- Hi, thanks for joining us for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

I'm Chris Cooper.

An avid outdoor gardener may have problems growing plants inside.

Today we're talking about the basics of growing houseplants.

That's just ahead on The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

- (female announcer) Production funding for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South is provided by the WKNO Production Fund, the WKNO Endowment Fund, and by viewers like you, thank you.

[upbeat country music] - Welcome to The Family Plot.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today is Celeste Scott.

Celeste is a horticulture Extension specialist for UT.

Hi Celeste, always good to have you here.

- Thank you for asking me.

- All right, so we're gonna talk about houseplants.

So here's the thing.

What's the secret of growing good houseplants?

- There has to be a secret, right?

Anybody who's grown houseplants before, especially a person who has been traditionally growing plants outside and then is now trying to shift to indoor growing knows that there must be a secret, right?

There's not a secret, - So it's no secret.

- Well, light and moisture.

- Light and moisture.

- That seems like common sense, right?

But it really unlocks the secret doors to indoor houseplant success.

Understanding the light and moisture requirements of the plants that we're growing indoors and how we can provide, like mimic those needs in an indoor setting.

Does that make sense?

- Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

So let's talk about now the difference between moisture and the container type.

- Okay.

Good question.

So when we're talking about moisture needs of plants, it's important to consider the type of container that they're growing in.

Some plants need consistent moisture, while some plants need constant moisture.

So that's a big difference in consistent and constant.

I'm gonna share with you all this plant.

This is an arrowhead plant that requires constant moisture.

It wants to be moist, its entire root zone, constantly.

I did not obviously keep it constantly moist.

I was allowing this plant to dry out between waterings and I'll tell you what should have been my first clue is that it came with a wicking system built into the bottom of its container.

So if I had placed this into a larger container that had a reservoir of water, this wick allows it to provide that constant need of moisture to that root zone.

So if we had kept this constantly moist, we would have a nice thriving plant.

I thought this was a good learning point to bring today.

All the plants in this same family, in this arrowhead family, prefer constant moisture.

You could also consider like peace lillies, those are in the same family.

As compared to a plant that likes consistent moisture like this Peperomia that we have right here.

This is a succulent leaf-type plant and it likes to dry out between waterings.

But it doesn't like to stay dry.

It wants to dry out the first top inch of the soil and then to be rejuvenated with water again.

So this is consistent water.

The first example was constant water.

And then we have other plants that can tolerate longer periods of dryness like our pothos that we have right here.

You can completely soak that root zone and then let it completely dry out.

- I do that at home.

- And it's fine.

It's completely fine with it.

So there are some actions on our part that we need to take to meet those levels of water.

But we can also help ourselves out by selecting the proper containers to help us with that.

So if you have a plant that likes to stay more dry, say like a Sansevieria.

That's what I have right here, mother-in-law's tongue is a common name for that plant, or cactus.

Lots of our succulents, they prefer a dry root zone.

So if we use a container that's going to breathe, allow air exchange and allow that root zone to dry out more quickly, that plant is gonna be happier.

So think terracotta, think any kind of natural product that that container could be made out of.

We wanna maybe stay away from glazed ceramics because that glaze is gonna hold in moisture.

And then the container that holds the most moisture in would be plastic.

So if we have some of these plants that like constant moisture, like our arrowhead family, then maybe consider some of those plastics, or at least the shiny coated ceramics so that we know we're not losing the water to evaporation.

- Ah, that is good.

- Does that make sense?

- That makes a lot of sense.

- And we overlook that because we are now using houseplants not only to brighten our living environments, but as decoration for those same living environments.

So we're picking our containers based on their aesthetics and how they look.

And we need to throw in that extra content on what could serve the plant best as far as maintaining its moisture levels.

And I feel like we overlook that.

- I have.

- I know I have.

Well I learned from killing my plants.

That's how I've gotten to this point.

So failures lead to success.

in the end, don't give up essentially.

