June 30, 2021 • 10 mins
As part of our summer bonus series, we’re sharing our interview with Scott Cain, founder of Boys with Plants. Host Mangesh Hattikudur spoke with Scott earlier this year and learned about how the popular Instagram account @Boyswithplants began and how the Plant Daddy movement has fostered an online community of men who love plants.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey there, I'm Manga. They're a co host of Part
Time Genius, one of the founders of Mental Floss, and
this is Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart
Radio and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is
to make this the most human show about plants that
you'll ever listen to, and along the way, we'll share
(00:24):
inspiring stories, tips and tricks to nurture your plant addiction,
and just enough science to make you sound like an expert.
So we are on summer break right now, but the
truth is, my producer Molly and I can't stop our
plant addiction, so we're bringing you some sunny mini episodes
to enjoy before we return with a brand new season.
(00:45):
Throughout this summer, we'll be dropping incredible stories from growers,
fun advice we get from experts, and we'll even be
bringing you along on our field trips as we hunt
all over Brooklyn for a Polka dot plant, sample hot
sauces from a community garden, and try to make friends
with some worms on Governor's Island. It was a tall task.
(01:05):
In this bonus episode, we're sharing our interview with Scott Kane,
founder of the Instagram account Boys with Plants, Scott considers
himself a plant nerd, and started his account after he
and a friend James, exchange a few d ms of
their favorite photos of men with plants on social media.
Boys with Plants now has more than two followers and
has grown into a book, magazine, and calendar. I called
(01:29):
up Scott earlier this year for our episode Plant Daddy's Miracle,
Burrows and the Seeds of Modern Masculinity. We talked about
the importance of house plants and design and how the
plant Daddy movement has created a new sense of community online.
(01:51):
Hey Scott, are you there? Yeah? Hi, how you doing Hi?
It's so nice to be chatting with you. Yeah, that's
the chat to you too. Thanks for so oh. I
know one of the main reasons we wanted to chat
with you is your Boys with Plants account is widely
considered one of the first plant daddy platforms on on
social media. Can you tell us a little bit about
(02:14):
how you decided to start this in two thousand six sure? Sure, yeah,
two thousand and sixteen, So it's been nearly five years.
I can't believe it's been that long, but it's it
gives me a lot of joys. So it sort of
propels me to keep it, to keep working at it.
But I started an Instagram page called Tropical Loco, which
was just documenting my my plants on my balcony really
(02:35):
and and there weren't that many accounts like that around
at the time. Um, and it got a bit of attention.
And I've met some guys and girls all over the
all over the world through that account, and we chatted
and got to know each other a little better. And
I used to chat to my friends James in Singapore.
We used to share images between ourselves of sort of
(02:56):
guys with their plants, particularly that were particularly handsome and
just three D M and and then I sort of
thought this actually might make a good a good Instagram
page on its own. Maybe somebody else might might be
interested in checking this out. So, um, so I started
Boys with Plants. And I've heard that your mom also
(03:16):
has really with plants. My mom does, She's been you know,
my my love of plants really came from mom initially,
so so I was, I was. She got me on
board with the plants, and I got her on board
with the Instagram. So what was your intention with boys
with Plants? When he started that that account really just
(03:38):
to show amazing pictures of high quality images of guys
with their plants. I don't think I really had much
more of a comment when I started it than just
showing something that didn't seem to exist on Instagram at
the time, and I didn't really expect anyone to really
be interested there. But as it went along, and particularly
(03:59):
when it got um it got sort of picked up
on some American newspapers, and the Washington Post and New
York Times picked it up, and Vogue magazine wrote an
article about it that started to get a lot of attention,
which is quite amount, Like I just was quite unexpected.
Um yeah, So it all chugged along from there really,
(04:20):
and yeah, obviously it's this van diagram of interest, but
I had read that it was. It was much more
focused on plants with boys as a bit of a candy.
Initially exactly, the boys are a bonus. I always I
get a lot of pictures where there's a bit of
a plant in the background and some muscle guys standing
in front of the camera holding the camera, and I'm
(04:41):
always saying to them, sorry, the boys, the just the bonus.
It has to be about plants, has to be plant focused.
