I Love Nature: My First Indoor Garden

I Love Nature: My First Indoor Garden — page 5 — As you know all plants grow outside some grow in places where it is never cold but they are still always outside To keep them alive in your house you will have to try to give them everything they would have if they were outside Now the pot won’t make a nasty stain on the table Arranging My Indoor Garden Saucers under pots Saucers are used to collect the water that the soil cannot absorb and that drains through the holes in the base of the pot Saucers prevent flooding and keep your bedroom from getting dirty And clay pebbles in the saucers Plant roots hate when the soil is soggy and full of water This is why you should always use pots with at least one drainage hole in the bottom This is also why you should fill the saucer with clay pebbles and place the pot on top of them This way even if the saucer is full the soil will not into a sponge turn 8

I Love Nature: My First Indoor Garden — page 6 — My plants are leaning toward the window What plants miss the most when they are inside is light You might think there is enough light to play or walk around your living room but for plants it’s almost completely dark Remember that they should always be fewer than six feet away from a window otherwise they will bend over trying to get closer to where the light is coming from Littles in the back big ones in the front Always keep your plants together To make sure you can observe and care for all of them and so that they can all enjoy the light use shelves of differing heights This way the little plants will not be in the shadow of the bigger ones My indoor garden on wheels If you have several plants and want to make it easier to clean your living room or bedroom you can place them all in a cart small wheelbarrow or wagon They sure do like living together 9

I Love Nature: My First Indoor Garden — page 7 — Taming a Carnivorous Plant Carnivorous plants are not dangerous and there’s no risk of getting bitten In fact they are quite easy to grow and the traps they set to capture insects are extraordinary THE MOST FASCINATING OF ALL THE VENUS FLYTRAP It catches insects But how Its leaves resemble an open mouth On the inside of the leaves are three hairs When an insect slips between the leaves and touches two hairs at the same time the mouth immediately closes The insect is trapped Testing the flytrap We are not always lucky enough to be nearby when a Venus flytrap catches an insect but you can force the trap to close and see how quickly it reacts Gently place a blade of grass inside the mouth As soon as two of the hairs have been touched the leaf will close But be careful this is not a game and is not something you should be doing all the time 10

I Love Nature: My First Indoor Garden — page 8 — How does it eat the insect The plant does not swallow the insect it instead produces substances that will dissolve it into a liquid This liquid then passes into the plant through the Venus flytrap's skin Plants love humidity The air inside a house is dryer than the air outside and your carnivorous plants may have a hard time If you don't have a terrarium place your pot or pots in a saucer about 1 inch tall filled with expanded clay pebbles sitting in rainwater The saucer should be three times as wide as the pot To help your plant grow better divide it in two Set up a table covered with a plastic covering Turn over the pot with your Venus flytrap inside holding the plant between your fingers Then pull off the pot With your hands gently separate the plant roots and replant them right away in other pots filled with blond peat moss that is already very moist How should I water it The best water for carnivorous plants is rainwater Ask your grown ups if you can collect rainwater that comes out of the drainpipes on your house Keep the water in the house for at least 24 hours so it can reach the temperature of the room your plant is in 11

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