The Interior Use of Plants

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Chapter 8

• The Interior Use of Plants

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• Evidence of the use of potted plants is found in
  ancient Chinese artifacts, on the walls of tombs
  of the Egyptian pharaoh, and the ruins of
  Pompeii.
• Containers of ornamentals adorned the palaces of
  European nobility for centuries and filled the
  parlors of middle-class Victorians and Americans
  more recently.
• Potted foliage plants or house plants have had
  their place in homes for many years.

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• An unsatisfactory outcome is predictable when
  architects and interior decorators try to work
  with plant material whose qualities and
  maintenance requirements are unknown.
• The term interior plantscaping comes from the
  demand for maintaining plants indoors. It is a
  variation on the term landscaping.
• For now, the term interior plantscaping will be
  used to describe the work.

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• Tropical foliage plants have proven to be the
  most successful indoor plants because they do not
  require the period of cool temperature dormancy
  that often makes temperate zone plants
  unsatisfactory.
• As a profession, interior plantscaping deals with
  the design, installation, and maintenance of
  plants in interior locations.

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• Five things plants must adjust to when used
  indoors
• A drastic reduction in the quality and intensity
  of the light
• Reduction and constriction of the plants root
  system
• The replacement of natural rainfall by dependency
  on humans for correct watering
• A reduction in nutrient requirements and a
  potential for buildup of soluble salts
  (fertilizers)
• A lack of air movement and rainfall, allowing
  dust to accumulate on the leaves, often plugging
  stomata and reducing photosynthesis
• Potential damage by air conditioners, central
  heating system, cleaning chemicals, water
  additives, and other irritants.

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• To understand the lighting requirements of a
  plant you must ask
• How much light do interior plantings need?
• What kind of light do they need?
• What sources of light exist indoors?
• No matter how many windows and skylights are
  designed into a home or office
• building, the light intensity inside
• will never equal that outside.
• Light intensity is expressed in
• units of lux or footcandle.

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• A lux is the illumination received on a surface
  that is 1 meter from a standard light source
  known as unity.
• A lux is and international measurement comparable
  in use to the metric system.
• In the United States, the footcandle unit is more
  commonly used and understood.
• One footcandle is equal to the amount of light
  produced by a standard candle at a distance of 1
  foot.
• A light meter is the only way to measure light
  intensity accurately.

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• A light meter is the first piece of equipment
  that should be bought by a plantscape designer.
• The keys to a plants survival are
  acclimatization and maintenance of the minimum
  light intensity required for its survival in an
  attractive and healthy condition.
• Acclimatization is defined as the adjustment of
  an outdoor plant to interior conditions.
• The minimum light intensity is the level of
  illumination necessary to allow acclimatized
  plant to produce new leaves at a rate equal to or
  slightly greater than the rate at which old
  leaves senesce and abscise.

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• The term used to describe when leaves age is
  senesce.
• The term used to describe the falling off of
  leaves is abscise.
• Light intensity is reduced gradually over a
  period of several weeks or months. The
  acclimatization process cannot be rushed without
  a severe reaction (defoliation, or death).

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• During nutrient acclimatization, high fertility
  levels in the soil is unnecessary, and thorough
  soil leaching at the beginning of the
  acclimatization period and occasionally
  afterwards will prevent a buildup of soluble
  salts.
• During moisture acclimatization, the frequency of
  watering is reduced to prepare plants for their
  more stressful interior locale.
• During temperature acclimatization, temperatures
  are gradually reduced to the range common to most
  interior areas (65 -75 F).

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• Light quality is the color of light emitted by a
  particular source.
• Plants depend upon blue and red bands of the
  visible light spectrum.
• The unit of measurement for light wavelengths is
  the nanometer.

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• Five questions to consider when selecting the
  proper lamp for illumination of an interior
  planting
• How extensive is the planting?
• Are the plants to be encouraged to grow or merely
  to be maintained at their current size?
• Will the plants receive any sunlight? If so, how
  much and for how long?
• How far will the artificial light source be from
  the plants?
• What types of lamps are being used for general
  lighting of the area and what is the intensity of
  surface illumination provided?

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• Special effects such as shadows or textural
  highlights can be created with incandescent
  lights installed beneath the plants and directed
  upward. These are called uplights.
• When supplemental lights are added for overhead
  illumination, they should be positioned to light
  the plants fully without shining in the eyes of
  viewers.
• The most important of all light sources for
  interior plantscapes is natural sunlight when it
  can be planned for and depended on.

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• Sunlight entering from overhead is of greater use
  in the illumination of interior plantings than
  light entering from the side.
• The medium that serves when plants are growing in
  a nursery field or production container is likely
  to be inappropriate for an interior installation.

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• Problems with natural field soil include
• Too heavy to permit rapid drainage
• Too heavy for the floor to support if the
  container is large
• Inconsistent in composition, making standardized
  maintenance of separate planters difficult.
• Infested with insects, pathogens, or weeds

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• Indoors, photosynthesis is reduced to
  survival-maintenance levels, so the root system
  need not be as large.
• One of the first steps at the time of
  installation is to remove production medium from
  around the roots and prune away excess roots.
• More interior plant deaths result from
  over-watering than from any other reason.
• The need to water a planting can be determined by
  feeling the soil and observing its color.

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• When water is applied, it must be in a quantity
  adequate to wet the soil deeply, not shallowly.
• Deep watering promotes deep and healthy rooting
  while providing the soil leaching necessary to
  prevent soluble salt buildup.
• Fertilization is needed to provide the mineral
  elements required for photosynthesis.
• Too much nitrogen may lead to spindly, succulent,
  and unattractive growth.
• Excessive fertilization follows only slightly
  behind overwatering as a major reason why
  interior plants fail to survive satisfactorily.

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• Humidity is seldom a problem for plants growing
  outdoors, but can cause a problem for interior
  plantscapes.
• If the correct precautions are not taken, plants
  can experience ethylene poisoning during
  shipping. This is caused by the exhaust and can
  severely damage the plants. Proper ventilation is
  the key to preventing this problem.

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• Air pollution cannot be escaped by bringing the
  landscape indoors.
• Proper ventilation will carry away chlorine
  vapors, fumes from smokers and chemical cleaning
  agents, or the ethylene which may be present if a
  building is heated by some form of hydrocarbon
  combustion (fossil fuel).
• Dust is an air pollutant different from the
  others in that it is a particulate not a vapor.
• Air filtration reduces the amount of dust.

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• Pruning will not be extensive in an interior
  planting because of the plants reduced rate of
  growth.
• Repotting of plants is necessary in plantings
  where growth is allowed.

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Five common pests in interior landscape

• Aphids Mealybugs
• Spider mites

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Common Pests Continued

• White Flies Scale

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• The only real defense against vandalism to
  interior plants is public education and
  cooperation.
• Grouping compatible species is used often in
  interior plantscapes. By using plants which have
  the same requirements for light, moisture,
  fertilization, and soil mix, grouping helps
  simplify maintenance.

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• The success of the plantscape is measured by its
  appearance and health.
• No greater field in ornamental horticulture holds
  greater promise than interior landscaping.