Gardening expert shares obvious mistake houseplant owners are prone to making
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Even experienced houseplant owners can make mistakes sometimes but for newbie houseplant owners, it is important to not fall into a trap so many have before.
Overwatering or underwatering your houseplants is one obvious error and not giving them enough light is another, but Andy from the YouTube Channel Houseplant Hacks has directed attention on another mistake people tend to make.
Andy said: "It may sound obvious but not feeding your house plant is the mistake that most new houseplant owners make.
"Now some of you would say why would I forget to do that but if you're a new houseplant owner many people ask me for advice on their suffering houseplant; why is it not doing so well and I'd say to them it looks like it's undernourished."
Making sure your houseplants are well nourished is something people tend to forget to do
GETTYThe expert told houseplant enthusiasts to keep track of when they last fed their houseplant and to make sure that they are maintaining the nutrients the plant desires.
He said: "When I ask people when was the last time you fed it and the answer that comes back is oh I didn't know I needed to do that.
"You do have to feed your houseplants when you get it from the nursery where it's been raised it would have had loads and loads of nutrients to make it look as good as it possibly can."
He explained that during the winter it will not need as many nutrients but people need to be prepared for when the warmer seasons beckon, houseplants are going to need more nutrients.
"In spring, summer and autumn, that's the growing period for your house plant. It needs food, light and water to be able to thrive and if you've got the right amount of watering down and you've got it in the right amount of light for that house plant that's great," explained Andy.
He said that houseplant carers need to make sure they have their plant in the right environment for this growing period.
He said: "It's in a pot which is really if you think about it a sterile environment. It's not got roots in the ground where there is constantly decomposing matter to feed the soil and worms growing in there and breaking things down and creating food in the soil. It's an organic environment but in a pot, there's no way more food can go in there."
Andy explained that until you put the food in there, you cannot expect the houseplant to grow effectively.
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Houseplants require less water in the winter than in the summerGETTYThe difficult part, particularly for new houseplant owners, is making sure they do not overdo it with watering and giving it too many nutrients.
The expert advised: "It isn't necessarily better if you put extra nutrients in. It doesn't-give you extra plants and extra leaves, you can overdo it as you can with watering and as you can with light,
"Just the right amount is better."
Gardeners have also recently been told seven jobs to consider doing before winter ends.
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