Indoor flowers can be grown from seeds or cuttings, or you can buy a ready-made bush in the store. But each such plant will need to adapt to new habitat conditions. To ensure that the acquired flower does not die soon after moving into the house or flowering, it is important to follow the basic rules of care.
How to choose the right flower in the store
A bright flower that often attracts attention in a store will soon wither and die. Most often, a similar situation occurs with exotic flowering species, but sometimes even crops with decorative foliage die. To minimize the risk of losing a new plant, it is important to properly assess its condition before purchasing. Spontaneous acquisition of a species, the conditions for which cannot be provided at home, is another of the most common reasons for parting with a new flower.
When buying a flower in a store, you need to carefully consider:
- Where will the pot with this plant stand? How will it fit into the interior and how much space will it take after it grows?
- What kind of lighting, humidity and temperature indicators will the new plant need?
- How demanding is it to care for?
After making sure that the selected species can normally exist at home, you can start choosing a specific specimen. The bush should have a healthy appearance and strong, intact leaves.
Particular attention is paid to the following details:
- The inside of the leaves. There may be traces of pests or spots that indicate disease. In addition, you need to inspect the leaf sinuses and all corners of the bush where insects can hide.
- To the ground. It can be moldy or waterlogged. Sometimes rotten roots can be seen even in the store.
- The bottom of the pot. The roots of the flower may have already grown into the drainage holes, and by their appearance one can judge the health of the entire plant.
Sick flowers, as well as with yellowed or sluggish foliage, is too risky to buy. The plant is unlikely to be able to recover from the change of scenery, in addition, there is a great danger with it to bring an infection or pest into the house. It can take a lot of time and effort to try to cure the bush, and a successful outcome in this case is not guaranteed.
Why a flower can die after purchase
Why do many flowers, especially foreign hybrids, die so quickly after entering the house? There may be several reasons for this. The culprits of problems with plants can be manufacturers and sellers who do everything to make the bush look as impressive as possible at the time of sale and make you want to buy it. In mass trade, flowers are often overfed with various substances: fertilizers, inhibitors (substances that inhibit growth and make the bushes compact) or flowering stimulants. Sometimes dyes are added to the dressings, which contribute to a change in the color of the above-ground parts of the bush.Many flower crops, such as chrysanthemums and begonias, are often sold only for a one-time lush bloom as a "bouquet in a pot". After flowering, they also often die, being too depleted for adaptation and a new wave of growth.
Even not overfed flowers can sometimes not take root in a new place. When grown in greenhouses, purchased plants become accustomed to ideal temperature and humidity conditions, as well as additional lighting. To prevent such a bush from becoming a victim of disease or harmful insects, it can be systematically treated with insecticides or antifungal agents. Once in the store, the plant is deprived of its usual conditions of detention. A long stay in a warehouse or on a shelf, as well as transportation processes, can significantly weaken the bush. All of this is added to the stress of changing the environment after the purchase. Such a plant can take a long time to recover, and sometimes it never recovers.
Features of flower transportation
The future state of the purchased flower largely depends on the conditions of its transportation to the new home. Most indoor plants come from warm countries, so it is undesirable to purchase them in frost. The optimum temperature is moderately warm: 8-10 degrees. If a flower is nevertheless bought in winter, a shelter is prepared for it in advance - a box or packages, and they also try to move it from the street to a warm room as soon as possible.
In order for the temperature drop to have less effect on the health of the plant brought from the frost, it is left for about an hour in a cool corner (for example, in the corridor), and only then they begin to remove the covering material. This will save the flower from too abrupt change of scenery.
Watering the flower immediately after taking it out of the bag is not worth it. It is advisable to wait a couple of days, and only then watering. But first of all, one should focus on the condition of the soil in the pot. If only the top layer has time to dry, watering can be carried out in a day.
Home inspection of the purchased plant
Even if the bush was carefully examined in the store, they look at it again at home. The branches, leaves or flowers of the plant may have been accidentally damaged during transport, so the broken parts must be removed immediately. Sections should be treated with crushed charcoal, brilliant green or a special antibacterial compound.
After sanitizing, you should once again make sure that there are no uninvited guests on the plant - pests or signs of disease. If you place an untested new shrub with your home flowers, you can accidentally infect all the houseplants in the room. Keeping the newcomer in quarantine away from other flowers will help to avoid this. This usually takes from several days to several weeks. If the slightest signs of illness or the presence of insects appear on the bush, a number of preventive treatments should be carried out. To do this, the plant is sprayed with a pale solution of potassium permanganate or a solution of ordinary or green soap, keeping it between procedures for about 5 days. You can also treat the bush with a weak fungicide solution. If the symptoms of the lesion become too obvious, an appropriate drug must be used.
Plant adaptation and quarantine care
Keeping the flower in quarantine, it is checked and inspected every 4-5 days. During this period, it should be kept in a moderately lit and warm area with an average humidity level. You cannot expose the flower to the open sun or leave it in the heat or cold during this period. It is also not necessary to rinse the foliage and carry out pruning except for sanitary purposes.
Transfer
The soil in the shipping container of a purchased flower may be oversaturated with nutrients or, on the contrary, already too depleted. But you should not immediately transplant such a plant into a new soil.The exceptions are specimens that need to be transplanted due to problems with the old pot or illness. In other cases, the transplant can damage the roots and further harm the flower that has not recovered from the move. For some time after the purchase, he must spend in the old container. This usually takes from a couple of weeks to a month.
The time for transplanting into fresh soil that meets all the requirements of the culture is chosen based on the condition of the bush. Only those plants that have already recovered from the move and resumed growth can be transplanted into a new pot.
Lighting
The first time after the purchase, they try to disturb a new flower as rarely as possible. The pot with it is not rearranged or rotated unnecessarily, allowing the plant to get used to the angle of illumination.
