What are the precautions for growing plants in the kitchen?
Better few and choice than many and mixed
Kitchen space is limited to begin with, and it is not as spacious as a living room or bedroom, so when growing plants in the kitchen you need to keep the number under control, otherwise the kitchen will become messier and look more oppressive.
Reasonable placement
Indoor sunlight is limited, so we must treat sun-loving and shade-loving plants differently. In the kitchen, sun-loving plants can be placed on the windowsill to ensure they get enough sunlight; shade-loving plants can be placed a little farther from the windowsill, on top of the refrigerator, in a cabinet compartment or on a shelf.
Have you understood the two points above? Although most plants suited to a kitchen environment are easy to keep alive, we cannot simply ignore them when growing plants in the kitchen, or they will quickly lose their vitality. In fact, we only need to give the plants grown in the kitchen a little care; a tiny bit of effort can improve the kitchen environment. Would you refuse such a good thing?
How to grow the indoor plant pothos and the precautions to take
Pothos is an evergreen climbing plant; its green leaves have yellow patches and are very glossy. It can be placed in a study or high on a windowsill, letting its vines hang down gracefully like emerald reliefs. This both makes full use of the space and adds a lively, brightly coloured green decoration with lively lines to the room, full of charm. Today the editor will share with you what the methods for growing pothos and the precautions are.
Choosing the environment
1. For potted pothos, choose fertile, loose, well-drained leaf mould, preferably slightly acidic. Pothos is extremely shade-tolerant and can be placed year-round in a sunny spot indoors; in a dimly lit room, it should be moved every half month to a brighter environment to recover for a period, otherwise the internodes tend to lengthen and the leaves become smaller.
2. Pothos likes a hot and humid environment. The overwintering temperature should not be lower than 15°C. The potting soil should be kept moist, and the leaves should be sprayed with water frequently to raise air humidity and favour the growth of aerial roots. During the vigorous growth period, apply liquid fertiliser once a month. For plants kept indoors for viewing over a long time, the leaves at the base of the stem tend to drop, reducing their ornamental value; in May and June, when the temperature warms up, pruning and renewal can be carried out together with cuttings to encourage new shoots from the base of the stem.
3. Hydroponic pothos grows relatively fast and its cultivation and management are simple. During cultivation and management, spray the plant more in summer, add nutrient solution once every 10 days, and keep the leaves green. For potted seedlings, when the seedlings grow 30cm up the cultivation pole they should be cut off; when the lower leaves have dropped by 30%-50%, they should be discarded and replanted. The green-column potted form is an ideal plant for courtyard gateposts and wall greening, and its leaves are also an excellent material for flower arrangement foliage. Plant or directly insert 4-5 plants per pot, and set a palm pole in the middle of the pot so that the hydroponic pothos can twine and grow upwards. Shaping and pruning are carried out in spring. When the stems have covered the palm pole and the tips extend about 20cm beyond the palm pole, cut off 40cm of the stem tips of 2-3 of the plants. When new shoots and new leaves sprout after the cutting back, then cut off the stem tips of the remaining plants.
4. Pothos develops best when cultivated in loose, organic-rich, slightly acidic to neutral sandy loam. Repot once every three years. Pothos is a shade plant, avoids direct sunlight, likes scattered light, and is relatively shade-tolerant; usually receiving four hours of scattered light is best.
Propagation methods
Pothos is usually propagated by cuttings and by the stem-burying method. In late spring and early summer, select a robust pothos vine, cut a 15cm to 30cm stem section, remove the leaves from 1 to 2 nodes at the base, taking care not to damage the aerial roots, then insert it into plain sand or coal cinders to a depth of 1/3 of the cutting, water it thoroughly and place it in a shaded spot, spraying the leaves with water every day or covering with plastic film to retain moisture; as long as the environment is kept at no less than 20°C, the survival rate is above 90%.
Pothos can also be water-propagated from terminal buds: cut a tender, robust stem section 20-30cm long and insert it directly into a bottle filled with clear water, changing the water once every 2-3 days; it can take root and survive in just over 10 days.
