Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. Ill St. Louis, Mo., February, 1915 No. 2 
THE CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS 
Failure frequently attends the attempt to grow plants in 
- the home. The same may be said, in many cases, of the 
poses of plants out of doors during the summer months. 
n each case failure is probably due to a lack of sufficient 
knowledge regarding the requirements of plants, whether in 
or out of doors, although, in general, it is considered far 
more difficult to grow and care for plants in the home than 
out of doors. There can be no question that the conditions 
in the home are ordinarily unfavorable for both the grow- 
ing of plants and the preservation of flowers, and the fol- 
lowing account is intended to point out the usual causes 
of failure, and to indicate in a general way the plants and 
flowers best adapted for the home during the winter months. 
IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS 
Iight.—The foods, from which plants derive the necessary 
materials for growth and energy for the various life pro- 
cesses, are manufactured in large part in the green parts 
under the influence of sunlight. In the absence of suffi- 
cient light this process of food synthesis is retarded, and, 
if the light is sufficiently reduced may even be brought to 
a standstill. Moreover, an inadequate supply of light may 
result in a partial or total loss of the green pigment, so 
essential in the manufacture of food, rendering the leaves 
white or light green. In the house, especially at some dis- 
tance from the windows, this loss of green coloring matter 
may become very pronounced in some plants although 
scarcely noticeable in others, but in either case the manu- 
facture and storage of food is usually more or less reduced, 
in time frequently resulting in the decline and ultimately 
the death of the plant. As already intimated, plants differ 
as regards tolerance of diminished light, but even so it 
should be a general practice to move house plants near the 
window or directly into the sunlight for at least a few hours 
each day. 
(25) 
