Study, Learn and become an Expert with Indoor Plants
- Learn to identify, select, pot up and maintain indoor plants
- Indulge a passion for indoor plants; or train to work with indoor plants
- Start a business, or nurture a career in nursery or interior plantscaping
Develop your skills to make informed decisions on the selection, care and use of indoor plants. To be successful with indoor plants, you need to be able firstly, to identify correctly, the plants you are dealing with; and then secondly, understand the conditions required for the specific plant variety concerned.
COURSE CONTENT
There are eight lessons in this course as outlined below:‑
- Introduction
Plant Naming and pronunciation
Review of indoor plant families
Resources
- Indoor Plant Culture - Part A
Understanding interior environments
Plants for different light conditions
Problems with indoor plants
Potting Media
Potting up
Container selection
Managing plant nutrition
Pruning indoor plants
Propagation and caring for young indoor plants
Indoor Plant Culture - Part B
Acclimatizing indoor plants
Helping plants survive neglect
Managing plant health indoors- Foliage Plants
Growing palms inside
Review of palm genera
Selecting and Growing Ferns inside
Review of other foliage plant genera
- Flowering Plants
Orchids
African violets
Poinsettia
Other genera grown for flowers indoors.
- Other Indoor Plants
Herbs
Vines and Climbers
- Making The Best Use Of Indoor Plants
Deciding where to place an indoor plant
Managing colour
Using mirrors
Plants in baskets
Hydroponics indoors
Miniature gardens
- The Interior Plantscaping Industry
Interior Plantscaping Business
Growing in Greenhouses
Environmental control
What you will do:
Here are some examples of the things you will cover in this course:
- Distinguish between different types of indoor plants, including twenty-five different genera and fifty different varieties.
- Describe the cultural methods used for growing various indoor plants.
- Select appropriate plants for different interior plantscaping situations.
- Evaluate a range of plants not commonly grown indoors for their suitability for interior plantscaping.
- Develop innovative ways of presenting plants for indoor situations.
Explain the interior plantscaping industry, including it's nature and scope.
Aims
- Distinguish between different types of indoor plants
- Describe the cultural methods used for growing various indoor plants
- Evaluate a range of plants not commonly grown indoors for their suitability for interior plantscaping
- Select appropriate plants for different interior plantscaping situations
- Develop innovative ways of presenting plants for indoor situations
- Explain the interior plantscaping industry, including its nature and scope.
Learn to Choose and Use Indoor Plants in both Commercial and Home Environments
Plants are grown indoors because of the psychological and physical benefits they bring.
They decorate an interior, making it a more pleasing environment; but they also influence physical conditions including temperature, humidity, light, and air quality. Plants can also be used in places in ways that affect the actions of people; changing how people move through a space, where they are likely to stop and linger, or where they are likely to look. In commercial locations, people may be attracted to sit on the edges of planters near entrances for example. Good design should accommodate this by providing seating beside the plants in such locations.
Learn to Understand How an Indoor Environment Impacts Plants
Not only do plants affect an interior environment; but the interior environment affects plants.
Indoor plants generally exist in a modified microclimate, which is the priority is to manage conditions for the benefit of the people who inhabit that place. The best conditions for people are often not the best conditions for the plants though.
- Insects/Pests can be brought inside with plants (creating a problem)
- Pests can breed up in soil and on plants – some may be pests to the plants; others may be pests to humans or pets.
- % of different gasses in air can change in an indoor environment -affected by number of people, number & type of plants & degree to which the indoor environment is sealed from the outside
Watering can be Critical
Water requirements depend on a number of factors associated with caring for an indoor plant. Generally plants will be fine if plants are watered infrequently, as plants will withstand a dry media, whereas a constantly wet or moist media may become detrimental to the plant. A soil moisture meter(tensiometer) is beneficial for measuring the moisture content around a plants root zone. However moisture content can be observed by feeling the soil in the pot.
Over watering can be harmful to an indoor plant in a number of ways, it can deprive the plants roots of oxygen which could lead to the plant becoming susceptible to developing root diseases and harmful pathogens which may grow in the soil. Some signs of over watering can be very similar to a plant which has been under watered,.one of these signs is the plant dropping it's leaves and wilting. Over watering of some plants also effects the margins of a plants leaves, causing them to become yellow and eventually brown.
Under watered plants exhibit signs of wilting leaves, leaf drop, as the plant attempts to conserve water. Salts may also build up in the soil as a result of not enough water moving through the soil profile, resulting in harmful salts building up around the plants root zone and through the soil profile.
Many factors need to be considered when determining a water regime. Consideration must be given to the type of plant to be grown, the water holding capacity of the media, and the size of the container the plant is to be grown in.
Recommended Reading
Visit our school's online bookshop: buy and download an e book to start reading straight away.
Tropical Plants is a book by our principal John Mason, originally published in print by Kangaroo Press (Simon & Schuster), but now available as a well illustrated, second edition in eBook format.
Trees and Shrubs for Warm Places -also by John Mason, contains around 300 colour photos and covers thousands of plants, most of which are suitable for use as indoor plants.
From our bookshop at www.acsbookshop.com
