Air layering: A method of propagating a single-stemmed plant which has lost its lower leaves.
Areole: A hairy, cushion-like area found at the base of the spines on cacti.
Bleeding: When sap is lost from a plant after it has been cut.
Bract: A modified, often brightly colored leaf which grows near the calyx of a flower.
Bulb: An underground bud from which flowers and leaves grow.
Cactus: Succulent plant with a thick, fleshy stem. Usually has spines and brightly colored flowers, but no leaves.
Calyx: A ring of leaves around a bud or flower.
Capillary action: Natural tendency for water to be drawn upwards.
Colored leaf: Leaf with colors other than green, white or cream. See variegated.
Compost: A mixture of peat or loam with other ingredients which supports plant roots in a pot.
Crown: Upper part of root often projecting from the surface of soil.
Cutting: A leaf or a stem which is used to propagate a plant.
Dormant Period: When plant naturally stops growing, usually in winter. Leaves may fall and top growth dies down.
Exotic: An unusual and/or striking plant or flower.
Fi Hybrid: Product of two pure bred plants, but itself produces no seed.
Fertilizer: Chemical substances used to stimulate and sustain plant growth.
Flower spike: Stem on which flowers grow.
Foliar: Relating to leaves as in foliar feed which is absorbed through the leaves of a plant.
Forcing: Making plants flower earlier than would occur naturally.
Frond: The leaf of a palm.
Fungicide: Chemical used to kill diseases caused by fungi.
Germination: When bulbs or seeds start to grow.
Growing point: The tip of a stem from which upward growth occurs. Growing season Period when plants start to grow again, usually from March to October.
Honeydew: A sweet, clear nectar produced by some plants.
Humidity: Moisture in atmosphere.
Hybrid: Plant produced by two parents of different varieties.
Hygrometer: An Instrument which measures the amount of water in the air.
Inorganic: Term often applied to fertilizer or other chemicals to mean a substance derived from a source which has never been alive. e.g. minerals.
Lateral: stems Branches growing out sideways from main stem.
Leaf node: The point where leaf joins stem. Loam Soil which contains clay, sand and rotted vegetable matter.
Micro-climate: Climate produced by plants growing close together. Misting Very fine water spray. Mutated Branched.
Offshoots: Small plants produced by mother plant.
Organic: Term often applied to fertilizer or other chemicals to mean a substance derived from a source which has been alive, e.g. rotted vegetable matter
Osmosis: The tendency of water to pass through a fine membrane.
Peat: Partly decomposed vegetable matter used in composts as it retains moisture.
Pesticide: A chemical used to kill pests.
Pinch out: To remove the growing point of a stem to encourage the plant to become bushy or to flower.
Plantlet: A small plant.
Plunging: Watering a plant by placing it up to its rim in water.
Pot-bound: When a pot is too small to allow a plant’s roots to grow.
Resting period: Time when plant growth stops, but leaves do not fall. See dormant.
Rosette: Collection of leaves shaped like a rose.
Rootball: Collection of fine roots around main central root.
Sap: Vital liquid circulating in plants.
Secondary leaves: Leaves which appear on a seedling after the first set of leaves.
Sharp sand: An ingredient of compost; feels coarse to the touch.
Shrub: Woody plant (smaller than a tree) with branches that divide near the ground and no central stem.
Spadix: Spike carrying both male and female flowers.
Specimen plant: A single large plant which provides a focal point for a room.
Sphagnum moss: A water-retaining moss which grows easily. Used for hanging baskets and for orchids.
Spore: A tiny cell-like seed from which plants like ferns grow.
Succulent: A plant with thick, fleshy leaves and stem which store water.
Systemic: A fertilizer or pesticide absorbed into a plant through the leaves or roots.
Top dressing: Covering the top of a potted plant’s soil with fresh compost.
Variegated: Leaf which is green with white, cream or yellow blotches, or edges on it.
Ventilate: Expose to the air.