Growing methods
1. Light: Pothos originally grows in forests shaded by towering trees, and its positive tendency toward light is not strong. But in the north in autumn and winter, to make up for the lack of temperature and photosynthesis, its light exposure should be increased. The method is to place the pothos in the brightest spot indoors, or move it to a sealed balcony to sunbathe at noon. At the same time, when the temperature is low, open the windows as little as possible, because the leaves may be frostbitten in a very short time.
2. Temperature: In the north, pothos can overwinter safely at a room temperature above 10°C, and can grow normally at a room temperature above 20°C. Generally a home can reach this temperature without much trouble; note that you should avoid too great a temperature difference, and also be careful not to let the leaves get close to heating equipment.
3. Humidity: this refers to the water content of the air in the plant's growing environment. While ensuring a normal temperature, increasing humidity is extremely beneficial to plant growth. Humidity can be increased in the following ways. Place the plant near a humidifier, running the humidifier for more than 5 hours a day, so the plant can enjoy the mist sprayed out by the humidifier; use a sprayer set to the mist setting to spray water on the plant's leaves, stems and aerial roots several times a day; keep an appropriate amount of water in the saucer under the pot, increasing the plant's local humidity through its evaporation; gently wipe the leaf surface with a cold wet towel or toilet paper, or apply it lightly to the leaf surface for a short time (1-2 hours per day); cover the plant with transparent plastic film to create a small greenhouse effect, supplementing the plant's water through evaporation of water vapour from the soil, for no more than 2 hours a day, as too long will affect the plant's ventilation and photosynthesis.
4. Water: water every day to keep the soil moist, but do not let water accumulate, which breeds mosquitoes. In autumn and winter the amount of watering should be strictly controlled according to room temperature. Before heating starts, the temperature is lower and the plant's soil evaporates more slowly, so watering should be reduced, with the amount controlled at between 1/4-1/2 of the original. Even after heating starts, watering should not be too frequent; when watering, pour less into the pot and let water seep through the palm fibre. In addition, water should also be sprayed where the aerial roots grow on the palm pole, to reduce insufficient root water uptake caused by overly rapid evaporation. In winter, water that has been left to stand for a day after drawing is better; water that is too cold easily damages the roots.
5. Fertilising: In the autumn and winter in the north, plants mostly grow slowly or even stop growing, so fertilising should be reduced. Before winter begins, mainly apply liquid inorganic fertiliser by watering or spraying, about once every 15 days. After winter begins, fertilising is mainly by foliar spraying, applied mainly through the stomata on the leaf surface; the fertiliser is absorbed through the stomata on the leaf surface, and the fertiliser effect can act directly on the leaf surface. Foliar fertiliser should be a special-purpose fertiliser; ordinary inorganic fertilisers are not easily absorbed by the leaf surface. The Beida "Huhuashen" series and the Japanese-made "Hana Ichiban" and others can all be used as foliar fertiliser.
6. Pothos pole: Pothos does not set seed; buying from a flower shop or cutting some tender, robust tip shoots from relatives or friends will allow it to survive. After the tip shoots sprout, a pothos pole can be added. The pothos pole has the function of fixing and supporting the pothos's growth, and can also provide the necessary water. Usually, the pothos pole is placed in the pot, covered with a little soil, fixed with wooden sticks stacked into a triangle, then buried in soil; because plants will still grow, the soil should not be too much. Insert the already sprouted pothos seedlings into the soil; generally speaking, the denser the pothos seedlings in the pot, the better it looks after growing, and about 4-5 should be planted in one pot. Use string to tie the seedlings on one side and fix them to the palm pole on the other, and water toward the palm pole to keep it moist; after some days, the pothos's aerial roots will take root and grow inside the palm pole. The best time to add the pothos pole is at the turn of spring and summer; in winter the temperature is low and the seedlings are easily harmed, so when adding the pole, pay attention to keeping the temperature right.
