Starting from indoors...

Hi there! My name is Mara and I'm a plant enthusiast living in beautiful Stirling, Scotland. Having a garden for myself is my childhood dream, but unfortunately I still live in a flat... Nonetheless I've always had some plants in the house. I am originally from south Italy, where the weather is mild pretty much all year round except for hot summers...making indoor gardening very easy, basically water, repot and go, with occasional fertilizing...my plants have always been thriving with zero effort (also, having a sunny balcony helped a lot)! When I moved to Scotland I was enchanted by all the beautiful flowers and thriving gardens everywhere, but can't figure out how to keep my own plants alive!
The flat where I live now has huge beautiful windows with large windowsills, perfect to decorate with plants. I have some in my lounge, it's very easy in the summer, but every winter all my plants die!
Now, winter is coming again(pretty quickly I' say) and I don't want to say goodbye to my plants again! Some of them are cuttings I've gathered outside while hiking and I took so much effort to make them grow, I really want to help them survive the winter. Which is why I'm here!

I am not experienced at all as a gardener, just know the basics, but I am determined to learn more this year and improve my gardening skills

Thank you for taking the time to read all that!

 

Welcome Mara.
Keep tuned in and we will try to help you Mind you, we are all still learning

 

@Mara - looking forward to seeing some of your plants, and hopefully we can help you get them through the winter

 

Hello Mara and Welcome.
There's a saying, 'Lights, camera, action'
In the case of your plants, perhaps it should be. 'Light, temperature, water.'

 

Thank you all for the warm welcome! :D Here's the situation right now. What I find is that I'm not good at understanding what the plant wants...more lor less light? more or less water? And I always end up doing the wrong thing



Here are some close ups. Basil and mint bot dying as soon as sunny days are over but that's not surprising next to them my mimosa pudica that I received as a gift and that has lost three stems as soon as I brought it home I should probably repot it but should I wait until it regrows a little more?

Next up Ivy is doing great, will probably repot it tomorrow as roots are needing more space. The one in the middle I have no clue what it is, I took a cutting while hiking on a hill I've tried to identify it with an app, but with no luck. It produces small red berries and white flowers. Next to that a kalanchoe that's not doing very well...it suddenly lost all its big leaves and now it doesnt seem to grow much.


Last bit. Another random cutting I took outside. This one makes big purple flowers, but mine hasn't bloomed yet. The other two are gifts I received and had no tag so not sure what they are either...and a succulent that's just minding its own business cause that's what succulents do.


Any advice is welcome I'm here to learn

 

Very nice @Mara. And Welcome to the forum!

 

Hello Mara. May I compliment you on your lovely room, and that vast window area.

Now back to, Light. Temperature. Water. Growing plants indoors is so different from the plants growing out in the open. It is also so much different from growing in a greenhouse. To me. There is no such thing as a house plant. So lets start at the windowsill. So probably in the morning, the sunlight is best to the far left. Towards middday lets say it and the light intensity is in the middle of the window, then gradually the sun with it's light and warmth exits far right. So a bit of research. What is my plant, what does it require. Shade/semi-shade. Full sun. Sunny to full shade. position your plants so as to get the best of the natural daylight.

Temperature. Now outside, we might be sweating due to the heat. Inside the house, may be cooler. Your plant cannot choose, if the conditions change, it's stuck where it is. So here stands the plant. Daylight is good through the glass window, now coming upto midday, phew it's getting a bit too warm. Unlike outside, in here there's no breeze, no moisture in the air. Now depending upon your plants wants. Can you provide, can you substitute the natural world? Yes. Providing some shading will help, also a slight mist spraying. As the year goes on and the days get shorter, the plant naturally tends to slow down and in many cases appears to die. Now whetherornot the plant looks dead. Protection is called for on the windowsill. Once the drapes are pulled. That naroow space, the window sill can become like a fridge. So perhaps some kind of additional insulation or removal off the windowsill.

Watering. This is so often a problem even to the best of gardeners. In the garden, there is the space and natural resources, in a pot on the windowsill, things change. Suddenly everythinthing becomes dream -like. Always read up, chech what your plant requires. As perhaps a quickie. If the compost has become hard and solid. Give the plant a good soak, plunge it in a sink of water leave until the bubbles stop, remove and allow to drain. Other indicators are. Leaves, stems etc begin to sag and become soft and limp to touch. Give the plant a good soak but. Let it drain. Otherwise the excess will kill the plant , just as, feeding a sick plant chemically.

Perhaps something to read Mara. House Plant Expert. by. Dr. DG Hessayon. Happy gardening.