Houseplants & succulents for dummies
Book - 2024
"Become the best plant parent you can be...Houseplant hysteria is here to stay. For new and seasoned plant owners alike, Houseplants & Succulents For Dummies is the ideal resource on plant care, growing cycles, unique plant varieties, and all the essentials you need to know about your rooted friends. Ensure that your sprouts grow and thrive, with tons of tips and answers to all your questions. Are they getting enough light? Are you overwatering? Why are the leaves turning yellow? This fun Dummies guide teaches you to find the right plants for your personal plant care style, identify common varieties, choose the right potting soil, and pick the perfect little nook for your leaf baby. You'll also learn how to rescue your plants ...when pests and diseases strike, and even how to use plants as part of a stylish home décor approach. Grab this handy book if you're new to the houseplant craze and want a user-friendly, comprehensive guide on plant care. Intermediate and advanced plant parents will also love this handy reference with info on the latest plant trends and new varieties. Get growing!"--Publisher's website.
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- Subjects
- Genres
- handbooks
Handbooks and manuals - Published
-
[Hoboken, New Jersey] :
[John Wiley & Sons]
[2024]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Item Description
- Includes index (pages 375-386).
- Physical Description
- xi, 386 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- ISBN
- 9781394159512
- Introduction
- About This Book
- Foolish Assumptions
- Icons Used in This Book
- Beyond This Book
- Where to Go from Here
- Part 1. Getting Started with Houseplants
- Chapter 1. Discovering the World of Houseplants
- Getting to Know Houseplants
- Houseplant history
- Species houseplant names
- Cultivar names
- Hybrid plant names
- Understanding the Benefits of Growing Houseplants
- Growing Houseplants: A Month-by-Month Guide
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June, July, and August
- September
- October
- November and December
- Chapter 2. Choosing the Perfect Houseplants
- Figuring Out Where to Shop
- Specialist houseplant growers or suppliers
- Your local garden center
- Home centers, groceries, and discount stores
- Plant and home shows
- Online houseplant suppliers
- Considering Your Environment
- Taking temperature readings
- Measuring your light intensity
- Asking yourself a few other questions
- Knowing What to Look for in a Houseplant
- Choosing a healthy plant
- Deciding between a mature blooming plant and a young plant
- Understanding how houseplants are produced
- Selecting houseplants with a sweet scent
- Introducing Your New Houseplant to Your Home
- Chapter 3. Having the Right Tools on Hand
- Focusing on Pruning and Cutting Tools
- Pruners
- Knives and blades
- Considering Potting Tools and Supplies
- Potting tools and supplies
- Identifying Watering Accessories
- Water breakers
- Water-flow regulators
- Hoses
- Watering cans
- Sprayers and misters
- Fertilizer injectors and siphon mixers
- Deionization and reverse osmosis units
- Modifying Your Environment with Humidifiers, Ventilation Equipment, and Heaters
- Humidifiers
- Ventilation equipment
- Heaters
- Thermometers and hygrometers
- Chapter 4. Houseplant Appreciation and Display
- Caring for Houseplants in Their New Home
- If the plant is in bloom
- If the plant is not in bloom
- Staking and Grooming Your Blooming Houseplants
- Figuring out how to stake
- Helping your houseplants look their best
- Displaying Houseplants in Your Home
- Knowing some tips to best display your houseplants
- Arranging Houseplant Flowers
- Understanding the three basic flower-design elements
- Supporting houseplant stems in arrangements
- Making your houseplant arrangement last longer
- Part 2. Keeping Your Houseplants Alive and Thriving
- Chapter 5. Providing the Right Growing Environment
- Knowing How Much Light Your Houseplants Need
- Let There Be Light! Recognizing Natural Light Sources
- Greenhouses: Your high light source
- Windowsills: Not all are created equal
- Clues your houseplants want different lighting
- Comparing Artificial Light Sources
- Fluorescent lights
- High-intensity discharge lights and commercial-grade LED lights
- LEDs: The new kids on the block
- Choosing the best lighting option
- Knowing Some Tricks for Growing Houseplants Under Lights
- Creating Humidity
- Providing Ventilation: Fresh Air, Please!
