Houseplants bring life and add color to any décor but unfortunately are often plagued by problems. What’s Wrong with My Houseplant? by authors David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth provides a fresh approach for growing healthy plants and dealing with plant problems. With abundant photographs the authors create a guide for successful identification and control of common problem using organic solutions.
The first section of the book focuses on preparing for success. It considers light quality and intensity, the importance of day and night temperatures, water and humidity management, potting medium, and containers. Techniques for propagating and potting or repotting plants round out the section.
The heart of the book is the section with 148 plant portraits. Houseplants are listed in groups such as palms, vines, ferns, cacti and succulents, etc and for each species within the group a photograph and detailed information is given on optimum household environment and common problems. From the text you can learn the plant’s requirements for light, temperature, water, humidity, potting medium, fertilizer, and time for repotting, as well as how to propagate the plant.
The final section is on organic solutions to plant problems and includes photographs of the problems to facilitate diagnosis followed by detailed information on how to solve the problem. The solutions range from picking of pests by hand to using baking soda spray for fungal infections. The importance of sterile techniques and quarantine to prevent the spread of disease is also considered. The suggestions are all valuable but the most helpful are probable those relating to maintaining a good environment for the plant.
To buy What’s Wrong with My Houseplant? from Amazon.com click here.
Karen Meyers