House-plants collect just as much dust and debris as your furniture, shelves and ornaments do. This dust can not only affect the appearance, making them dull and lifeless, but can also prevent the plants from respiring by clogging up the stoma. (Respiration facilitates gaseous exchange via stoma which are small pores in the leaves). This dust can also prevent sunlight falling on the leaves which can reduce the photosynthesis by reducing the light levels.
Some plants with large, flattish leaves can be easily sponged with clean tepid water one leaf at a time, but I prefer to stick a few plants together in the bath and give them a tepid shower. It is best to do this in the morning so they have time to dry off before the cooler night. Make sure to drain them well – you could even put a rack underneath them while they are in the bath so they don’t get water-logged. Or you could hold them at an angle while using the shower head over, and under, the leaves. While the plants are draining you can check the decorative pots or saucers for any damage and give them a clean too. Before replacing your plants back in their decorative pots, check the plant for any signs of pests or disease, and remove any tatty looking foliage or dead material. Check if the roots are showing out through the bottom of the pot as this may be a sign that they need re-potting or dividing. Give them a gentle shake to get remaining water droplets off, and be careful of positioning your plants just in case any droplets could fall onto a wooden surface, or worse – an electrical appliance. Water and electricity don’t mix!
You can buy products that contain wax or oils to polish some leaves to give a high shine. You would just use a soft cloth or cotton wool to apply, or it may be sprayed if it is an aerosol, but, I would suggest that this could actually clog up the pores that you have just cleaned. I have also heard of people using milk or oil (such as olive oil or coconut oil) to shine leaves. In nature, usually only the young leaves look glossy and they tend to get duller as they age, so in my opinion, if the whole plant looks shiny then it doesn’t look natural. I would avoid putting any product on the leaves.
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| plants in the bath having a shower |
Some plants shouldn’t be showered, such as, some succulents or cacti, or those that have hairy leaves. I clean them using an old, soft watercolour brush or a clean blusher brush. These soft brushes can remove the dust easily. To get some bits of debris from very hairy cacti, I use my tweezers. The cacti hairs tend to act like nets and collect all sorts of seeds blown in from the garden or discarded fragments of a spider’s feast such as wings and heads. My conservatory is home to many spiders so I am constantly picking bits out from my cacti. I have even found slug eggs at the base of a cactus plant during a routine clean and inspection. If you clean your plants regularly then you prevent any infestation of pests or disease occurring and your plants will stay looking their best.
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| cacti debris can be removed using tweezers |