- Ceiling fans
- Oscillating fans
- Muffin fans
- Considering Houseplant Temperature Requirements
- Too-low temperatures
- Too-high temperatures
- Choosing and Planting a Terrarium
- Giving Your Houseplants a Summer Vacation
- Growing plants in a shade house
- Summering houseplants in a portable greenhouse
- Letting your plants hang around
- Chapter 6. Watering and Fertilizing Your Plants
- Water, Water Everywhere: Understanding the Art of Watering Houseplants
- The type of houseplant
- The type of pot
- The type and age of the potting material
- The roominess of the pot
- The humidity, temperature, and ventilation of the growing environment
- The growing stage
- Quenching Your Houseplants' Thirst
- Using the pot-weighting method
- Knowing some tips and tricks for watering your houseplants
- Over-or Underwatering: Roots Tell the Story
- Houseplant ER: Rescuing and Resuscitating a Dehydrated Houseplant
- Realizing Fertilizers Are Plant Boosters - Not Magic Potions
- Knowing what to look for in houseplant fertilizers
- Identifying types of fertilizers and knowing how to use them
- Chapter 7. Getting the Skinny on Containers, Potting Mixes, and Repotting
- Exploring Different Kinds of Containers
- Examining standard container materials
- Getting creative with containers
- Growing houseplants hydroponically in self-watering containers
- Getting the Right Potting Mix
- Comparing potting mix to soil
- Understanding components of potting mixes
- Figuring out which potting materials are best
- Whipping up your own mix
- Repotting Houseplants without Fear
- Playing the Matching Game - the Right Plants for the Right Pots
- Up-close-and-personal displays
- Tucked-in attention-grabbers
- Containers of mixed company
- Chapter 8. Multiplying Your Favorite Houseplants
- Cloning Your Plants through Vegetative Reproduction
- Cutting and rooting stems
- Reproducing with leaf cuttings
- Propagating by air layering
- Growing Plants from Seeds: Sexual Reproduction
- Recognizing the different kinds of seeds
- Knowing the benefits of sowing seeds
- Buying seeds: What to keep in mind
- Testing seeds
- Getting better results from sowing seed
- Thinning seedlings
- Hardening off seedlings
- Transplanting seedlings
- Chapter 9. Keeping Your Houseplants Pest- and Disease-Free
- Preventing Problems before They Start
- Besting the Bugs
- Identifying common houseplant pests
- Finding safe and effective pest-control measures
- Applying pest-control treatments
- Identifying Fungal and Bacterial Infections
- Noticing when your houseplant has a virus
- Handling a sick plant
- Part 3. The Best of the Houseplants
- Chapter 10. Succulents and Cacti: Easy-Care Plants
- Caring for Houseplant Succulents and Cacti
- Potting
- Watering
- Lighting
- Other maintenance tips
- Meeting the Succulents
- Genus: Adromischus
- Genus: Aeonium
- Genus: Agave
- Genus: Aloe
- Genus: Anacampseros
- Genus: Bryophyllum
- Genus: Ceropegia
- Genus: Cotyledon
- Genus: Crassula
- Genus: Echeveria
- Genus: Euphorbia
- Genus: Faucaria
- Genus: Gasteria
- Genus: Graptopetalum
- Genus: Graptosedum
- Genus: Graptoveria
- Genus: Haworthia
- Genus: Kalanchoe
- Genus: Lithops
- Genus: Pachyphytum
- Genus: Pachyveria
- Genus: Pleiospilos
- Genus: Portulacaria
- Genus: Sedum
- Genus: Sempervivum
- Genus: Senecio
- Saying Hi to Houseplant Cacti
- Getting to the point: Cactus spines and prickers
- Two can tango: Grafted cacti
- Genus: Astrophytum
- Genus: Cephalocereus
- Genus: Cereus
- Genus: Disocactus
- Genus: Echinocactus
- Genus: Echinocereus
- Genus: Echinopsis
- Genus: Epiphyllum
- Genus: Ferocactus
- Genus: Gymnocalycium
- Genus: Mammillaria
- Genus: Opuntio
- Genus: Oreocereus
