Many years ago we created a Flower Essence combination remedy for houseplants. Staff Goddess Deb Cardew from Cornwall, England ( where they love their gin & tonics), coined the name Green & Tonic, and we went with it.
Each spring, I use Green & Tonic on seedlings. I spritz the seeds before planting then when the seeds germinate, I spritz the baby plants with Green & Tonic again. When I transplant seedlings into the garden I will make up a mix of organic fertilizer and Green & Tonic ( see the green bucket in the above photo) and water in the transplants. In the case of planting the Dhuni Garden above, I dipped each plant into the green bucket of fertilizer/Green & Tonic water before planting then watered them again when they were in the ground. I have found that it is so important to water in transplants even in a summer when it never stops raining (like this past summer).
Inside in our small greenhouse I grow tropical and semi tropical plants including Lime, Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Loquat, Calliandra, Shrimp Plant, Sweet Olive, Pomegranate, Dittany, Dombeya Wallichii, Red Hibiscus, Sago Palm, Coffee, Solandra, Rosemary, Kangaroo Paw, Bottlebrush, Pink Tecoma, Aloe Ciliaris, Bignonia and Allamanda so we will have a supply of these blossoms if unable to gather them in a tropical or semitropical location. I put Green & Tonic in the water in my watering can when I fertilize all these plants. I also put Green & Tonic in a spritzer bottle to spritz the foliage of the plants. I lean on this remedy to help the houseplants live in conditions that are not natural to them. They love this remedy, and I can almost hear them sigh when I get the spritzer bottle out!
As soon as the danger of frost is past, I move the houseplants outside for the growing season. I keep the houseplants in their pots but bury them in loose compost to keep them cool and moist. Some plants stay under the oak tree outside the office windows where they get the shade they need. Most stay on the south side of the house in big frames filled with fluffy compost.
The plants usually love their five months outside. While I prune them when they go outside, they usually spring to life with new growth and look their best in a matter of weeks. Usually is the key word here as this summer with all the deluges, the soil in the pots got drained of nutrients. I vastly increases my fertilizing, yet the storms of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 inches of rain were tough on the houseplants. Tough on the gardens too, but especially tough on the houseplants. There was also very little sun what with the smoke from wildfires and the many rainy days. So when I moved the houseplants into the greenhouse recently, I was sad to see that their summer vacation had not left the plants with their usual glow. They looked spindly and unhappy. I cut most everything back rather hard, channeling Jayn Bier, an early staff Goddess who also worked in the greenhouses at Dartmouth and advocated radical pruning. Then I situated everyone inside and got going with the Green & Tonic spritzing and more fertilizer than I usually use going into the winter season.
The houseplants are beginning to bounce back. Not too much in bloom yet but this Mexican Sage, Sweet Olive and Pomegranate, but everyone’s color is beginning to improve. Once again I am so grateful for Green & Tonic. I hope you will try it and share with us your experiences!