- Don't give up.

Don't give up.

So here's something that we really need to talk, right?

Because I think a lot of people kind of misunderstand it, humidity.

- Oh yes.

Humidity.

- Humidity.

- So important.

So it kind of goes along with moisture, but in a different way.

Humidity, we're talking about moisture in the air, not necessarily moisture in that root zone.

So what we're trying to do, again, is mimic that plant's natural environment.

If it's a tropical plant that is from a rainforest type environment, that's a naturally humid environment.

And so that plant is gonna appreciate it if we can help increase humidity.

Inside our homes, our humidity is low, usually 30% or less humidity in most homes, modern homes.

So let's think about where we're placing them inside the house.

So think about rooms that might have more humidity, like your bathroom.

You're showering, your creating steam in there.

So that would be one environment.

If you have a plant that prefers high humidity, consider putting it in a bathroom.

Now the larger the room gets, the less impact that humidity has.

So preferably it would be a small bathroom where humidity can collect and linger for a bit.

Another easy way to provide it, if you don't have that, and this is a plant that is sitting on a shelf in your den, is using like a pebble tray, so a flat tray that you stack up some maybe decorative rocks or pebbles in and then a layer of water.

So you don't want the water above the pebbles.

You want it just kind of hovering halfway.

And that allows opportunity for that water to evaporate into the atmosphere around your plants.

So that could be a strategy to use to increase humidity if your plant prefers humidity.

And then the final strategy, and I just got one of these for Christmas.

I've been loving it, it's a little humidifier.

Yeah, and it's actually kind of decorative.

So I use it on my bookshelf as a nice little ornament for my decorations and just to run it about 15, twenty minutes every day puts out a nice little amount of water for some of my more tropical plants that prefer that more.

- It gets the job done.

- Yeah.

So lots of different ways that we can meet that humidity requirement.

- Okay.

That was good, let's go back to light.

- Light.

- So light, foot candles.

So there's a lot to understand.

- There really is.

And we're not gonna dive too deep into foot candles and what that means.

But that is a measure of light essentially.

It's a measure of light.

If you buy a light meter, that can really help you gauge your light levels around your home and help you place these plants.

So generally plants are gonna be gauged in a low, a medium, or a high light range.

So let's think, if we're talking about that low light range, that'd be like 25 to 75 foot candles.

We did some light measurements here in this studio a little bit ago, and right here, even with these lights coming down on us inside, we only had 60 foot candles.

So this would be considered a low light range.

- That's definitely low because I thought it was bright.

- It seems bright.

Yeah, it seems bright.

But there's a difference in the intensity of light that's delivered through artificial lighting versus natural light.

And here's another great example.

We took a measurement outside in the shade.

It was like an open shade with direct access to the sky, that measured 500 foot candles.

So that would be our medium range for a houseplant.

So if you have a houseplant that prefers that medium light range, that could be easily met in an outdoor setting.

Hard to replicate inside.

Believe it or not, even if you have are inside at a south-facing window that has full exposure, isn't covered by trees or a porch hanging or something like that, I have only ever gotten as high as I think around 700 foot candles in a south-facing window.

And that is going to be the highest light exposure window in a residential setting that you could achieve.

So keep that in mind.

If we have a plant that requires high light levels, it's gonna be very hard to meet that in the average home setting.

Does that make sense?

- Wow.

It does make sense.

- And then to give an example of that high light range, we took a meter reading outside in full sun, and it was 3,000 foot candles.

And so that actually bumps us up into the very, very high light range.

There's no way that we could replicate that in an indoor setting.

But certainly being aware of the aspect of our windows in our home, trying to utilize a light meter.

It doesn't have to be fancy.

They have some apps that you can download on your phone.

You can buy some inexpensive meters at a home and garden store, and making sure we're trying to match the light requirement of the plant with the setting indoors.

And just because you say "I put it by a window" doesn't automatically mean that that's high light.

