Instructions and advice on using Flowall

Your Flowall kit is simple to install, but please make sure you read all the advice on how to use it that you will find here. We can be easily contacted by Email at flowall@orange.fr if you would like any information about our product. This kit contains 1 or 2 420mm x 400mm panels, 16 removable containers, 2 wall-plugs and 2 screws.

To install your Flowall panels, you will need plants to plant, a drill to make the holes and a screwdriver or electric screwdriver. A spirit-level will be very useful for checking that everything is installed properly.

Position the plant wall in a spot that receives as much light as possible. The ambient temperature in a house is perfectly suitable.

To fix the first Flowall, drill two 6 mm-diameter holes corresponding to the position of the two fixing brackets. To make sure there is no error, place the panel in position on the wall and either mark with a pencil the exact position of the fixing holes that have to be made or make the holes one by one along the whole length of the wall installation. Make sure that the panel is perfectly straight with a spirit-level or by measuring from the ends.

Place the wall-plugs in the holes and then fix your Flowall panel using the two screws supplied. Screw them in perfectly straight to tighten the wall-plugs correctly inside the wall. Tighten them without forcing. The screws and wall-plugs can be used for any type of wall and do not require any special preparation.

To install several Flowall panels, always start with the bottom panel(s) and match up the notches on the upper panel with the fixing brackets of the lower panel so that they are perfectly aligned.

Once the panels have been fixed to the wall, add the plants. To do this, take one of the containers and place your unpotted plant inside. Either remove any excess soil or top up the container with potting compost, as necessary. Then lightly press down the soil in the container and install it on the panel. Installation is easier if the soil is damp and not loose. The container must fit properly into its slot. You can trim the plant’s roots if you need to remove some soil.

Plants

Some plants are more suitable than others. Firstly because they are more resistant, need less care or don’t need anything hard to obtain and secondly because their foliage, shape, colour and growth make them better suited to a luxuriant vertical garden. It can be used for all types of houseplants, but some are very delicate or need special growing conditions (See the list of recommended plants). Try to group plants with similar needs (water, humidity, light) together. The plant must not be too big or too small in relation to the container. Even if plants tend to grow outwards, the roots only have a limited area. In garden centres, the ideal size for plant containers is 5 to 10 cm in diameter. Don’t hesitate to cut some of the roots, since the plant benefits from the permanent supply of water contained in the Flowall’s irrigation device.

Gardening and care

Watering is done by topping up the reservoir containing absorbent felt that makes up the whole of the interior of the Flowall panel. This is done through the opening on the top left-hand side of the sheet. Add the water in two or more goes so that the felt has time to absorb the water: Fill a panel completely, leave it for 2 hours and then top it up again. If any plants require a lot of watering, you can add water directly in the container.

Never add water or top up the Flowall when it is horizontal. While you slowly fill up the reservoir, watch the overflow (at the bottom on the left) and stop immediately when it overflows. Never over-water: soil that is too damp is often bad for plants, while soil that is dry is only harmful after a very long time. It is often better to let the soil dry out and then top the Flowall up completely rather than having soil that is always too damp (A good schedule is once a week or every 15 days, depending on the season and the temperature).

Make sure there is no stagnant water in the bottom of a container; this is very dangerous for many plant varieties. Take care when the temperature is above 30 degrees, especially if the air is very dry. Plants that like humidity (ambient humidity, i.e. the amount of water in the air and not in the soil), or have been subjected to high temperatures and air that is too dry, will need frequent spraying with a vaporiser directly on the foliage (at least several times a week for plants that are most demanding in this respect, see the list of recommended plants).

You will need to add liquid fertilizer (one specially for houseplants) to the water, but no more than once a week and respecting the proportions recommended by the fertilizer manufacturer. Do not use fertilizer during the first two weeks after potting the plants. The fertilizer is used to renew the nutrients in the soil since they are used up over time. Too much fertilizer is harmful.

Watering and feeding also depend on the season. In winter, plants are in their rest period and so they need a lot less water and fertilizer. On the other hand they will still need light, even if they are happy with a shorter period of light each day. The need for water can be checked easily by looking at the soil. The larger a plant grows, the greater its external needs.

Don’t hesitate to use small trays, placed on the floor at the foot of your plant wall. The trays will help avoid stains on your floor that might result from dead leaves, bits of soil, an overflowing overflow, etc.

Plants are delicate. Small problems of lighting, watering, humidity or temperature can quickly do a lot of harm. Also, watch out for poor conditions and try to remedy them as far as possible. A plant demands attention, patience and affection. It suffers when neglected.

But plants are not ungrateful. In exchange for your care, most of them are able to clean the air in your home. This is through the phenomenon of phytoremediation. In addition to recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen through photosynthesis they can significantly clean up the air in our homes by removing many harmful organic compounds (See the many studies carried out into this topic).