Warning - Do Not Place House Plants Near Radiators

By Kent Higgins

In the hottest months of the year even the most tropical plants may be used outdoors. The exact time when you may safely place them on the terrace, porch or patio and when you should bring them in depends upon where you live and upon the kind of plant. The temperature ranges will suggest when these moves should be made in your locality.

Humidity, that is the relative humidity of the atmosphere (the amount of moisture it contains compared with that it is actually capable of holding at a given temperature), is important.

There is little fear of affording the plants listed here an atmosphere that is too humid under house conditions. Lack of sufficient moisture in the air, particularly when artificial heat is being used, is a much more likely cause of trouble.

Despite the excessive dryness of the air in most homes a surprising number of tropical foliage plants adjust well to it and flourish in atmospheres drier than they are accustomed to in nature. There are list of plants for dry-air conditions.

There are a few well-tried devices for increasing the relative humidity of the air about plants grown indoors. Most perfect of all is the terrarium, which is really a miniature greenhouse that encloses the plants together with a surrounding moist atmosphere. Terrariums can normally accommodate only plants of small size.

Shallow trays of metal or plastic, containing a laver of sand, cinders, gravel, moss or other moisture-holding material that is kept constantly wet, evaporate water into the air. Pot plants that are placed upon such trays benefit from a local atmosphere that is moister than that of the main part of the room. Spraying foliage just like cleaning house plant leaves once or twice a day with water from an atomizer syringe is also helpful.

On the negative side, do not place plants near radiators or other sources of heat that make the air exceptionally dry. - 33393

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