I'm gonna give a little example, couple examples.

So in my home, I have south-facing windows.

But I have a 10-foot porch that has an overhang.

So my light range is bumped down into that low light range, even though I have south-facing windows.

So that's one example.

Then we need to also consider seasonal changes and how that can affect plants inside your home.

So the sun changes angles in the sky throughout the seasons.

Also think about trees that may be creating shade in your home.

So this is a great example, at my work, I have a southeast facing window.

In the summertime, I have a nice medium light range in that window because the trees don't have leaves on them.

However, in the summertime, those trees are fully- - They got leaves on them.

- Fully fleshed out, and my light range is knocked back into the low zone even though it's a south-facing window.

So yes, it's true that our highest exposure could potentially come from those south-facing windows, but there's lots of other things that can come into play.

So I'd say just pay attention to seasons.

Let's try to be conscientious of how light interacts when it comes into the home.

Consider corners.

Another great example, I saw a lady was struggling to be successful with some of her houseplants.

She had them on a rack that was in a corner that was flanked by windows on each side.

When you meter in front of the window, on the high end range of medium.

When you meter right two feet beside it, but in the corner, we bump down into the low range.

So yeah, lots of things to think about.

But light and moisture are our most important qualities to keep in mind to help us be successful growing plants indoors.

- Makes a lot of sense.

- We have two brand new Extension publications that address how to select plants for growing indoors in your home or your office.

I love having plants at work.

And also we have another that addresses how we care for those plants once we get them into that indoor setting.

And uthort.com is the place to find those.

- So what are some easy plants for beginners?

- Oh, that's a good question.

Because I started with all the hard plants.

[both laughing] So easy plants for beginners, we are taking into consideration that the majority of home environments have medium to low light ranges.

So I've brought some examples here with us that meet those light requirements and we're just gonna kind of highlight each one of these and some of their attributes one at a time.

So the first one I wanna talk about here is pothos.

So this is a wonderful plant.

It can tolerate low light levels and do just fine.

When you raise those light levels up to the medium zone, it can really thrive, and you'll get a lot of vegetative growth.

But it'll do just fine in low light levels.

So this is a great plant to use for decor.

If you're just kind of wanting to bright a corner, get some greenery onto a shelf, pothos might be your option for an easy decorative plant in the home plant scape.

Another thing that I love about pothos is that it is forgiving on watering.

You can water it, you can let it dry out and not water it for another week or two weeks maybe, depending.

And then water it again and it's okay.

It's fine with inconsistent watering.

It's forgiving.

- I have that at home in a corner, yes.

- Oh good, good.

So that is definitely a go-to for beginners.

My next plant for beginners is the Sansevieria, the mother-in-law's tongue.

I love this one, it has a nice broad leaf.

Some you'll see have like conical spears that point up vertically.

Those are neat too.

Lots of variegation options in the leaf.

So you could have a whole collection of Sansevieria and people will think that you are like managing lots of different plant types.

But really they all have the same management strategy.

They prefer dry soil.

So if you're like me, I'm busy taking care of my outside garden, don't have a lot of time to dedicate to my indoor gardening.

- I see where you're going.

- This plant doesn't care if I forget about him for a few weeks.

- I'm with you.

- Yes.

So prefers a dry growing environment.

Also loves low light.

It doesn't want high light.

So it's not like it's tolerating low light, it prefers low light, does that make sense?

So also a great option for home gardeners who are looking to get into houseplants.

My third option is the Peperomia.

That's what we have right here.

And the beauty about Peperomia is that they can actually have lots of different leaf types as well.

Some have teeny tiny leaves, some have like puckering along the leaf veins.

I have a dark purple one that has kind of like a light pink on the underside of the leaf.

So this plant can come in lots of variations and forms.

They aren't all gonna look like this.

But I love this plant because it likes consistent water.

But it's okay to dry out between waterings.

It's not a plant that has to stay constantly moist.

