The weather is getting hotter and hotter; keep a few potted plants at home for a cool summer
Summer is creeping closer step by step, and I hear friends in the south are already in the "furnace." Today, thoughtful Huahua recommends a few flowers to bring a touch of coolness to your hot summer days!
Areca palm
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
The areca palm easily shoots up to the ceiling, with long, large leaves. Place one in the living room and the greenery fills your sight like stepping into a little forest!
1. Light
The areca palm tolerates partial shade, so just keep it in indirect light indoors.
2. Soil and fertilizing
The areca palm likes loose, breathable soil with good drainage. During the peak growing season, apply a diluted liquid fertilizer once every 7-10 days.
Monstera
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
Monstera is a little expert at purifying the air, with deep green leaves. Keep one at home in summer and you will feel like you do not even need to turn on the air conditioner!
1. Light
Monstera grows vigorously in a semi-shaded environment and can even grow aerial roots, with glossy, thick leaves. Once the light is too strong, it tends to grow slowly and its leaves shrivel.
2. Soil
Monstera has fleshy roots, and once the potting soil is not breathable and holds water, the roots easily have trouble breathing. So you can mix leaf mold, garden soil and river sand in a 3:3:2 ratio.
Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
There are many kinds of lucky bamboo, but most have leaves like little palm-leaf fans, glossy green and looking very cooling.
1. Watering and fertilizing
Lucky bamboo likes moisture. In summer, water once a day, and mist around the plant morning and evening to maintain air humidity. Apply decomposed cake fertilizer water once every 15 days.
2. Soil
Lucky bamboo likes loose, breathable, slightly acidic soil. You can mix humus soil, leaf mold, garden soil and coal cinders in a 1:1:1:1 ratio, and water thoroughly with water to which white vinegar has been added.
Umbrella tree (Schefflera)
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
In summer, indoors can easily become stuffy and hot, with poor air circulation, making it hard for stale air to escape. The umbrella tree can absorb secondhand smoke and other stale gases. Keep one in the house and all your stale-air problems are solved!
1. Watering
Depending on the size of the pot, the umbrella tree's watering frequency varies, but once you notice the potting soil has dried, water thoroughly until water flows out of the bottom of the pot. Normally mist around the plant to raise air humidity.
2. Light
The umbrella tree is not demanding about light and can grow in full sun, indirect light or semi-shade. Especially in bright spots, such as by a window, it can make the umbrella tree's leaves even glossier.
Blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata)
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
Blue plumbago has emerald-green leaves and blue or light blue petals. It is currently blue plumbago's blooming season, so placing a pot on the windowsill can add quite a bit of coolness to your home.
1. Light
Blue plumbago loves light very much. Under sufficient sunlight, it easily blooms into a big ball of flowers, so you can put a few pots on a sunny south-facing balcony.
2. Watering
Blue plumbago is especially thirsty. In hot summer weather, it is best to water twice a day. Lack of water easily makes the leaves wilt and the branches weak.
Hydrangea
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
There are many hydrangea varieties and quite a few flower colors, but Huahua thinks the most suitable for summer is - blue Endless Summer.
1. Watering
In hot weather, you can water 1-2 times a day. When watering, you can add a little aluminum sulfate to encourage the hydrangea flowers to turn blue.
2. Light
Hydrangea is a short-day flower that likes indirect light or semi-shade, so be sure to provide shade during the strong-light afternoon.
Lobelia
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
Lobelia is a flower Huahua often recommends to everyone, because it is easy to grow and easily fills the pot, and its blue flowers are cool and elegant, making it most suitable for summer!
1. Light
Place lobelia on a sunny south-facing balcony with direct light and let it receive long hours of light, and it will be more likely to fill the pot. However, provide some shade at noon.
2. Pinching and topping
Lobelia does not absolutely need pinching and topping, but if you want it to be full and round with a nice shape, you must pinch and top it to encourage branching growth.
Petunia
Complete Guide to Growing Flowers
Petunias come in a great many colors, but the ones most suitable for summer are the blue-purple series.
1. Soil
Petunia prefers soil with good breathability and drainage. You can mix peat and perlite in a 3:1 ratio into a nutrient soil that is breathable and not prone to waterlogging.
2. Watering
In summer, it is best to water 1-2 times a day. Place a relatively shallow tray under the flowerpot, fill the pot with water in the early morning, and pour the water out at night.
I hope the flowers Huahua recommended can bring you a touch of coolness,
If you like them,
then hurry up and grow a pot!
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