- Genus: Parodia or Notocactus
- Genus: Rhipsalis
- Genus: Tephrocactus
- Chapter 11. Easy Orchids: Don't Pass Up These Beauties
- Becoming Familiar with the Basics of Orchid Culture
- Repotting Orchids without Fear
- Knowing when to repot
- Orchid potting - step by step
- Understanding Orchid Names
- Meeting the Moth Orchids
- Examining the popularity of moth orchids
- Deconstructing the beauty of moth orchids
- Checking Out the Cattleyas
- The queens of the ball: Cattleya hybrids
- Exploring the miniatures
- A few other cattleya relatives of note
- Trying On the Slipper Orchids
- Giving your lady's slipper a good home
- Admiring marvelous Maudioe
- Going big with modern lady's slippers hybrids
- Taking a spin with the dancing ladies: Onicidiums
- Growing miniature oncidiums or tolumnias
- Chapter 12. Foliage Plants: Create an Indoor Tropical Paradise
- Examining Why People Grow Foliage Plants
- Introducing an Assortment of Foliage Plants
- Large-growing foliage plants
- Small-growing foliage plants
- Vines and climbers for foliage and flowers
- Chapter 13. Flowering Plants: Dazzling Additions to Your Indoor Garden
- Understanding the Conditions Flowering Plants Need to Thrive
- Introducing a Parade of Flowering Plants
- Genus: Abutilon
- Genus: Acalypha
- Genus: Alpinia
- Genus: Anthurium
- Genus: Aphelandra
- Genus: Beloperone
- Genus: Bougainvillea
- Genus: Brugmansia
- Genus: Brunfelsia
- Genus: Burbidgea
- Genus: Canna
- Genus: Cestrum
- Genus: Clerodendrum
- Genus: Clivia
- Genus: Costus
- Genus: Crossandra
- Genus: Curcuma
- Genus: Duranta
- Genus: Euphorbia
- Genus: Fuchsia
- Genus: Gardenia
- Genus: Globba
- Genus: Heliconia
- Genus: Hibiscus
- Genus: Ixora
- Genus; Jatropha
- Genus: Justicia
- Genus: Medinilla
- Genus: Mussaenda
- Genus: Nerium
- Genus: Pachystachys
- Genus: Pentas
- Genus: Plumbago
- Genus: Plumeria
- Genus: Rosa
- Genus: Ruellia
- Genus: Spathiphyllum
- Genus: Tabernaemontana
- Genus: Tibouchina
- Genus: Zantedeschia
- Genus: Zingiber
- Chapter 14. African Violets and Their Kin: Almost Always in Flower
- Understanding Why Gesneriads Should Be More Popular
- Introducing the Main Players in This Genus
- Genus: Achimenes
- Genus: Aeschynanthus
- Genus: Chirita
- Genus: Chrysothemis
- Genus: Columnea
- Genus: Corytoplectus
- Genus: Episcia
- Genus: Kohleria
- Genus: Nematanthus
- Genus: Pearcea
- Genus: Saintpaulia
- Genus: Seemannia
- Genus: Sinningia
- Genus: Smithiantha
- Genus: Streptocarpus
- Chapter 15. Begonias: Brilliant Flowers, Gorgeous Foliage
- Examining Why People Grow Begonias
- Understanding Basic Care of Begonias
- Potting your begonias
- Regulating humidity
- Watering correctly
- Providing light
- Managing temperature requirements
- Meeting the Begonias
- Foliage begonias
- Flowering begonias
- Shrub or cane begonias
- Part 4. The Part of Tens
- Chapter 16. Ten Common Reasons Houseplants Die (and How to Avoid "em)
- Overwatering
- Underwatering
- Too Much Light or Heat
- Leaving Houseplant Foliage Wet Overnight
- Too Much Fertilizer
- Insect Infestation
- Improper Use of Pesticides
- Purchasing Sick Plants
- Poor Water Quality
- Inadequate Ventilation
- Chapter 17. The Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions about Houseplants
- Are Houseplants Difficult to Grow?
- Why Should I Grow Houseplants?
- Do I Need a Greenhouse to Grow Houseplants?
- Are Houseplants Expensive?
- How Long Will Houseplants Live?
- What Makes a Plant a Houseplant?
- Are Any Houseplants Cold-Hardy?
- Are Houseplants Fragrant?
- Where Can I See the Best Collections of Houseplants?
- What Are the Best Materials to Use to Repot or Transplant My Houseplants?
- Appendix
- Index