7. Shaping: Plant or directly insert 4-5 plants per pot, and set a palm pole in the middle of the pot so that the pothos can twine and grow upwards. Shaping and pruning are carried out in spring. When the stems have covered the palm pole and the tips extend about 20cm beyond the palm pole, cut off 40cm of the stem tips of 2-3 of the plants. When new shoots and new leaves sprout after the cutting back, then cut off the stem tips of the remaining plants. For potted plants that have lost leaves over the whole plant or the lower half due to winter cold or other reasons, half of the plant's stems can be cut back by 1/2 and the other half by 2/3 or 3/4, so that the cut points are staggered in height; in this way the new leaves growing below the cut points can quickly cover the palm pole.
Pest and disease control
1. Pothos anthracnose
The pothos anthracnose fungus mostly harms the middle section of the leaves, and can also harm the flowers. At first, wet reddish-brown or dark brown small pustule-like spots appear on the diseased part, with a faded green halo around the spots; after expanding, they form long elliptical or long strip-shaped patches, with dark brown edges and a yellow-brown interior, and with ring-shaped markings formed by dark spots converging. Because its spots are dark brown, it is also called black spot disease or dark brown disease. It can repeatedly infect the plant during the growing period.
① There are many pesticides that can control anthracnose, such as mancozeb, carbendazim, thiophanate and Tante Ling, all of which have a certain control effect.
② The German-made "Shibaogong" 1500-times solution is a specific remedy for treating anthracnose.
2. Root rot
3% carbofuran granules can be used.
3. Leaf spot disease
It can be controlled by spraying 80% amobam 500-times solution, or 50% carbendazim wettable powder 1000-times solution, etc.
Precautions
1. Pothos likes moisture; during the growing season, watering should keep the potting soil moist at all times. In summer, while watering thoroughly, also pay attention to spraying the leaf surface frequently. Whether to water every day is affected by many conditions, such as how much potting soil there is, the size of the plant, the material of the pot, the care environment and so on; water consumption varies greatly, and you need to follow the above principles and judge specifically.
2. Pothos must not be watered with rice-washing water. Although rice-washing water contains many nutrients that can be used, it must be composted, fermented and rotted before use, otherwise it will not only easily breed insects but in serious cases cause root rot.
3. Pothos is relatively shade-tolerant and can be kept indoors year-round when grown at home. If grown outdoors, pay attention to shading, especially in summer, and pay even more attention to preventing direct strong light, otherwise the new leaves will become smaller and the leaf colour dull, and the leaf edges will easily be scorched.
4. It is a fact that pothos is toxic, and growing pothos at home is also fine, because as long as you do not eat the sap of the pothos, it will not cause poisoning. Although the sap of pothos is toxic, it is only mildly toxic; in the process of growing it, even if you touch the leaves of the pothos, as long as you do not eat them directly, it will not affect your body. In addition, many people nowadays grow pothos hydroponically; if you touch the water it is grown in, as long as you do not drink it, there is generally no harm.
The odours of household cleaning detergents and cooking fumes are also killers that harm human health. Placing or hanging a pot of a climbing plant such as pothos in the corner of a kitchen or bathroom door can effectively absorb chemical substances in the air.
An introduction to the care methods for kitchen plants
1. Ensure sufficient light
You should know that not everyone's kitchen faces south. When your kitchen has poor light, we can, in a timely and regular way, move the plants to a balcony, windowsill or other sunny place to sunbathe, ensuring they can absorb enough sunlight. In addition, we can choose shade-tolerant plants to place in the kitchen.
2. Do a good job of ventilation
The cooking fumes in a kitchen are heavier than elsewhere, and the air quality is poorer; if even ventilation is not done well, it will be very hard for plants to survive. So, apart from doing a good job of removing cooking fumes, we can open the windows during periods when we are not cooking, so that air circulation is ensured.
3. Cleanliness and hygiene
The growing environment of plants also has hygiene standards: for soil-grown plants, take care that the potting soil does not scatter, and use a saucer underneath; for water-grown plants, change the water frequently to avoid breeding mosquitoes.
It is not that choosing shade-tolerant, easy-to-keep plants and placing them in the kitchen means you can ignore the above three points. The kitchen is where we cook, so hygiene should be controlled even better. Friends who want the plants placed in the kitchen to really have an effect must not mind the trouble, and should properly follow the care methods for kitchen plants!