The illumination of a flower adapting to new conditions should be gentle. The minimum amount of light that a bush should receive is calculated based on the requirements of representatives of its species. Shade-loving plants are not at all tolerated in direct sun, specimens that can be shaded are kept in a semi-shady place. Even light-loving bushes should first be held in diffused light; you should not immediately expose them to direct rays.
Temperature
If the plant requires a certain temperature for normal development, there will be enough moderate heat (18-20 degrees) during the adaptation period. For flowers that prefer cold, you can provide a little more coolness. At the same time, conditions must remain stable throughout the entire acclimatization period. It is advisable that the plant is not exposed to a draft and does not stand next to a hot battery.
Watering
The main concern during acclimatization will be to periodically water the purchased flower. The soil in the pot should remain slightly damp, but not waterlogged. This will help reduce the risk of decay. The flower at this time may have a wilted appearance, but gradually it can return to normal without outside help.
Humidity level
In order for the flower to quickly get used to new conditions, they try to provide it with increased air humidity. It is especially important to observe this rule for plants that were previously kept in a greenhouse. From the dryness of the air, their foliage can fall off or begin to dry out at the edges. In addition, low humidity will help weaken the immunity of the bush. To help the plant, you can use humidifiers, spray its foliage more often or use improvised means - put open containers of water next to the pot, cover the batteries with wet towels, etc. Compact hygrophilous plants can be kept under a transparent jar or bag that will serve as a mini-greenhouse.
Special preparations can help the flower to get used to new conditions, gently stimulating the plant's immunity and helping it to survive an unfavorable period more calmly.
Plant care after purchase
It can take months for a purchased flower to get used to the new conditions, so even after quarantine, you need to take care of it carefully. Especially carefully you will have to monitor greenhouse specimens and more capricious Dutch plants. Unlike flowers grown at home from seed or cuttings, such flowers are more sensitive to any errors in the content. Before purchasing any plants or immediately after it, you need to familiarize yourself in detail with the main conditions for their cultivation and try to provide them.
After the end of the adaptation period, the flower pot is placed in a permanent place. Further care for the bush will consist in watering and (if necessary) spraying, which is carried out based on the needs of the species. It should not be fed for at least a couple of months after purchase. In the future, nutrients are introduced, focusing on the development cycle of a particular culture.An exception can be made for abundant flowering plants that will need nutrition to maintain normal growth. They begin to fertilize after quarantine. If the structure of the species allows, top dressing can be applied foliarly: this is how many plants are fertilized in greenhouses. In addition, this way nutrients are absorbed by them faster.
A bush can be transplanted after quarantine, or you can wait for the most favorable time for such a procedure. Most often, plants are transplanted at the beginning of their active growth period - in spring or summer. Even healthy bushes of many flowers do not tolerate transplants, so it is advisable to carry them out only if absolutely necessary. Also, do not be alarmed:
- Blooming or discolored bushes. Because of this, they can shed their buds, and the flowering period will be significantly reduced - all the strength will go to rooting.
- Resting plants that have slowed down their growth rates. Violation of the dormant period will not allow the flower to regain strength before a new stage of development.
If the flower is cramped in the old pot or the soil in it does not meet the requirements at all, a few weeks after the end of quarantine, the bush is transplanted into a new container. Most crops tolerate the transshipment method well - it is suitable even for capricious and sensitive species. They are moved to a new place along with the soil clod, without cleaning the roots. Complete removal of the old soil with rinsing of the roots is undesirable for any plants; it is carried out only if the soil in the pot is contaminated with something. A sharp and radical change in the usual composition of the soil can become another stress for the flower. When transplanting into a larger pot, you can only add fresh soil to the old one or try to replace only part of it.
The opinion that a complete change of the potting mix can protect the flower from an excess of store fertilizers is also considered a myth. Such compositions are usually applied to the foliage, they are quickly absorbed by the plant, therefore it is useless to rinse the roots of such flowers. Do not be afraid of white particles in store-bought soil - they can be both small granules of long-acting fertilizers and aerating soil additives.
Dutch plants are sometimes acquired without the usual land - they grow in a special substrate, which is a soilless mixture that conducts water and air. In its role can be peat, coconut fiber and other similar materials. It is believed that being in such soil is bad for plant health, but many species adapt well to it. The need for transplanting is usually indicated additionally (most often very large plants are transported in unsuitable transport land), but some indoor flowers can also be left in peat soil. Such a substrate will require particularly careful adherence to watering conditions. Excessive moisture quickly leads to the appearance of mold, and irregular watering leads to a loss of its quality.
Ornamental foliage plants may have a mesh basket in a pot in which they were rooted. Sometimes such a mesh is too dense, and can harm the growing roots of bushes, constraining them if it is not removed in a timely manner. If the roots have already successfully sprouted through the net, they should not be disturbed.
The necessary pruning is usually carried out about six months after the purchase of the bush. At an earlier date, shoots of crops that require regular and constant formation can be cut. There are species that require pruning or pinching to start flowering. But a pruning procedure carried out at the wrong time can further weaken the plant or lead to the appearance of weak and elongated shoots.
In flowering plants, all flowers are sometimes removed after purchase. Such measures are designed to direct all the forces of the bush to adapt, as well as protect against insects that may hide in the buds.But if the rooting plant has begun to form fresh buds, you should not pick them off, trying to stop the flowering wave. The bush can distribute its forces by itself, so the extra buds will dry themselves if necessary, and additional intervention can bring down the flower development mode.
By initially picking up a healthy plant in the store and properly caring for it, you can successfully save the purchased flower and avoid a number of difficulties that may await the first time after moving it into the house. Careful inspection and regular care will allow the plant to take root in a new place faster.