It likes consistent moisture.

So water it, let the top zone about inch dry out, water it again, you're good to go.

And it also is fine with low to medium light ranges.

So each one of these plants have a different strategy for water, but all are tolerant of that low light level.

So I think they are excellent starters for home gardeners.

- Light, moisture.

That's the secret, folks, from Celeste.

Thank you so much, Celeste.

That was good, that was good.

- Yay.

- All right.

[upbeat country music] - So in the spring and summer, when you're shopping for plants for your garden, you may see this symbol, the AAS winner symbol.

All America Selection is a nonprofit organization that pronotes plants that do well across the United States.

So there's actually 34 test gardens across the US that test them to see how well they're doing.

And if they do well at a good portion of those, they actually get awarded this symbol.

All America Selection tests annuals, vegetables, perennials, annuals from seed, also annuals from vegetative done from cuttings.

And so we are a display garden for annuals that you see here.

So these are plants that do not come back, you have to replant every year.

We also trial for their perennial trials and then we also grow their vegetables.

And so it's a great way to know what to choose for your garden.

If it's got that symbol on it, there's a really, really good chance it's gonna do well in your garden.

[upbeat country music] - All right, Celeste, here's a Q&A segment, you ready?

- I'm ready.

- These are some great questions.

You ready?

- Yes.

I love Q&A.

- All right, let's dive in.

So here's our first viewer email.

"Are nandina shrubs poisonous to birds?"

And this is Wendy from Missouri.

So let me jump in on this one first.

- Oh please, please do.

- So the thing about the nandina is gonna be this.

All the parts of the nandina are poisonous, cyanide.

But as far as eating the berries, if you eat too many of those berries, yeah, it's gonna make you sick, right?

It's gonna be toxic to the birds.

So it just depends on how much the birds will be eating.

- That's right.

- What do you think?

- I agree, and I also wanna point out that Nandina domestica, the one that gets tall that has the large clusters of red berries, obviously those are berry types.

But our newer cultivars that are "dwarf" have a smaller stature sometimes are even kind of spreading along the ground we've seen used routinely in our landscapes.

Those seldom set berries at all.

So their flowers are insignificant and not fertile.

So they never set any kind of berry types.

So if you are considering using a nandina but are concerned about dangers to birds as far as eating those berries, maybe look to some of those floral cultivars.

- Options.

Do some homework there, Wendy.

There's some viable options out there.

- And also include some other plants in your landscape that are beneficial for the wildlife.

American beautyberry, that's an excellent option.

Let's see, Viburnums.

So most of those produce berries if they've got a pollinator present in the garden.

So if you're looking for some things to kind of promote stewardship and wildlife as far as berry goes, we can help with that.

- All right.

There you go, Wendy, from Celeste.

I like that.

Options.

All right, here's our next viewer email.

"Why are my turnips tiny and going to seed?"

And this is Ronald from Memphis, Tennessee.

So they're tiny, but they're already going to seed.

- Hmm, so I'm feeling-- - Some kind of stress, right?

- Yeah, stress.

I'm feeling like nutrient stress.

They probably are seeking nutrients and can't find them.

And that signals to the plant we need to do something to perpetuate our existence.

And for an annual plant, that means producing seed.

The other situation that I could think of, depending on what type of year it was when this happened, is that those cool-season annuals tend to bolt, shoot up and begin to develop their seeds when temperatures get warmer.

They prefer growing in those cooler soil and air temperatures.

And once it starts to get hot, we're gonna see a lot of bolting in that whole Brassicaceae family.

- I would agree with that, Celeste, I would, yeah.

Poor soil fertility.

And maybe they planted it too late?

- Too late.

Another thing I was gonna say is if he planted it in a raised bed.

Sometimes I see nutrient deficiencies more in raised bed situations than I do growing in native soil because anything that that raised bed is getting has to come from us.

Native soil retains nutrients and has the ability to exchange those with the plant.

