Guide to Buying, Selecting, and Avoiding Pitfalls in Flower Care
You may not be familiar with the guidelines for buying, selecting, and avoiding pitfalls in flower care, as well as the detailed knowledge of flower selection techniques for growing flowers. The following will share the detailed content.
1. Buying Flowers
Whether buying flowers at a flower shop, flower market, or online, you need to prepare in advance. When buying flowers at a flower shop or market, you should look more, not only checking if the leaves and flowers of the plants are healthy (mainly checking for diseases and pests), but also asking the owner for permission to remove the plant from the pot to check the root growth, or checking the root system from the bottom of the pot directly.
The above is a Ligularia海棠
For flowers bought at a flower shop, check if they have just been repotted. Some plants full of flower buds should not be bought if they have just been repotted.
Plants repotted during the flowering period are prone to dropping flower buds and yellowing leaves. The leaves at the bottom of the plant easily turn yellow because after repotting, the plant needs to consume nutrients to adapt to the new soil.
Do not repot gardenias during the flowering period
If you are growing flowers on a balcony or indoors, be sure not to buy plants grown in garden soil or very sticky soil, as this soil easily cakes and cracks, making it difficult to water thoroughly later, and the plant's roots are hard to cultivate. The soil is not loose and breathable enough, and it is difficult to control the soil's dryness and wetness indoors. Try to choose potted plants cultivated with loose and well-draining nutrient-rich soil or formula soil.
Flower friends who buy autumn planted Oxalis tubers online actually end up with the invasive weed "Oxalis articulata"
If buying flowers online, pay attention to checking the credibility of the seller, and read more reviews and negative reviews from other flower enthusiasts. Online purchases should not rely solely on positive reviews; only follow-up and negative reviews are the most genuine.
2. Prepare Pots and Soil in Advance
This is easy to understand. Buy some pots and soil in advance before buying flowers, which will make subsequent plant care more manageable.
Guide to Buying, Selecting, and Avoiding Pitfalls in Flower Care
Using clay to grow Clivia Miniata, it can be cultivated with controlled watering in the early stage, but it is not conducive to root growth (Image source: Flower friends)
To grow flowers well, especially on balconies and in indoor environments where ventilation and light are not as good, you need to provide the plants with looser and more breathable containers and substrates (soil). Beginners can try using red clay pots, coarse clay pots, root control pots (green mountain pots), new generation gallon pots, and Alice flower pots. If using other pots, try to choose those with more or larger drainage holes at the bottom, and it's even better if there are drainage holes on the side of the pot.
Good soil is also essential for growing flowers well. Many flower experts can grow flowers well not only because of their good environment but also because they use more breathable, loose, and clean soil. If you have always been digging garden soil directly from绿化 or other places to plant flowers, the plants are likely not to grow well.
Online mentions of "old stakes" or "plants several years old" should not be bought as old stakes have poor viability and are difficult to keep alive. When buying flowers, look at the canopy.
The plants we grow in pots are completely different from those in outdoor绿化 belts. The space in pots is very limited, and the soil's dry-wet cycle is different. The beneficial microorganisms and organic matter in the soil cannot compare to the outdoor environment. If you find soil preparation too troublesome, you can buy high-quality nutrient-rich soil directly.
If you want to mix your own soil, the simplest option is to mix peat soil and perlite in a 4:1 ratio. The second option is to mix fine coconut bran, coarse coconut shell (or pine bark), and perlite in a 5:3:2 ratio. To both of these soil mixing options, you can add a little decomposed leaf soil or compost soil to increase the organic matter and acidity in the soil, and you can also mix in a little slow-release fertilizer or decomposed sheep manure.
3. Choose Suitable Plants
After growing flowers, it's a continuous cycle of buying new flowers, eliminating them, and then buying more. No matter how good your flower-growing skills are, as long as you keep trying new plants, you will end up with plants not suitable for your home, and only the plants that can be grown well at home are the right ones for you.
The above is the newly bought Theresa Lavender (Theresa sweet osmanthus)
If you understand the growth habits of various plants in advance, whether they like sunlight, what kind of temperature, humidity they prefer, and master these points before buying flowers, you will buy plants that are easy to grow at home.
Then, choose suitable plants based on the lighting conditions, annual temperature, and humidity of your home. Don't buy plants just because they look good or you like them.
4. Other Considerations
Mastering the above points and a few basic flower care techniques includes not rushing to repot the plant after bringing it home.
If the plant comes with a little soil or is bare-rooted without a pot, add soil to it first and ensure the main stem is not buried in the soil. The new soil should be level with the original soil surface.
The above is a mouth红花 (can be grown in semi-shaded areas)
If the plant you bought is budding or flowering, do not repot it. You can place it in a nice pot. If some soil falls off, add a little soil, and keep it in a well-ventilated and well-lit place first.
Plants in good condition can be given appropriate scattered light, while those in poor condition should be kept in a shady place. Water thoroughly when the soil is dry.
For the first two to three weeks after bringing the plant home or repotting, don't rush to fertilize. Plants should only be fertilized (referring to water-soluble fertilizers and other fast-acting fertilizers) when they are in a growing state, continuously growing new buds and roots.
The above sharing of buying, selecting, and avoiding pitfalls in flower care, and detailed knowledge of flower selection techniques for green plants and flowers, is hoped to bring help to your life!