Temperature: How to Provide the Optimum Indoor Climate for Your Plants

Temperature plays a very important role in the growth and development of houseplants.It governs the rate plants absorbs and transpire water. It has an affect on the plant's formation of color. Low degrees cause the build-up of pigments that produce darker and richer colors in flowering plants.

Be sure to check with the instructions that come with the plant and try to maintain the optimum indoor climate.

Most houseplants have a limited range for coolness and warmness at which they grow best.

Also, plants grow better with fluctuations of high and low degrees that duplicate the conditions they experience in nature.

Plants need ventilation and fresh air but not hot and cold drafts. Never place your plants in front of a window with a chilling draft blowing on them. Always keep them away from heating and cooling outlets. A ceiling fan on low keeps indoor plants healthy with air circulation.

Tropical plants originated in areas that are constantly warm. They will go dormant if the thermometer dips to 60 degrees F and most will stop growing at 40 degrees F.

One reason why plants fail to prosper are overheated rooms. Most houseplants grow best between 70 and 80 degrees F during the day. Turn your thermostat down at night because plants like to be a little cooler from 60 to 68 degrees F, but not less than 55 degrees F. It helps plants conserve energy and develop better.

Having variations in the indoor climate allows you to grow a wide selection of plants in different places of your home. Flowering plants like the hydrangea and the Christmas cactus must be kept near 30 degrees F to form buds. For warm areas, you can grow poinsettia, philodendron and sansevieria plants.

Protect indoor plants near windows during freezing weather with thermal insulated curtains. Plants don't like to freeze and these curtains will insulate them from the icy cold windows. You can also cover your plants with a thick layer of newspaper to shield them from the frigid temperature.