By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

As most gardeners know planting, nurturing and keeping a variety of plants have benefits that go far beyond merely providing vegetables to eat or flowers to smell and enjoy, although it’s impossible to say enough about those paybacks.

Through maintaining a garden we can learn a lot about the wonders of nature and science; we can reduce our stress level, and we can learn a lot about life in general. And gardening is not something we have to ignore or forget about until it warms up.

In the cold winter months and for those who just don’t have the space for an outdoor garden, indoor gardening can be particularly enjoyable and beneficial.

Even NASA has gotten into the act about indoor gardening to the benefit of all of us. Government researchers found that plants, whether grown in soil or hydroponically in nutrient rich fluid, can absorb harmful gasses from everywhere in your house including benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene typically found emanating from new carpet and furniture. Houseplants can clean the air you breath throughout your house and they actually add oxygen to the inside environment during photosynthesis.

NASA studied 19 common houseplants for two years to reach their conclusions. Among them were three varieties of philodendron, four kinds of dracaena and a weeping fig, but almost without exception, ANY plant grown in the home, will provide the similar benefits.

In a very simple equation scientists said the more house plants the better the surrounding quality became.

Tropical or indoor plants can be purchased at almost every store, or garden center in Southern Nevada. At one time they could even be bought from a stand near the fruits and vegetables in Lin’s Supermarket.

You don’t have to have a green thumb to maintain an indoor garden, but it’s helpful if you at least know the proper name of the plants you’ve bought. That’s so if you run into a problem. If one of your plants begins to fail, you can ask for some help specific to the one that’s sick.

Basically, as with any plant, a few simple steps can help you maintain a thriving indoor garden.

The vast majority of tropical plants need lots of light so it is important to place them where they’ll get as much sun as possible. A south facing window or room is perfect.

Water according to the directions you were provided with the plant. Overwatering is one of the quickest ways to kill an indoor plant so if you’re not sure how much water to give it, look it up online.

After you get the plant home, replant it in a slightly larger pot using soil based on the type of plant it is. For example, cactus and ferns are totally different species and have different soil requirements.

It’s also important to fertilize. The amount and how frequently you apply a fertilizer depends, again, on the plant.

Finally, keep your new charges warm. They’re tropical, which means they like it kind of toasty. It doesn’t have to be hot, but for sure don’t let it get cold.

Now before you say growing an indoor garden is entirely too difficult, let me remind you that most of these plants, including almost every variety used in the NASA study actually grows wild in some part of the world.

For example, the philodendrons, the dracaena and the weeping fig all grow like crazy in Costa Rica. I’ve seen them in gardens, along roads, in the jungle, everywhere.

But then that’s the sort of thing one would expect in a country where farmers build fences using posts made from a tree called poro (Erythina Poeppigiana). They’re called living fences because once the fence is built, the posts literally take root and grow until the fencing actually becomes a row of trees tied together by whatever wire or fencing was originally used.

Comments and suggestions for the Garden Spot are always welcome. It appears the first and third Wednesday’s of the month. Email ideas, observations or questions to mouse@mvdsl.com.