38
With plants, you would be doing yourself a disservice.
The average potted plant takes up moisture (water, salts and other substances from the soil) from the soil with their roots and a significant part of this water is expelled by the leaves and evaporates. In short, the plant acts like a humidifier. This is why we water our plants.
How much water a plant ...
18
It would definitely depend on the plant species you are talking about. Some plants specifically thrive in continuous light. For example, in northern Alaska the day-night cycle can during the summer can become 19 hours of light (or more) and 5 hours of night. This allows people to grow giant cabbage (the record weighing approx. 127 lbs).
Some plants ...
14
For many indoor tropical plants life in the office is slow death. You may feel that way yourself after a bad day!
With minimal light levels and good watering practices most tropicals will live for a while. The ones that require high light will draw on their stored resources in the roots and gradually go downhill.
Tropicals that tolerate low light levels for ...
14
Provided that you are feeding the soil/plants the macro and micro nutrients they need there shouldn't be an issue. Epsom salt (1tbsp/gallon) every now and then helps with some of the micro nutrients.
Minerals for your plants can be supplemented via plant food, rock dust, azomite or greensand if needed or through the soil/potting mix of the plants unless ...
13
This is the jade plant or Crassula ovata. The one in the picture you have has been grown in low light and has stretched out and dropped the older leaves which is why it looks so thin.
The leaves are plump and there are some yellow leaves so it does look to have been slightly over watered.
The wikipedia entry noted above agrees with my experience with them
...
12
This is the Prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura), named because the way the leaves fold up at night is reminiscent of hands held together in prayer. This particular plant is M. leuconeura var. erythroneura, which has the prominent red veins and white spine on the leaves shown in your photographs.
Care tips:
They're native to the tropics so they don't like ...
12
The aloe is not growing in that medium. Sugar dissolves, rice and coffee decompose, when exposed to the conditions required for a healthy root zone. They would sour and kill the plant roots. Not suitable at all for growing plants in. It's either temporary, or someone doesn't know what they're doing, or the plant is in an inside pot.
What you could do, if ...
11
I'm revising my answer again, but this time with an opinion based on my observations of peppers (not bell types specifically):
My opinion is that they'll continue to live as long as they're healthy and pruned. If they're in a small container and not pruned, they might die after they produce ripe fruit the first or second time, but if you prune them ...
10
This plant is a Spathiphyllum or Peace Lily, a member of the aroid family. See this answer for what happens if they get dry and here for more tips on watering.
They are a reliable indoor plant that likes good access to water. As they do not have woody stems if they get dry they collapse and look dead. Watering will return them to their normal appearance.
...
10
Moss on an indoor pot is a sign that the mix surface is constantly damp, and that isn't good. Use a fork or toothpick or something, and stir up the top layer to get rid of it. Always allow the top 1/2" or so to dry between waterings.
Competition shouldn't be a problem except for very small seedlings, and the flavor should be fine.
10
My summary of the various information sources would go something like:
Light outside the range 400 to 700 nm is less useful.
As all the light shown below is in the 400-700 range you are not spoilt for choice.
.
All light in the range is useful but
that in the middle may be somewhat less so
that at the right hand end may perhaps be slightly more so
...
10
This is the rubber plant, Ficus elastica. It has white sticky sap and can grow into a tree (100 - 200 feet 30 - 60 M) tall when grown outdoors in the tropics.
This plant will tolerate shade, neglect and more. A nice appearance and good health is maintained with
diffuse high light
regular watering
fertilize lightly once a year
repot yearly if you want a ...
9
There are a few common issues with citrus grown indoors.
I have seen them get 5 or 6 feet tall indoors, we are talking a plant that wants to be a tree!
If it gets enough light indoors normally the environment is dry enough to encourage spider mites. Seeing your citrus webbed by mites is not a pleasant sight. Higher humidity discourages mites. Soap and ...
9
I went to Tractor Supply, a farm store, I'm sure there are others, and bought a 50 Lb bag of oat seed (hull on) for about $14.00. Horses like it.
I put a 3/4 cup of seeds in wet dirt in a 12" clay or plastic pot drip tray catcher with some holes drilled in it for drainage. Cover the holes w windowscreen to minimize dirt leakage. Dirt's about 1.5 inches deep. ...
