Whether you choose a simple "Peace Lily" (shown at right) or pots of orchids, Payne's has the expertise to help you keep them growing for years to come.

The most common indoor houseplant problem is overwatering. In dry Northern New Mexico, indoor gardeners are often paranoid about letting their plants dry out too much, so we tend to overcompensate, drenching the poor things till they start to wilt (which makes us think they’re not getting enough water, so we drench ‘em more!).

Why is overwatering bad? It prevents roots from getting oxygen, resulting in root die-off and plant wilt, with the yellowed and dropped leaves that go along with it. To avoid overwatering, don’t feel the surface of the soil; a soggy root system can exist even when the surface is quite dry. Instead, get a Payne's water gauge and stick the tip far down into the pot to see if watering is needed. Another way, which we practice a lot in the nursery, is to heft the pot. Pick it up; if it’s light, it probably needs water.

Some other watering tips:
•    Never allow water to stand for more than a few hours in the catchment basin under the plant’s pot. It can choke off the oxygen the plant’s roots need.
•    Make sure growing media are well-drained. Look for perlite (little white granules) in the growing mix; the more perlite, the better drained the mix will be.
•    Use pots with at least 1 drainage hole. When sinking pots with drainage holes into a gravel-lined, holeless, decorative planter, regularly remove those pots from the planter to dump out any water that collects in the bottom of the planter. Otherwise, stagnant water collecting in your holeless planter can clog the holes in the pots and prevent oxygen from getting to their plants' roots.
•    Large plants in small pots will need water more often than large plants in large pots.
•    Plants in homes with forced-air heat dry out faster than plants in homes heated in other ways.
•    If in doubt about whether a plant is being overwatered, don’t water it — bring it in to Payne’s! We'll be happy to look it over and make our recommendations.
•    When going away for a business or pleasure trip, make sure any designated home plant-waterers are dependable. Customers complain to us regularly about neighbors and/or roommates either forgetting to water plants or drowning them. Looking for a dependable plant-care person? Ask us! We might be able to recommend someone!

In the habit of fertilizing indoor plants with every watering? Hold off once a month and water them thoroughly with just plain water. That will help flush out the excess fertilizer mineral salts from the containers (the salts make that white “frost” on the inner surfaces of the pots).

Houseplants need to be cleaned! Remember that accumulated dust can coat houseplant leaf surfaces, reducing their ability to photosynthesize chlorophyll. A monthly spray with lukewarm water (in the utility sink or the bathtub) will refresh a plant greatly (just be sure to cover the soil in its pot with plastic so the soil in the pot doesn’t get waterlogged by the spray).

Houseplant light needs change during the winter, and so does their available sunshine. Rotate houseplants one quarter turn every two days to make sure all sides get equal access to the winter sunshine. And beware of placing their leaves and stems right up against window glass. At night, when temps plummet, the glass can conduct the cold right into the plant, damaging it. Also, if there’s a heating vent under the window where a plant is, it can dry it out badly, so place a humidifer nearby or put the plant’s pot onto a tray of moistened pebbles to raise the humidity.

Wood Heat Humidifer: If heating with a wood stove, keep a pot of water on top of the stove. The stove will heat the pot, releasing the evaporating moisture into the air — and plants will love you for it!
Warm Water, Happy Plants: Don’t forget to water houseplants and tropicals with lukewarm water — water that is just slightly warm to the touch. Water straight from the tap can be very cold and shock the roots of plants, leading to leaf-drop and retarded growth.

Pests & Diseases
If indoor potted plants develop clouds of teeny black fruit fly-ish critters, fungus gnats are probably the culprits. In the adult stage they’re just annoying, but they lay their eggs among the roots of potted plants, and the miniscule larvae chow down on the organic matter in the pots, which can include a plants’ roots. Here are some gnat-control tactics:
•    Use Payne's sticky traps, which are plastic or paper squares, dyed in gnat-attracting colors, coated with a gluelike substance.
•    Cover the surface of the soil in the pots with a layer of fine sand (available at Payne's!) to inhibit further egg-laying penetration.
•    Make up a solution of Safer's Insecticidal Soap™ according to the instructions on the label and drench the soil in the pots with it every few weeks.

More questions? Please come in to either Payne's store for expert advice.