Meet Inside Urban Green

As is always the case, times have changed. When I started this blog almost four years ago, the focus was solely on the use of modern scientific methods for maintaining decorative indoor plants in containers (aka houseplants).

Since then, climate change and the green movement have taken center stage. There is constant chatter about local food production and community agriculture. Buzz words like locovore and slow food have entered our vocabulary.

Rather incredibly, the use of sub-irrigated (erroneously called “self-watering”) planters for personal or family food production has been largely ignored. All you need do is a site search on the National Gardening Association, American Community Gardening Association or all the USDA Extension Program sites combined and you’ll find very little how-to-do-it explanation of the benefits of measured sub-irrigation.

Is it simply ignorance of the subject or are there hidden agendas? I know from direct personal experience, for example, that most houseplant growers do not want their plants to live too long. Rather than grow the market, they much prefer to grow replacement plants for the ones you kill. Just don’t blame them for the fact that the plant died.

The widespread use of arcane drench and drain watering is a direct result of propaganda and scare tactics about soluble salts. Yes, soluble salts are a significant factor to deal with in well-lit greenhouse production where water and fertilizer are poured on the plants on a daily basis. The objective is to push the plants out the greenhouse door as quickly as possible.

That is not the case with the maintenance of container plants inside marginally lit buildings. Note the operative word maintenance, as in "staying alive" rather than fast growth. Greenhouse plant growing and the maintenance of containerized plants in and around buildings are two completely different subjects.

If you’re hooked on clay pots with drain holes and saucers, know that you’ve been mislead. I can’t say it any more plainly. No need to take my word for it, you can easily prove it to yourself. All you need is an open, questioning mind.

Open minds are what kids have and that’s the reason for donating my ten-year-old Inside Plants Science Lab for the good of public education in New York City where I now live. Teach the children. They will teach their parents. If you haven’t noticed, that’s a part of the new digital age. If you have a question about your computer, ask your kids.

So, have a first look at Inside Urban Green. Bookmark it and add it to your RSS feeds. I believe you’ll be glad you did.