Saturday, January 19, 2008

Plant cleaning

A good reminder from the blog Stapenhorstbunne:
Remember plants accumulate dust as much as any other surface in your home. Clean plant leaves, especially succulent plants, with a damp cloth and cold water.
Have you ever done this? The other day I was at the dentist's office when I noticed the Sansevierias near the elevators. They were filthy. Reaching for the tissue in my pocket, and checking to make sure no-one was watching, I proceeded to clean every one of those leaves.

Oh...and by succulents, I don't think they mean to include most cacti!

2 comments:

  1. We dust cacti and African violets with a very soft paint brush. Works great

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  2. Thanks, Debbi. A good suggestion for a small collection of some types of cacti.

    However, I wouldn't suggest any kind of dusting for most opuntias, plants with hooked spines, and plants fully covered with spines (such as Mammillaria plumosa). It's not a bad idea, however, to give your cacti a "shower" - outdoors, during the summer - or a spray from a spray bottle a few times a year. When this is done, dusting is never an issue.

    We have a stock answer when people ask us how to clean their cacti: "carefully"! Or...you can save water by showering with your cacti!

    Thanks for your input.

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