So what would you say is your definition of a
plant daddy. Ah, good question. I think somebody who just
has a keen interest in in plants beyond just getting
a plan and to look nice in a home, or
(05:01):
you know, maybe they've given a plant and they're like,
this is an opportunity to photograph myself looking good with
a plant. An actual plant daddy is someone who actually
cares for plants, and choosing to quote yourself a plant
daddy is part of it as well. Yeah, so what
is the plant daddy community all about? I think it's
sharing a common interest. It's about reaching out to people.
(05:22):
It's a connection that's just a way of connecting through
growing and and giving advice and through collecting in a way,
you know, it's just an initial common interest that brings
guys together people together. So you say on your website
that when you set out to make the Instagram page,
quote the whole idea of an Instagram page featuring them
(05:44):
with something unexpected and truly original. And can you talk
a little bit about why at the time, boys and
plants might be new or unheard on the internet together. Yeah,
people don't realize. But before boys and Plants existed, they
earn any dedicated pages, and it was quite subversive to
have pictures of guys with plants. At that time, there
(06:06):
were quite a few girls with plants or just just
general people with plants pages. Yeah, when I started Boys
with Plants, it wasn't really around. It was quite hard
to find pictures initially to even post on the page.
Obviously I had the d MS between me and James,
which is one of the places I went to initially,
and I collected a few that way, but yeah, they
(06:26):
just weren't really around, and it was quite hard to find.
And it's quite exciting now to get more than a
hundred submissions every day and the exactly what I asked
for that you know that they're they're really amazing images
and beautifully photographed and following my tips as well. So
it's it's really nice to see how that's changed. So
(06:48):
one of the things we noticed was under frequently asked
questions page. People always ask what type of boys do
you feature? And and your answer is all of them.
I do get asked a lot about why I don't
post any bigger guys or older guys, and my answer
is I get so few submissions and I'm really trying
(07:11):
to encourage more submissions from all different sized people. Like previously,
one of a bigger guy took a picture which I featured,
and it was one of the most popular pictures on
the page. I think it got over fifteen thousand likes.
It was amazing. Unfortunately, I think people look at the
page and they see so much of the muscle guys
and so much of the of the shirts off and
(07:31):
all that sort of stuff, and then they maybe they
feel like the pages not for them, the pages really
for everyone. So one of the things we've noticed is
that so much of the plant Daddy movement seems to
be about bringing plants into spaces to liven things up
or to bring warmth to a rumor area. You know,
we're wondering, how do you think interior design has been
(07:52):
heightened by this edition of adding living pieces to spaces.
I love the way plants soften a room. They stay
soften and warmer space. You know, they break the hard
edges of um of If you think about a bookshelf,
it's square and it's hard on the edges. You place
a plant on it that trickles down the side of
(08:13):
the of the of the bookshelf. It breaks up all
those edges and those spaces, and it connects the connects
the different the different boxes. I guess you could say
of the bookshelf. Um. So I think it's just the
way that it's visually looks glossy and alive and and
um and yeah, just the fact that is living is
(08:37):
a big thing. But also breaking all those those hard
edges of architecture. I think that's that's one thing that
plants do in an interior. You know, I've seen in
this Smell magazine interview that you said a plant represents
optimism and hope for the future, and I wanted to
hear just a little bit more about that. I think
(08:59):
that you're an investing something in a plant. You're buying
this small even large plant, any sized plants, and when
you're buying it, you're expecting it to stay alive. But
you know you have to put the work in the
effortence to keep it alive. And so by putting in
the thought of the time and the love and the
(09:19):
physical things like the water and the soil and the
and the fertilizer. Um, you're you're looking forward to your
looking forward to the future of being with that plants
and having it as part of your life. Um and yeah,
I think that's part of the optimism. I just want
to say thank you for taking the time to chat
with us. It's been really fun to talk. Thank you
(09:39):
for listening to my rambling appreciate. I want to thank
Scott Ken again for sharing his story and insights. You
can follow Boys with Plants on Instagram or visit Boys
with Plants dot com to learn more force invent your
own photos. That's it for to Day's bonus episode, but
(10:01):
check back here again to see more bonus episodes this summer,
and don't forget no matter what season it is or
where you're at in your gardening journey, there's some incredible
resources waiting for you on the Miracle Grow website. Humans
Growing Stuff is a collaboration from I Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show was written and
produced by Molly Sosha and Knee Mongy Chatiguler in partnership
(10:25):
with Ryano Vadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Haley Ericsson, and Garrett Shannon
of Bancher. Thank you so much for listening
Hey there, I'm Manga. They're a co host of Part
Time Genius, one of the founders of Mental Floss, and
this is Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart
Radio and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is
to make this the most human show about plants that
you'll ever listen to, and along the way, we'll share
(00:24):
inspiring stories, tips and tricks to nurture your plant addiction,
and just enough science to make you sound like an expert.
