Guest post: how to streamline your houseplant care regime
Geoff Ashton offers up 10 proven and easy time-saving tips for taking back control and re-discovering your love of plants.
I've always loved collecting. From tadpoles in the back yard to coloured rocks on a shelf; stamp-collecting to football cards, then finally in my middle years to plants. Don’t ask how many - a gentleman doesn’t divulge. But I do know that if left unchecked, time and money vanishes quicker than maidenhair fern drops its leaves.
When I first took on this hobby, my goal was the jungle look. But jungles don’t just stop once you’re satisfied. They continue growing. Getting thirstier. Demanding more. They look great - until the pests arrive - which you didn’t spot, because you have so many darned plants.
What once was a pleasure becomes a chore. You start to worry about them. You can’t take a day off. You can’t go on holiday. But there is a way back from the brink. You CAN take back control and re-discover your love of plants.
So, for your (and my) sanity, here are five time-saving tips to save the day…
Get a cheap, pump-action sprayer for watering. They’re brilliant for orchids or plants with smaller pots. Wave goodbye to laborious trips to the sink, and hello to some extra minutes in your day.
Buy a moisture meter and learn to water when your plants need it, not when it fits your schedule. As a paid-up member of overwaterers anonymous, I found they needed it far less than I thought they did. You will too.
Explore self-watering pots, or set up your own self-wicking systems, to take even more of the strain out of watering.
Use slow-release fertilisers where possible. Orchids aside, which are awkward sods, why spend precious time mixing powders into watering cans? Slow-release tablets, fertiliser sticks or granules work just as well.
Use smart plugs to automate grow lights, heaters and humidifiers. These are a game-changer for anything that needs regularly switching on and off. You can use your phone to monitor them and change their settings from anywhere you happen to be in the world. I have a dozen at least.
For more tips, and a bit more detail on those above, head over to my Youtube channel to watch the full video. And recite this mantra to yourself 100 times every morning when you wake: I am the boss - not my plants. I am the boss, not my plants…
Geoff Ashton is a houseplant grower and YouTuber and you can also find him on Instagram.
This blogpost was taken from The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene. Subscribe here and get my free in-depth guide to fungus gnats.