Do we know the conditions that our apartment offers when we buy plants?

In the decision to add a new specimen to the collection, do we take into account the stationary conditions, or do we fall prey to the impulse to have a new species, for purely aesthetic reasons?

I have often encountered cases where dissatisfied customers accused exotic plant traders of losing them, even after long periods of time after purchase. At the same time, those dissatisfactions were accompanied by unrealistic claims, starting from the return of the purchase amounts, to the replacement of the plants, or the request for warranty certificates. Such customers do not take into account the fact that, on the one hand, the local trader is only an intermediary, not a producer, and on the other hand, that, since leaving the growing greenhouses - located thousands of kilometers away, in Europe (generally in the Netherlands, Denmark or Germany - as the main producers) or even in Asia, in the case of species imported as cuttings or seedlings (seedlings) - these specimens go through numerous stages in which various actions are manifested on them that induce stress and they require adaptations. The very process of adapting to new environmental conditions is realized with energy consumption, putting pressure on them, and at the same time bringing to the fore the risk of losing them. In an attempt to document these risks, I discovered the following article, which you I bring it to your attention, in translated and adapted form, " Understand where your plants came from" :

What are the conditions in a greenhouse for growing plants?

• Perfect lighting - the plants receive direct, unobstructed sunlight, and, in the case of tropical plant foliage, which prefers filtered light, this is partially blocked by using textile tables placed immediately under the roof of the greenhouse. The direction of the light is exactly above the plants, which is why they show perfect growth, influenced by positive heliotropism (the plants do not orient their growth towards the sun, the light source).
• Abundant watering - having large amounts of light available, the plants will photosynthesize quickly, thus requiring high soil moisture. Due to the rapid use of water in the photosynthesis process, and good air circulation, the chances of mold or other fungal diseases are extremely low.
• Fertilization - also due to the accelerated photosynthesis processes in the presence of light and abundant water, abundant fertilization will be necessary to restore the reserves of nutrients consumed in the growth processes.
• Aeration of the roots - in most commercial greenhouses intended for the intensive growth of exotic plants, the plants are grown in plastic pots provided with perforations that, on the one hand, allow water to drain, but also have the secondary role of ensuring the permeability of the culture medium for air, as in addition to the natural aeration in the upper area of ​​the pot, where the substrate meets the air. Under these conditions, the plants in the growing greenhouses massively produce carbohydrates through photosynthesis and use this stored energy to grow and develop structurally.

Where do the differences appear compared to the environment offered in the apartment?

• Lighting - if we refer only to tropical plants, which do not require direct natural lighting, the interior of an apartment can offer, in the best case, only 25% of the light energy intensity that plants receive in growing greenhouses. This drastic reduction of the light radiation greatly affects the way and the intensity of feeding and implicitly the growth, after the relocation in the apartment environment.
• Watering - light represents the parameter with the decisive influence on the speed of evaporation and drying of the substrate, but, most importantly, on the speed of assimilation and processing of water from the culture medium. That is why it is very important to check the humidity in the substrate before making a new watering. It is not recommended to indiscriminately follow a watering scheme, which may refer to ideal or standardized situations, but should have no connection with the present reality in the growing environment. At the same time, tropical plant lovers do not have to reproduce the routines used in greenhouses for apartment conditions, as long as the environmental conditions are not completely reproduced.
• Fertilization - in general, it is not necessary, except in cases where the plants show fast, accelerated growth, typical greenhouse conditions. And, clearly, fertilization is NOT a substitute for proper watering and lighting!
• Aeration of the roots - for reasons unknown to experts and plant breeders, there is a growing tendency among hobbyists to replant/transplant new acquisitions, sometimes changing the substrate/culture medium as well. Many times, the pots chosen are not suitable for the growth of exotic plants, their role being generally purely decorative. Such vessels are frequently devoid of aeration and water drainage holes. Another case is represented by the placement of the growth pots in decorative masks, which contribute to the stagnation of water around the roots and impede their aeration. Such practices, together with the adaptation stress resulting from the transport from the grower to the trader, and later from the trader to the collector, greatly affect the health of the plants, drastically reducing their chances of adaptation. In the conditions of the decrease of natural resistance, comparable in some way to the level of immunity in animals, it is very likely to occur the installation of some diseases, either bacterial or fungal, or associated, or to appear susceptible to infestation with various species of spiders or parasitic insects. In this context, the rational dilemma proposed at the beginning of the article appears.