Protect and safeguard house and greenhouse plants

Plants are like pets: they require dutiful care and attention, but can significantly enrich your life. From water and soil to sunlight and shade, here are the things you need to keep in mind for your plants to grow and develop well.

These are the main variables you need to consider when caring for any houseplant, from a bonsai tree to a cactus:

• Water: Don't overwater. It's the most common cause of houseplant death. Overwatering will kill the roots, making plants collapse. Always let the surface of the compost dry out before watering and allow excess fluid  to drain away. You can also water from below by standing plants in a bowl of water. Reduce watering to a minimum during winter, and remember to mist regularly in dry conditions.
• Temperature: Provide stable conditions away from extremes of heat and cold. If necessary, move plants away from open fires, or from cold windows at night.
• Light and air: Plants thrive on bright, filtered light, rather than sunlight that's scorching  and direct. Foliage plants are best suited to low light levels.
• Food: Use a store-bought liquid feed from spring to fall, which is when plants are actively growing.

Although greenhouses are designed to provide added heat for raising delicate plants and seedlings, at the height of summer they can reach temperatures that will bake the plants inside. Keep a watch on heat levels with a maximum-minimum thermometer, and remember the following tips:

• Provide shade: In midsummer heat, greenhouse plants need protection from the sun, and seedlings can benefit from shade even on a bright spring day. The cheapest solution is to brush greenhouse shade paint onto the outside of the glass. Choose one of the new paints that turns opaque in bright sunlight but becomes more transparent on dull days and is impervious to rain.
• Allow air to circulate: On warm days, be sure to open your greenhouse's vents and doors, but remember to shut them before the temperature drops in the evening. Automatic vent openers are inexpensive, easy to install, and will open and close the windows according to the temperature inside the greenhouse.
• Water regularly: Watering is essential for plants to survive hot weather inside of a greenhouse. Water your plants at the beginning or end of the day, when the temperatures are at their lowest. This minimizes the water lost to evaporation. Use a plant mister to spray water on the leaves as well as watering at the roots. If your greenhouse has a stone floor, add some water to the floor too: it will evaporate in the sun and help to raise the humidity inside.

Whether it's just a single houseplant or an expansive, burgeoning greenhouse, it's important to care for your flowering friends. Follow these tips and you'll have plants that are healthy, beautiful, and strong.