* On every plant in a container or pot, place a five or six-inch strip of masking tape vertically on the wall of the pot. For plants kept indoors, place the tape on what seems to be the side with the poorest growth. Having moved the plant to the kitchen or whatever to water the soil, return the plant to its former location so the masking tape is opposite from where it was. If the tape was on the side of the pot opposite the window, set the pot so the tape is closest to the window after you have watered. The next time, set the pot so the masking tape is opposite the window. Using the masking tape this way helps provide equal growth of the plant one week to the next.

* Some potted plants shouldn’t be turned at critical times of year. This is especially the case with clivia and holiday cactus. When these plants start producing flower buds, never turn the pot. When you move the plant (from wherever) to moisten the soil, remember to return the plant to the same position it was before you watered. The vertical strip of masking tape tells you where the plant should be located. Now, what happens if you don’t keep the plant in the same position insofar as exposure to sunlight, etc., is concerned? If you don’t, the flower buds will rotate so they again face the light as they did before you watered the plant. In the process, the buds will extricate themselves from the plant. The next day, you’ll find flower buds on the table or floor because you didn’t position the plant in the same exposure to sunlight. When the plant isn’t making flower buds, rotate the pot as you do with other indoor plants so growth is uniform throughout.

* Much as folks think they’re the “in thing,” ceramic pots have no place in the garden. Never put a plant in a ceramic pot unless you want to kill it.

* It’s customary to put stones, etc., at the base of pots to facilitate drainage, but there’s a better way. At the base of your pots and containers, set down something that works like gangbusters, yet doesn’t contribute to the weight. Consider a half-inch for small pots, an inch for large pots, of popped popcorn or broken-up styrofoam pellets. They don’t decay, never stop working, and will last as long as you grow the plant.

* Never discard plastic or paperboard milk containers without salvaging remnants of milk inside. Having emptied the container or jug, add a few ounces of milk to the container, swish it around to pick up minuscule droplets of milk, then pour the residue over plants needing alkaline soil at all times. At the top of the list are African violets, followed by begonias, geraniums, dracaenas, etc. You can’t go wrong using the milk residue.

* Always water plants in the morning so the soil is starting to go dry by nightfall. Only in emergencies should you water plants in the afternoon or at night (such as foliage drooping because the soil has dried out). In such cases, flood a plastic dishpan with tepid water, then immerse the problem plant in the water for an hour or so, then let the pot drain fully before returning the plant to its former location.

* Only as a last resort should you use cold water to moisten the soil of a plant .Use tepid water at all times.

* If in doubt where a so-called “house plant” belongs, always provide bright-to-medium indirect exposure to sunlight.

* Never set potted plants in the kitchen because of exposure to ethylene gas from incomplete combustion on the gas range, or from fresh bananas and apples in the kitchen. Ethylene gas will cause flower buds to drop, also flowers to wither prematurely. Conversely, if a house plant ordinarily flowers at a specific time of year, but no flower buds have been produced, exposure to ethylene gas usually prompts the plant to go to flower (if the plant is absolutely healthy).

* Plants are critically sensitive to the loss of chlorophyll. If chlorophyll starts to break down on a leaf or needle, the process is impossible to reverse no matter what curative action is taken. When a leaf moves from dark green to pale green, it means chlorophyll has started to break down. The leaf will proceed from pale green to yellow to brown as the leaf dies for want of chlorophyll.

* No pesticide is labeled for insect control on home-grown vegetables, yet one of the most commonly used kitchen products stops insects in their tracks when applied properly. Here’s how: when you discover insects on your cabbage, lettuce or whatever, dust your plants with kitchen flour. At the nursery, you want to buy what amounts to the old-fashioned “rose duster,” only today’s product is fabricated of heavy-duty plastic. Yes, it’s inexpensive. Remove the cap on the canister and fill the tube with kitchen flour (dry, of course). Return the cap in place. Always in the morning, hose down your veggies for all of 15 seconds, then dust your plants liberally with kitchen flour. There’s no such thing as applying too much flour. Plants should have a thin coating of flour when you’re finished. Foliage and stems being wet, the flour traps all bugs feeding on the plant. Since they can’t move, they can’t eat, so they die. Of course, the next rain will wash the flour from your plants, but it’s a simple thing to dust them again when the rains have passed.

* Use nothing but kitchen flour in your rose duster.

* Never sprinkle or spray liquid fertilizer or plant food on the lawn, around shrubs or trees, after a rain. Remember, water is captured and held in place by soil in the root zone. Wait until there has been no rain (or irrigation on your part) for three days, then you can apply Miracle-Gro or whatever to your plants.