Lesson 2: Field Trip: Let's Go Shopping
Picking a Healthy Plant
Refer to page 9
Okay. NOW you're ready to grab your checkbook and head for the store. Take your textbook for reference, bring some protective newspaper or plastic bags to wrap around your plants, and maybe add a cardboard box to place your aquisitions in while you drive.
I like to find the best plant from the selection available, no matter if I'm shopping at Wal-Mart or a fancy nursery. That only makes sense: a plant in poor condion will not suddenly perk up when you bring it home, even with the best of care. Give yourself a break and pick a good specimen right off the bat.
Tips for finding for a good plant
- A healthy plant will be the proper color for its kind. Green plants should be green, varigated plants are bi-colored and tri-colored plants, like coleus, should be a riot of colors. Know before you go, or bring your textbook along for identification.
- Flowering plants should have flowers - especially new buds that haven't opened yet.
- There should be new leaves coming up from the base
- Leaves should be firm and glossy (or hairy, or curly, or however your plant looks in the textbook). Leaves should NEVER be wilted, burned-looking, or soft with rot. The same goes for stems.
- Look carefully for bugs. it goes without saying that you will not want to bring an infested plant home.
- Look under the pot. If roots are bursting out through the drainholes, this plant is root-bound, and probably not your best choice. It might have been stressed out for awhile, and instant repotting may not help it recover enough.
