Indoor Plants
Research shows that having plants in the house can have a positive effect on happiness, mental health and well-being, as well as improving the air quality of your home.
Not only that, but having plants in the house and knowing what they are called, their preferred environments and the habitats they provide for other organisms is a great way to inspire curiosity in your children.
Things you might need:
Space in your home, and your heart, for a plant
Activity details:
Age: 8+
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Preparation time: Variable - see overleaf
Running time: A lifetime
Learning points:
The diversity of plants
The needs of different plants
Growing from seeds:
Growing plants from seeds allows you to see the process as it happens in the wild. In essence, you are acting as a seed disperser; just like a prickly seed taking hold on a fox’s fur, you are taking a seed and dropping it into a new location.
Here are some great plants you can grow from seeds (they’re all edible too!)
TOMATOES, CARROTS, CHIVES, CRESS, RADISHES, MARIGOLDS
Growing from cuttings (and creating your own clone!):
Growing a whole new plant from a cutting (propagation*) is a little bit miraculous. There is an art to taking a cutting and you may have a few that just don’t work.
If you’re interested in becoming a cutting connoisseur, we found a great guide here on canna-uk.com.
Here are some great house plants that are known for springing to life pretty easily from a simple cutting.
ALOE VERA, PILEA, SPIDER PLANTS, JADE PLANTS, SEDUM MERGANIUM, ZYGOCACTUS
Growing a plant from the shops:
Plants that are adapted to foreign environments need very specific conditions to grow beyond their roots and so there is no shame in buying a plant fully grown from a shop.
Here are few easy to manage, but glorious to behold, plants; perfect to buy from a shop.
SARRACENIA PURPUREA, ORCHIDS, SANSEVIERIA, DEVIL'S IVY, SUCCULENTS, CALATHEAS