Organic Plant Care

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES:
Multiple pots, good drainage assurance, a sharp divider tool, and a rich soil medium are the main equipment and supplies used to divide and multiply. It is important to keep all of our tools, equipment, and supplies cleaned with baking soda and well-rinsed before working with our plants. It's also a good idea to wash our hands too, or use cleaned gardening gloves when handling cut- exposed roots. It's true: hand-to-earth contact is what gardening is all about. However, when handling new seedlings or tender cut roots, special care is appreciated. As with ourselves, the less stress our greenleaved friends have to contend with, the better.

POTS:
To count how many pots are needed, we first determine what size new plants we want to grace our environment. Keeping the plant's recent growth rate in mind, we may decide to just divide in half, or in thirds. We may even separate our bustling bundle into four new plants. Soon, our one abundant plant provides multple new greenery throughout our living or work area.

DRAINAGE:
Plants thrive in a soil environment rich in air circulation. Ventilation is enhanced by good soil and a holey pot, or a pot lined with broken pot chips, or stones, screen mesh, and/or charcoal. Charcoal, when placed on the bottom of a planter or pot, serves as a filter, improving drainage. If it is added to a soil mix, it buffers the pH. This is useful if we choose to use some native soils which have not been amended. For a container which is four to ten inches, we use a ½ inch or 1 cm layer of charcoal. For planters over ten inches, one to two inches or 2-5 cm of charcoal are used. One or two overlapping pieces of screen may be placed on the bottom of the pot. It's okay if the mesh is cut larger than the bottom of the pot and soil sandwiches the mesh on the inner sides. Chips, stones, charcoal, or mesh provide good aeration where a pot is closed-in or has limited drainage holes. It's wise to wash these supplies with baking soda and to rinse well also.