Wholesale nurseries supply all manner of potted plants. You can find virtually anything that you want to decorate your house or office with. However, without proper care, your houseplants may end up ruining your desired look. In addition to watering your plants properly and ensuring they receive sufficient sunlight, you need to ensure that you keep an eye on the unabsorbed minerals.
Unlike the outdoor plants, potted plants have only so much soil to use. This means they need to be fertilized every now and then. The problem with this is that fertilizing the plants leads to the accumulation of unabsorbed minerals. This accumulates in the soil and a massive buildup will cause harm to your draceana or any other plant. The good news, however, is that there are a few things you can do to deal with the buildup. This is known as leaching.
Why is leaching important?
Most plantscaper suppliers will not educate you on leaching. This does not mean it is not important to the overall health of your houseplants. The purpose of leaching is to eliminate salts. These are dissolved in the water and are usually left behind once the water evaporates. You may see them as white buildups on the surface of the soil or around the drainage holes. Spotting this shows there are excessive salts in the soil.
When there is significant salts buildup, dracaena and other potted plants find it hard to draw up water. This may cause browning or wilting or even the loss of leaves or slowed growth. Too many salts will draw moisture from the roots. Failing to leach the houseplant on time may cause your plant to die.
How to leach salts from the soil
Leaching salt from the soil is pretty easy. To start with, if you see white buildups on the soil’s surface, remove it. Ensure you don’t go deeper than ¼ of an inch.
The next step is to take the plant outside or to place it in a bathtub or sink. The idea is to place it in a place where lots of water will drain freely without causing any problems. Once that is done, pour warm water over the soil. Make sure the water doesn’t overflow the rim of the plant’s pot. Pour twice as much water as the pot is built to hold. For example, if the pot holds half a gallon, pour a gallon of water.
The water will absorb the salts and drain out with them. Leaching is something all good growers will recommend you to do. You should leach the houseplant once every 4 to 6 months. This helps clear the soil. The alternative is to repot the plant every few 4 to 6 months.
These points will help maintain the good health of your houseplant. Needless to say, leaching is more cost and time effective than repotting. Ask interiorscaper suppliers for more advice on leaching.