So we are on summer break right now, but the
truth is, my producer Molly and I can't stop our
plant addiction, so we're bringing you some sunny mini episodes
to enjoy before we return with a brand new season.
(00:45):
Throughout this summer, we'll be dropping incredible stories from growers,
fun advice we get from experts, and we'll even be
bringing you along on our field trips as we hunt
all over Brooklyn for a Polka dot plant, sample hot
sauces from a community garden, and try to make friends
with some worms on Governor's Island. It was a tall task.
(01:05):
In this bonus episode, we're sharing our interview with Scott Kane,
founder of the Instagram account Boys with Plants, Scott considers
himself a plant nerd, and started his account after he
and a friend James, exchange a few d ms of
their favorite photos of men with plants on social media.
Boys with Plants now has more than two followers and
has grown into a book, magazine, and calendar. I called
(01:29):
up Scott earlier this year for our episode Plant Daddy's Miracle,
Burrows and the Seeds of Modern Masculinity. We talked about
the importance of house plants and design and how the
plant Daddy movement has created a new sense of community online.
(01:51):
Hey Scott, are you there? Yeah? Hi, how you doing Hi?
It's so nice to be chatting with you. Yeah, that's
the chat to you too. Thanks for so oh. I
know one of the main reasons we wanted to chat
with you is your Boys with Plants account is widely
considered one of the first plant daddy platforms on on
social media. Can you tell us a little bit about
(02:14):
how you decided to start this in two thousand six sure? Sure, yeah,
two thousand and sixteen, So it's been nearly five years.
I can't believe it's been that long, but it's it
gives me a lot of joys. So it sort of
propels me to keep it, to keep working at it.
But I started an Instagram page called Tropical Loco, which
was just documenting my my plants on my balcony really
(02:35):
and and there weren't that many accounts like that around
at the time. Um, and it got a bit of attention.
And I've met some guys and girls all over the
all over the world through that account, and we chatted
and got to know each other a little better. And
I used to chat to my friends James in Singapore.
We used to share images between ourselves of sort of
(02:56):
guys with their plants, particularly that were particularly handsome and
just three D M and and then I sort of
thought this actually might make a good a good Instagram
page on its own. Maybe somebody else might might be
interested in checking this out. So, um, so I started
Boys with Plants. And I've heard that your mom also
(03:16):
has really with plants. My mom does, She's been you know,
my my love of plants really came from mom initially,
so so I was, I was. She got me on
board with the plants, and I got her on board
with the Instagram. So what was your intention with boys
with Plants? When he started that that account really just
(03:38):
to show amazing pictures of high quality images of guys
with their plants. I don't think I really had much
more of a comment when I started it than just
showing something that didn't seem to exist on Instagram at
the time, and I didn't really expect anyone to really
be interested there. But as it went along, and particularly
(03:59):
when it got um it got sort of picked up
on some American newspapers, and the Washington Post and New
York Times picked it up, and Vogue magazine wrote an
article about it that started to get a lot of attention,
which is quite amount, Like I just was quite unexpected.
Um yeah, So it all chugged along from there really,
(04:20):
and yeah, obviously it's this van diagram of interest, but
I had read that it was. It was much more
focused on plants with boys as a bit of a candy.
Initially exactly, the boys are a bonus. I always I
get a lot of pictures where there's a bit of
a plant in the background and some muscle guys standing
in front of the camera holding the camera, and I'm
(04:41):
always saying to them, sorry, the boys, the just the bonus.
It has to be about plants, has to be plant focused.
So what would you say is your definition of a
plant daddy. Ah, good question. I think somebody who just
has a keen interest in in plants beyond just getting
a plan and to look nice in a home, or
(05:01):
you know, maybe they've given a plant and they're like,
this is an opportunity to photograph myself looking good with
a plant. An actual plant daddy is someone who actually
cares for plants, and choosing to quote yourself a plant
daddy is part of it as well. Yeah, so what
is the plant daddy community all about? I think it's
sharing a common interest. It's about reaching out to people.