9
We get a lot of questions about member of the citrus family. Some varieties will flower and set fruit indoors. So, yes, you can grow citrus indoors but they are challenging to keep looking nice at the size of your plant without a greenhouse.
is the pot the right size? This depends on whether it is pot bound or not. It sounds about right. This is part of ...
9
I'm by no means an expert, however I am pretty sure that, at least for Zucchini, Cucumber and peppers 1% more light = 1% more growth. Thus in order to increase growth, maybe you should start moving these into full sun.
8
Looks fine for a tomato plant indoors. Is there anyway you can get that guy outside? They grow well in pots, you'd be able to get a few yummy tomatoes but they need a heck of a lot more light. Is that a grow light? Not strong enough, though. It is long and leggy because it is searching for more light.
8
You are overwatering. I can see a line on the pot, in the saucer, where the water level usually is. The soil also looks very wet. That is far too much water for a strawberry plant. The leaves are also showing signs of nitrogen burn. It may be too late, but you can give it another shot.
You should immediately dump out that saucer, and repot the plant as ...
8
For what it's worth we have a local greenhouse that grows bell peppers and tomatoes year round. They use plants for 2 years. I think they trash them after that because the amount of woody stems starts to get out of hand. Since an individual grower isn't as concerned about production per square foot, you can probably extend this by at least another year.
...
8
Is leaving them in there better or worse than taking them out?
In a pot, definitely take them out if you can. They will put out chemicals while decomposing (usually) that slow down the new plants (a kind of allelopathy). In a garden bed, usually this process only takes a couple weeks. Also, in a pot, the roots have the potential to mess with water movement, ...
8
English Ivy (hedera helix) climbs by thin roots penetrating whatever it clings to. So if you want to use rope, it would be better to use natural fibre rather than nylon which may be too smooth for it to get any grip. It won't climb by wrapping its stems around the rope or net like bindweed, honeysuckle, etc.
Another issue is that ropes will presumably move ...
7
Yes, in a pot you can bring it outdoors when it is warm and bring it indoors while it is cold. Tea is a zone 6 plant so it is relatively hardy and durable. It should survive your winter inside similar to how you would overwinter other plants.
7
Moreover, in my biology courses, we learned how (most) plants have a two-phase cycle: an anaerobic one (i.e. “breathing” CO2) during the day, and an aerobic one (“breathing” O2) at night.
Wrong. There are two main cycles of photosynthesis colloquially called light and dark cycles. The light cycle requires light. The dark cycle does not require dark. It ...
7
Actually.. Here's a study that shows tomatoes do pretty well in a 24 hour continuous, but they varied the temperature and they didn't get the spotting that had occurred with 24h lighting in the past. Did better than the 16 hour light / 8 hour dark, anyways.
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/40/2/374.full.pdf
7
Some seeds will germinate with just warmth and water but if they do not get sufficient light they become spindly and stretched out. These seedlings are weak stemmed and tough to plant out.
You get better seedlings by growing them under light. Once they are around the two leaf or four leaf stage you can take the top off your tray and move them into indoor ...
7
You could get multiple plants and rotate which one is in your office every few weeks, bringing one home on a Friday night and then the next one in on a Monday morning.
Honestly I had no idea what kind of stress these changes would put on a plant compared to staying in the office full-time, but I suspect it would work.
7
The last picture clinches it - it's undoubtedly scale.
Scale is really hard to get rid of entirely. For most of the lifecycle it's very tiny and impossible to spot all of. It spreads to other plants. It leaves a sticky residue underneath the plant that's hard to remove. So... consider tossing the plant.
You can slow it down a lot with organic sprays, ...
7
Jatropha podagrica is a very poisonous plant so don't eat any of it. It's an indoor plant and can't survive under 50°F. Water it when dry, give it bright light but avoid direct sun. Other than that it should stay alive for some time.
The plant is an indoor tropical forest type plant and is only poisonous if eaten; if handled just wash your hands ...
7
Your best bet would be to try germinating them using a damp paper towel. If they sprout, you're good to go. It probably varies based on how old the seeds are and how they were dried, etc.
7
Does the basil on the left side have any chances of survival? It doesn't seem likely, but there is still some green on the leaves.
The plant on the left side is too far gone. It will never fully recover, and should be disposed of. The plant looks like it either took some cold, or got basil fusarium wilt. I think the latter is unlikely, but I'd keep that ...
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