How to choose healthy vigorous house plants

Since the choice is so wide, and the principal problem in selecting plants to grow may be making up your mind. More objective standards apply when you come to buy individual specimens. The first rule is: acquire them from a reputable source and be prepared to pay a fair price.

I am skeptical of bargains and you should be, too, for horticulture, I must admit that sorrow, has its full share of marginal operators who are long on promises and short on performance. Even when you know you’re nurseryman or florist is reliable, examine your plants carefully before you buy. Choose those that are of peasant build, that is short and stocky, rather than tall and spindly, and that have abundant foliage growing right down to the top of the pot; such characteristics indicate vigorous health and promise prolific blooms.

Plants on which the first buds are about to open are preferable to those with full-blown blossoms. Because you will be able to enjoy their beauty from the beginning. And, of course, pass over plants with symptoms of pest infestation. Look at the undersides of the leaves for tiny spots that are lighter than the rest of the leaf: if you find any, you know that insects have been sucking the plant’s juices, to its detriment. Examine leaf surfaces near the tip of new growth for the minute green, yellow, pink, black or brown insects called aphids, or plant lice.

Check for evidence of spider mites, or red spiders, as they are commonly called; the mites are too small to be seen without a magnifying glass, but the damage they cause is not: they manifest their presence was speckled, white-ish discoloration of the leaves. Look at the leaf axils-the points where leaves and stems join them-for a white, cotton like a substance that is really a community of mealy bugs.

Once you’re satisfied that all was well with the plants that you have chosen, make sure that they are properly wrapped if the weather is cold. Many houseplants suffer quickly from cold, and even if your car is only three steps from the greenhouse door, your purchase will require protection from sub freezing temperatures.