(05:22):
It's a connection that's just a way of connecting through
growing and and giving advice and through collecting in a way,
you know, it's just an initial common interest that brings
guys together people together. So you say on your website
that when you set out to make the Instagram page,
quote the whole idea of an Instagram page featuring them
(05:44):
with something unexpected and truly original. And can you talk
a little bit about why at the time, boys and
plants might be new or unheard on the internet together. Yeah,
people don't realize. But before boys and Plants existed, they
earn any dedicated pages, and it was quite subversive to
have pictures of guys with plants. At that time, there
(06:06):
were quite a few girls with plants or just just
general people with plants pages. Yeah, when I started Boys
with Plants, it wasn't really around. It was quite hard
to find pictures initially to even post on the page.
Obviously I had the d MS between me and James,
which is one of the places I went to initially,
and I collected a few that way, but yeah, they
(06:26):
just weren't really around, and it was quite hard to find.
And it's quite exciting now to get more than a
hundred submissions every day and the exactly what I asked
for that you know that they're they're really amazing images
and beautifully photographed and following my tips as well. So
it's it's really nice to see how that's changed. So
(06:48):
one of the things we noticed was under frequently asked
questions page. People always ask what type of boys do
you feature? And and your answer is all of them.
I do get asked a lot about why I don't
post any bigger guys or older guys, and my answer
is I get so few submissions and I'm really trying
(07:11):
to encourage more submissions from all different sized people. Like previously,
one of a bigger guy took a picture which I featured,
and it was one of the most popular pictures on
the page. I think it got over fifteen thousand likes.
It was amazing. Unfortunately, I think people look at the
page and they see so much of the muscle guys
and so much of the of the shirts off and
(07:31):
all that sort of stuff, and then they maybe they
feel like the pages not for them, the pages really
for everyone. So one of the things we've noticed is
that so much of the plant Daddy movement seems to
be about bringing plants into spaces to liven things up
or to bring warmth to a rumor area. You know,
we're wondering, how do you think interior design has been
(07:52):
heightened by this edition of adding living pieces to spaces.
I love the way plants soften a room. They stay
soften and warmer space. You know, they break the hard
edges of um of If you think about a bookshelf,
it's square and it's hard on the edges. You place
a plant on it that trickles down the side of
(08:13):
the of the of the bookshelf. It breaks up all
those edges and those spaces, and it connects the connects
the different the different boxes. I guess you could say
of the bookshelf. Um. So I think it's just the
way that it's visually looks glossy and alive and and
um and yeah, just the fact that is living is
(08:37):
a big thing. But also breaking all those those hard
edges of architecture. I think that's that's one thing that
plants do in an interior. You know, I've seen in
this Smell magazine interview that you said a plant represents
optimism and hope for the future, and I wanted to
hear just a little bit more about that. I think
(08:59):
that you're an investing something in a plant. You're buying
this small even large plant, any sized plants, and when
you're buying it, you're expecting it to stay alive. But
you know you have to put the work in the
effortence to keep it alive. And so by putting in
the thought of the time and the love and the
(09:19):
physical things like the water and the soil and the
and the fertilizer. Um, you're you're looking forward to your
looking forward to the future of being with that plants
and having it as part of your life. Um and yeah,
I think that's part of the optimism. I just want
to say thank you for taking the time to chat
with us. It's been really fun to talk. Thank you
(09:39):
for listening to my rambling appreciate. I want to thank
Scott Ken again for sharing his story and insights. You
can follow Boys with Plants on Instagram or visit Boys
with Plants dot com to learn more force invent your
own photos. That's it for to Day's bonus episode, but
(10:01):
check back here again to see more bonus episodes this summer,
and don't forget no matter what season it is or
where you're at in your gardening journey, there's some incredible
resources waiting for you on the Miracle Grow website. Humans
Growing Stuff is a collaboration from I Heart Radio and
your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show was written and
produced by Molly Sosha and Knee Mongy Chatiguler in partnership
(10:25):
with Ryano Vadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Haley Ericsson, and Garrett Shannon
of Bancher. Thank you so much for listening
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