New to house plants

(argh never hit send, time to retype)

I moved out of my parents basement a little over a year ago, while there I only had northernly light through a basement window so my choices were limited. Now that I have the ability to care for house plants I want to make full use of that.

Yesterday while working at a ladies house I commented on her plants and she told me that while in florida she had become a master gardener. She told me a lot I never knew and gave me a clipping of her Christmas cactus and said "take care of Oscar". While most of what she said didn't stick I basically figured out I have a lot to learn.

I know that fertilizing is something I need to start, when how much and how often with what, i'm not sure. (she said they can go dormant in winter)

A lot of my plants are probably root bound from the store and watering improperly probably caused a lot of the small ones to die.

I think most of my plants still have tags so I should be able to ID them.

The one i'm really worried about is a Norfolk pine that I got a friend of mine for Christmas a couple years back. It was in a very poorly light apartment and sometime over the past year she gave it to me. It has been thinning out pretty bad and I don't know how to tell if it is improving in current conditions or getting worse.

The two palms I had in my parents basement had been surviving in my moms blacked out kitchen for several years (she has nerve damage and migraines). I rescued them probably 5-6 years ago and they have been doing well, if I can make them thrive even more that would be great.

I basically need to know where to start, all I have done is move plants around to different light levels and hope they survive. I have been watering once a week and not really sure what I should be doing. I'm certain each plant has unique needs but I don't know what they are.

The one thing I have learned is that my main floor has three light levels. To the east I have a sliding glass door with a thin white curtain, no building or obstructions just farm land so I get full morning light. This is my high light location. In the middle of the house I have a divider wall that gets indirect east and west light, this is my low light location. To the west I have the same curtains with mostly closed blinds, outside there is a large tree and along with mountains and other homes it doesn't get full light. That is my medium light location.

I would like to learn how to make each plant thrive and need to know where to start.

Thank you :)

This message was edited Mar 6, 2014 11:22 AM

Ps - The internet is rife with conflicting opinions and misinformation, and experience is actually a poor teacher, especially when experience is gained at the cost of repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Experience is most valuable when it's used in practical application as a tool to validate what you've already learned. People who take it upon themselves to learn how to look at things from the plant's perspective will leave those who depend on experience as their primary source of knowledge standing in their slipstream.

If you want to grow well, you'll need to deal with a triangle that if understood will probably do more to further your proficiency as a grower than anything else you might learn. If you gain an understanding of how this triangle should work, and put it to proper use, the rest is easy.

The triangle consists of soil choice, watering habits, and a nutritional supplementation program that comes as close as possible to achieving the goal of nutritional supplementation for containers. These 3 things are inextricably related, each affecting the others. Get them right & most of your frustrations and misgivings will disappear.

Still want help? If so, read the sticky at the top of this forum. See if any lights come on. If you think you're onto something, I'll link you to a thread about soils. Once you understand soils and water retention, there is little reason you can't grow just about anything light * temps allow. BTW - I grow hundreds of species of plants. All but cacti get treated almost exactly the same. The idea that every plant needs a special care regimen isn't grounded in reality. They don't. 99% of the plants you'll grow will respond extremely well to the same care, with some variance for light levels & temps. The problem with most growers is, they provide cultural conditions that demand the plant operates at or near the limits of what it is genetically programmed to tolerate, and expect the plant to prosper. When you've learned how to provide a sweet spot (as far as cultural conditions are concerned), THEN you can expect your plants to prosper.

What defines your proficiency as a grower is how well you're able to recognize and eliminate things that are limiting your plants. Almost all of the limitations people arrive here seeking remedies for are caused by a breakdown in the triangle I mentioned above. That includes poor health/growth/appearance, insect infestations, and diseases.

Al

PS, good for you to want to find out about houseplants and how you can fill your environment with beautiful green things. I agree with Al that the internet contains a lot of conflicting information, and a lot of regurgitated procedures that the people who write about them have never tried and know nothing about. That's why forums like this are probably the best place to start learning -- the people you get advice from have actual dirty fingers! Still, not everyone agrees. For instance, while Al believes the most important thing is to have a coarse, free-draining soil mix, I believe that the most important thing is to learn to judge soil moisture in whatever soil you have. By all means, study the excellent information Al and others have provided; you are also welcome to stop by my blog, http://theficuswrangler.blogspot.com/ and look at the videos I have on YouTube that show you about watering and soil moisture. Don't be shy to ask as many questions as you need to, and try different things until you find what works best for you.