Colour your home green

With the monsoons fast approaching, it is common to hear people cribbing about their favourite plants getting spoiled. Continuous rains which get the plants immersed in pools of water dishearten people who might have invested year long efforts in making their garden attractive. For others, gardening is a refreshing way to spent their spare time, which also faces a major hurdle with the start of monsoons. Indoor gardening is a smart alternative to gardening in sunny premises and the hobby can keep you busy till the rains go away. “The rain water which accumulates in plant pots are more than enough for the plant roots to rot. The time and effort invested in bringing up those plants go wasted. It would be wise to go indoor before the heavy rains start,” says Jayan V, owner of Nishagandhi Nursery, Sreekaryam.On asked about the varieties of plants which can go indoor, he named a few like the Tropical Hi Colour, Sayplara and the Cycas. These are varieties of indoor shrubs which grow up to a height between two to four feet. Tropical Hi Colour, having yellow leaves, has faint white dots on it which makes it look appealing. It can thrive quite well and  would need pruning. Sayplara, an indoor plat which grows as tall as four feet, can be placed right beside the widows or by the corners of your room. The yellow leaves of this plant has dark green on its edges which highlights the leaves of the plant making it stand out in any crowd of shrubs. A pot of Sayplara would cost you ` 60. “A variety found not only in Kerala homes but also grows wild in African forests is the Cycas,” says  Jayan. In Kerala when this plant takes its place in living rooms, in Africa, during times of drought, the juice from its roots is consumed and is believed to be nutritional. For busy bees who doesn’t have time for pruning their plants,  Aralia and Ficus varieties will be the right choice. “Aralias, by nature, grows in an orderly fashion and in the shape of a ball.  A big pot of this costs ` 150. A mug full of water can please these beautiful plants apart from a monthly dose of half a teaspoon of  ‘18 complex’ has to be diluted in a glass of water to be poured onto its roots,” says Sujatha Moni, worker at Vasantham Gardens, Kumarapuram. “Though they are indoor plants, they do need sunlight. So atleast once in fifteen days, these plants have to be placed outdoors for a day or two ,” she adds.