And in our raised beds, we're usually adding soil-less media.

And in those situations, we have to add any type of nutrient that that plant might receive has to come from us.

- Got it, that's a good point.

That's good.

All right, so there you have it, Ronald.

Hope that helps you out.

That was good.

Here's our next viewer email.

Oh, this is tough, right?

"How do you stop mint from spreading?"

And this is Audria.

So can you stop it from spreading?

- No, no.

[both laughing] I think just try to grow it in a container, but we have to be careful with that because I have had it in a container and then set it out into the garden and it comes out through the drainage hole and roots out through that drainage hole of that container.

So its main mission is to spread.

That's what it wants to do.

So just be conscientious of where you're growing it.

Maybe grow it in containers, on a porch, somewhere where it's not coming into contact with the ground.

Mints actually can tolerate a lot of water.

Like they don't mind being overwatered.

So plug up that drainage hole.

I hate to say that, but to make sure that the roots don't come out of that bottom hole of the container.

And I think y'all have some examples here.

- Yeah, we did that in our raised bed garden, in a container, kind of sunk it into the ground.

- Oh, okay.

You did a container and then sunk it into your raised bed.

- Into the raised bed.

So it's about an inch or so the rim of the container there.

So when it tries to creep over, you can always- - Snip it off.

And you've got kind of like a boundary.

So you know this is where it's supposed to be.

And anything outside of that, we need to control.

- Worked pretty well, so that's an option.

- Because I've also seen it where people grew it in a raised bed, not in a sunken container, and it just takes over the raised bed.

So I mean, if you need a whole raised bed of mint, then that could be one way to do it.

- All right, Ms. Audria, mint will take over.

But I hope those options help you out there, all right?

Here's our next viewer email.

"How many watermelons should we allow to grow on each vine to get big juicy watermelons?"

And this is Jennifer from Maple Park, Illinois.

Because don't we want big juicy watermelons, right?

- Yes, and that question's a little tricky because it depends on what type of watermelon you're growing as to how many fruit that vine can support.

And watermelon take up so much space.

The vines take up so much space and they will set way more.

They will have more blooms, many more blooms than fruit that they can support.

They will actually even begin to set a number of fruit, and then as we get into the season, abort the ones that they know they can't support.

So they're kind of naturally thinning themselves if that makes sense.

So I don't think that we have to be super proactive on pulling buds or early developing fruits off of our watermelons.

I think that plant knows how many it can support.

Our larger fruited varieties are gonna be able to support less mature number, like a less number of fruit to maturity.

So say a Jubilee or a Black Diamond watermelon, those really large varieties, two, three maybe per plant in a home garden setting.

And then our smaller cultivars, Sugar Babies, those are so yummy.

We could do more on that, four, five maybe.

- I think you get away with four or five easy with Sugar Babies.

Then there's the Crimson Sweet that you can probably get away with about three to five.

I think those would be good.

- So that's a good range.

But don't get too preoccupied trying to pull off buds or blooms or anything like that.

- I would agree with that, Celeste.

But I will say this, make sure they get plenty of water.

They are watermelons.

- They need consistent water.

- Consistent water.

- Yes, they don't wanna go through droughts and then deluges of water.

Let's try to keep that consistent.

- All right, Ms. Jennifer.

So yeah, let's be consistent with the watering.

All right?

Thank you for that question.

Celeste, fun as always.

Thank you so much.

- Thanks.

Thank you for being here.

- Yes, sir.

- Remember, we love to hear from you.

Send us an email or letter.

The email address is questions@familyplotgarden.com and the mailing address is Family Plot 7151 Cherry Farms Road, Cordova, Tennessee 38016.

Or you can go online to familyplotgarden.com.

That's all we have time for today.

Thanks for watching.

If you want to learn more about houseplants, visit familyplotgarden.com.

We have more videos about houseplants waiting for you.

Be sure to join us next week for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]