plants are a bit less complicated than your pets. But you need to take good care of them to keep them healthy and surviving. For that purpose, you need to clean them regularly. They do need your love and care as your pets do.
But believe me, they will provide you no less than your pets. They will bring you good health, a good atmosphere, mental health, a pleasant atmosphere and you can use them for decorative purposes as well.
Today we will learn about how to take good care of your plants?
The very first thing which comes to plant care is plant cleanliness. Plant cleanliness is a bit of a technical thing. It is not just like cleaning our dusting any furniture but it is something really special.
I have heard so many things about plant cleaning. so many questions about,
- how to clean your plants?
- how to clean their leaves and stem?
- how to keep them fresh and green?
- how to keep the plants Shiny?
Just imagine when you apply olive oil or apply coconut oil on it for cleaning and shining, The Leaves that breathe through stomata get suffocated. If your skin is clogged it can just bring blemishes or get some pimples.
So many people ask about, and actually want their plants to be Shiny. Those are forgetting they are living beings. Not any plastic object that you can Shine them with olive oil or you can apply wax on them to shine as your car or furniture, please stop it!The plants and especially their leaves are very delicate. They are just like your skin and even more delicate, as at least don’t breathe through your skin.But a leaf with clogged stomata can suffocate the plant to death. So I would suggest that we should never use coconut oil or for cleaning plant leaves. is it make it Shiny for a while but we’ll have disadvantages such as:- Forming a greasy layer over the leaves
- Causing them to suffocate by clogging the stomata
- Moreover, the sticky layer formed over the least will cause it to be even more prone of getting dust and sticking that dust to the leaves
- These oils and sticky materials will not only harm the plant but eventually will make them more dull and dirty than ever.
Why remove dust from the plants?
Many people ask me that when a plant grows out of soil why do we need to keep it off from its leaves. The very simple answer for that is we need to keep it off, for proper photosynthesis of a plant. As if the photosynthesis process is interrupted due to any reason, it will definitely affect the health of your plant.
Photosynthesis takes place when the leaves are in good contact with sunlight directly or indirectly without any interaction.and that particular layer of soil can interrupt the sun contact and eventually Slow Down The photosynthesis.
As we are clear, that we need to clean our plant let me share with you a few best ways to keep them bright, fresh and healthy.
Damp Cloth Technique
This is one of the oldest yet most effective ways of cleaning your plant. you don’t need any heavy equipment for that. Only a soft cotton cloth, not too wet, not too dry is more than enough to perform the task.
while cleaning the plants make sure that your hand is very gentle & polite. Any extra pressure can cause damage to the plant. Hold the leave delicately in your hand and you are ready for the rest. Clean both sides gently and softly, Be extra vigilant about the undersides, as mostly harmful bugs and parasites station over there.
Lukewarm Water Bath
That is something very pleasing to your plant. but do remember your plants don’t like hot water as you may like to have a bath on a cold morning. Moreover, they don’t like very cold water as well. We need to be moderate with lukewarm water.
Now you need to adjust the pressure of water, as the Harsh supply can cause damage. so keep it a bit gentle and soft. Moreover, you need to keep the plant at different angles so that the shower should not miss the undersides. As I already explain that washing undersides properly is more important than any other part of the plant.
A lukewarm shower is the best way to clean your ferns, orchards, and palms.
Cleaning Plants With Homemade
The recipe for homemade plant cleaner is so easy that you will be surprised to know the secret ingredient. you don’t need any harmful chemicals or mix and blend too many elements.
What you need to do is just take any mild dishwashing soap, mix it with water. Either take a sponge or just lather your hands and apply it on the leaves and stems. and afterward, clean it with a damp cloth making sure that no soap is left on the leaves and the plant.
Don’t forget to keep your hand under the leaf while you are working over and flip it with the same gentleness when you are working under it.
Lemon, Water and Vinegar Mix
This one is another recipe to Clean and protects your plants from all the parasites and bugs. Moreover, vinegar smell is even pungent for your pets like cats. Those can be dangerous and harmful to your plants.
The recipe is more than simple one tablespoon of vinegar, you are going to add it into 1 gallon of water.yes, 1 tablespoon in 1 gallon because vinegar is acidic and any more quantity of acid if applied to your plants, can cause damage. or the leaves can get yellow and can even fall off.
You can replace lemon juice instead of vinegar. It will also act in the same way. but the lemon smell is not pungent to your pets. so if you have pets and if you don’t have pets, a mixture of water and lemon is more preferable.
Besides, cleaning your plant with water and homemade sprays You need to do them and another favor. when you are working on cleanliness. you need to observe each and every leaf with maximum detail and if you see any damaged or yellowish leaf you need to pluck them away.
Moreover, the flowers that are fully bloomed and now decaying on the stem Also needed to be detached from the stem. So the energy could be saved and used on other parts of the plants.
The leafless stems or Brown and dying stems should also be removed from the plant as well. As all those unhealthy parts are soaking extra energy from the plant for their repairing. That energy, if focused and used on other parts of our plant can be more fruitful.
Conclusion
In this article, I tried my level best to most possible and most easy ways to clean plants. I have observed, many people seem confused that is there any difference between the cleaning regime of indoor plants or outdoor plants.
Well for me more or less the things are the same the only exception is those small tiny plants which you can hold in your hand and fix their stems with your fingers and turn them upside down to clean them from all over.
And always remember a clean plant is a healthy plant.
