HOUSEPLANTS TRANSITIONAL PHASE
Most houseplants are tropical plants and are used to light intensities higher than our bedroom bulbs can provide. Plants adapt to conditions where they're located either; indoor or outdoor. Theyt try to make the best use of light, humidity, temperature and soil pH in their environment. Tropical plants in their natural habitat have abundance of water, moist soil, and light is mostly indirect. Succulents on the other hand grow in arid conditions where there’s abundance of light and water is scarce. The more you get familiarized with these plants, the more you’ll easily know their needs and when to provide them, relying more on observation and firsthand knowledge.
When you bring a new plant home, it will go through an adjustment period which I call a “transitional phase”. During this adjustment period, your plant might lose some older leaves that are used to their old conditions and create space for newer growth. You can save yourself some heartache if you learn to deepen your appreciation for how a plant grows, rather than focusing on how it no longer looks. Always keep in mind, OLDER LEAVES WILL ALWAYS FALL OFF.
You’ve gotta give your plant patience and effort. At the nursery, when a new plant is acquired, the first step is to quarantine the plant for two weeks or more before introducing it to other plants. During this quarantine period, they (the nursery) treats the plant for pests and bugs, check its soil pH and observe the leaf conditions over the days. They slowly let it adjust to indoor conditions before putting it on the shelf. Light, water, temperature, humidity, air quality and soil management are vital. Most greenhouses provide light intensity similar to their natural conditions. They allow upright growth fromabove blocked by plastic or cloth.
Water at nurseries is treated specially to remove chemicals. You can’t provide this types of water unless you can reserve rainwater. It's best to allow your tap water to sit openly in the can for a day before using it to water your plants. Tap water is mostly treated with chlorine, which isn’t suitable for plants.
To save time, most nurseries use sphagnum or perlite and heat as their planting medium. This helps with moisture and root aeration. We mostly ignore these details when we pot our indoor houseplants. Always avoid compacted soil because they choke and deprive the plant roots of water. Water runs through the soil without being retained. Tropical plants prefer temperatures above 60 degrees F. Lesser temperature will send your plants to shock and left to wilt or brown. At night, they prefer temperatures around 50^F.
