Indoor plants for a classroom?

EvilMonkey

Hi all,

I'm not really greenfingered at all, so need a bit of advice if it is ok. In my classroom at school I have 12 plastic troughs (around 60cm long) under some nice large windows. I like having plants there, even as an IT teacher at secondary school, the kids like having the flora around!

I've had a number of different plants in there with mixed success. Over last summer holiday they all rather suffered so I decided, come spring I'd re plant the lot. So I'm after some suggestions if it's ok?

What I'm after:-

- Cheap (in the last lot I had 3 x plants per trough, so 36 plants in total soon adds up!)
- Colourful
- Fragrant
- Hard to kill? (Can take a bit of a drought during holidays!)
- Interesting
- Not too fragile (can withstand the odd poke from a kid)
- The only plant I liked enough to rescue is had a flattened segmented stem with bright white or pink flowers about an inch long(not sure what its called sorry)
- A bit of a mix (of the things above..)

Problems I've had with the previous plants and would like to avoid:-
- Heathers just die, not sure why, but they all died in all pots within about 3 months
- Ivy, grew out of control and also seemed to attract bugs
- Not sure what it's called again, but one plant (spikey leaves in a ball) started well, and looked to start to spread, but then the centre died leaving a horrid brown bit in the middle?

Can you tell I'm a bit in at the deep end here!

Is it worth seeking alternative sources of plants (IE buying off the internet?)

Thanks for any guidance.

E.M.

enrich100

How about coleus? they can be planted from seed all year round or grown from cuttings. As the variegated leaf is the main attraction they will last longer than flowers which only has a limit life then die, A few plants can fill a trough, if one is ripped out the chances are you can get several cuttings from it, they don't have a scent but just remember that kid that sneezes everywhere when their hayfever is bad.



re the plants drying out why not use of the water retaining gels in the troughs as this will help also bury pot saucers at the bottom of the trough so water is retained with out being lost, sadly the summer hoilday will be to long for almost any plant except a cactus maybe

Valli

you need a chlorophytum (spider plant) because they are good at dealing with the air around computers and cleaning it up. They're dead easy to grow...
If you go for the coleus don't let them flower (they're not brillant flowers anyway) nip off buds to encourage prolific leaf growth.
Succulents (sort of a half a cactus) store water and can stand a bit of drought.

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm not really greenfingered at all, so need a bit of advice if it is ok. In my classroom

Aloe Vera

Lidl have some in at the moment

Also herbs.

Davesnave

If, as you say, you are already 'in at the deep end,' I believe that Cannabis sativa would probably fit the bill quite well.

Not only do you have a warm and light growing environment, but the existence of many Internet connections should enable you and your pupils to deal effectively on a global level with the fruits of your studies.;)

Is it worth buying off the Internet? I don't know the answer to that one, but I know a man who does

Mamabear

Davesnave wrote: »

If, as you say, you are already 'in at the deep end,' I believe that Cannabis sativa would probably fit the bill quite well.

Not only do you have a warm and light growing environment, but the existence of many Internet connections should enable you and your pupils to deal effectively on a global level with the fruits of your studies.;)

Is it worth buying off the Internet? I don't know the answer to that one, but I know a man who does

:eek: Are you looking for a good PRPing FB?

I'll see you you 'over there' then

Davesnave

Mamabear wrote: »

:eek: Are you looking for a good PRPing FB?

I'll see you you 'over there' then

I would get more work done if I was PPR'd, but I thought better of it this time and removed the link! Hopefully, Greenfingered is not entirely devoid of humour, and I normally give it sensible input.

There are serious causes worth being PPR'd for, so perhaps I should wait for one of those, or just have more self-discipline.:o

Either way, as you say, there is always 'the other place!'

ailuro2

Before you replant add some moisture retaining granules to the compost, that will help a bit with the drought.

Leaving them somewhere cooler and shaded when you go off on holiday will also help.

Can't add to the suggestions above, they're all good.

hilstep2000

I agree with spider plants. They thrive on neglect. Also cactus, and any type of succulent, they should grow okay. They always did in my classroom.

EvilMonkey

Davesnave wrote: »

If, as you say, you are already 'in at the deep end,' I believe that Cannabis sativa would probably fit the bill quite well.

Not only do you have a warm and light growing environment, but the existence of many Internet connections should enable you and your pupils to deal effectively on a global level with the fruits of your studies.;)

Is it worth buying off the Internet? I don't know the answer to that one, but I know a man who does

Hmmm, I have a feeling that that's make me the most popular teacher at school, closely followed by the most fired teacher!

EvilMonkey

Thanks for the other suggestions, will definitely investigate the moisture granules.

Any good sources of plants?