June 4, 2024 • 47 mins
Plants are truly incredible. House plants in particular provide so many benefits. They clean the air, increase humidity, and boost moods. They also make our homes look super grown-up. And some of us can use all the help we can get to elevate our apartment decor. But We have to remember that plants are living things that require TLC, but not too much.
In this episode of Grown-Up Stuff: How to Adult, Molly and Matt are learning about the many benefits of indoor plants and how to keep them alive and thriving. Instagram’s Plant Kween, Christopher Griffin shares their knowledge on all things plant parenthood, from finding the best plant for your home to propagation and everything in between. With Christopher’s help, Molly might just stand a chance at keeping a snake plant alive!
Do you have a topic or question you want to learn about on the podcast? Send us a note or voice memo to GrownUpStuffPod@gmail.com and we may feature your message on an upcoming episode.
Cited Sources:
- “Effects of Indoor Plants on Human Functions: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses” - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- “Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement” - NASA
- “Interaction with Indoor Plants May Reduce Psychological and Physiological Stress by Suppressing Autonomic Nervous System Activity in Young Adults: a Randomized Crossover Study” - Journal of Physiological Anthropology
- “Real Foliage Plants as Visual Stimuli to Improve Concentration and Attention in Elementary Students” - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The other day, I was visiting a friend's house and
I couldn't help but notice how alive and beautiful their
space was. And as I looked around, trying to figure
out how I could mimic some of this feeling and
appeal in my own apartment, I realized something house Plants
are cute. Not only do they liven up a space
and make it feel less sterile and more like a home,
(00:25):
but they bring considerable benefits to our health and wellness too.
In fact, a study published in the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health found that being in rooms
with plants caused the subjects blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate,
and body temperature to low work. But for anyone who
has ever fallen victim to the fickleness of a fiddlely
(00:46):
fig transitioning from plastic plants to the real thing takes
time and attention. They are living, breathing things that require
just as much care as our furry pets, and they
will not be ignored. So how can we set ourselves
up for success as plant parents? Are there starter plants
we should consider before graduating to those that require more
(01:06):
nuanced care, And perhaps most importantly, how can we keep
the pests at a I am looking at you, fungus nats.
Start taking notes, because this.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is grown up stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Hello to all my fellow grown ups and budding plant
parents listening. Welcome to another episode of grown Up Stuff
How to Adult, the podcast dedicated to helping you figure
out all the important adulting life lessons like keeping your
monsterra alive and knowing how much water is too much
water for your staghorn fern. Thank you, as always for
(01:42):
coming back and listening to our podcast. I'm Molly and
I'm joined by my green thumbed partner in podcasting, Matt Stillo.
Today we're gonna be digging. That's right, I said digging.
It's a plant episode, and we're gonna roll with the puns.
We're gonna be digging into the world of plant parenthood,
specifically grow and caring for indoor plants. Now, Mattie, Matt,
(02:04):
I feel like you are very well versed in plant parenthood.
You have a beautiful little green guy there next to
you on your desk, and this was a topic that
you felt very passionate about when we first started planning
out this season. Talk to me a little bit about
your relationship with plants.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I think of plant parenthood is the mark of this
person has their shit together.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
They are not.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Only taking care of everything in their life, but they
are taking care of the plants and their life as
well and exceeding because you're like fees are.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Lush and beautiful. I don't have this love to give
to me. How do you give it to plants?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I'm now happy to say that I am a
person who has many plants their home and they are
all thriving.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
But it was a journey.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I killed a cactus, which is like a big fucking
to yourself because cactuses are basically impossible to kill. But
then my wife Elena is really into plants because she
grew up like her parents will have a lot of
property and they grow like raspberries and strawberries and cucumbers
and tomatoes and stuff. So it's been like a part
of her life for a long time and she really
loved caring for things like me and also plants.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
She's the best. Shout out to Alanta, by the way,
she's the best.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Shout out to her. She brought many plants into our
lives over time. I really learned a lot about, like,
you know, what plants can teach you, which is that
like things take time and to nurture and gross something,
and they give you something back. They purify our air,
they give us like fresher oxygen to breathe in our house,
and they just bring a lot of like light and
life and joy into the house. And they also make
it really look nice.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And you know, people come over and they're like, damn plants.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So say something that I enjoyed learning a lot about
from Alena and just enjoying day to day. So it's
been a cool thing. But I mean, what's your journey been.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like I had a lot of plants. I had a
roommate who was really well versed in plants, and so
I was like, yeah, I'm going to get plants. She
went to like the plant store and or the nursery,
I guess is more what you call it than the
plant store. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to
do this. A couple of snake plants. This is gonna
be great. And in a matter of days, our entire
(04:04):
apartment was like infested with fungus gnats and no matter
what I did, I could not get rid of them.
So ultimately I like realized that they were like all
coming out of the like the dirt and the plants. Ultimately,
I just decided to kind of let them go. I'm
not gonna lie. I have a little baggage from that experience,
(04:24):
but I'm hoping our guest today will also give us
some guidance.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, I'm sure our guests will be able to help
you through that and maybe even help you through some
of your focus NAT trauma, because it's real, it is. Today,
we are joined by Instagram's very own Plant Queen, Christopher Griffin.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Christopher is a plant fluencer with nearly five hundred and
twenty thousand followers on Instagram, where they share insights on plants, nature,
growing practices, self care, fashion, and so much more.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
They are also the author of the book You Grow Girl,
Plant Queen's lush guide Growing your Garden Today.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
The Plant Queen cares for more than two hundred thriving
plants in their Brooklyn apartment.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Christopher, Welcome to the show. We are just so thrilled
to have you on. We've been waiting for this all week.
You were finally here. We're excited to get into it.
And I just want to say spoiler early for everyone
out there, there are fake plants in the world, which
leads me to the first question. Surprise all about aesthetics
or do real plants provide any benefits the fake plants
do not.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Oh, that is such a good question, Matt.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
There's definitely more benefit to having a real, live, living, breathing,
photo synthathizing plant in your spathe. But I encourage folks,
if fake plant is going to inch you further into
bringing real plant into your home, start where you need to.
(05:53):
But all plants breathe oxygen and moisture into the air. Now,
there's been studies by NASA and other scientists that label
plants as air purifiers. Now, when it comes to how
many plants you need to have in your space in
order to like truly benefit from the air purification, I
(06:16):
don't think we're there yet. But by the nature of
how they grow and how they survive and how they
feed themselves, they do clean our air. And that's why
it's important that we protect as much of the world
as far as as possible, because they are far as
our air filtration systems that we need to live, breathe
(06:36):
and survive.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
On this planet.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
So plants are many trees, right, and so they do
that in our spaces. I find that after I water
my plant that the humidity in my space goes up tremendously.
So we love to skin look and supple honey, so
you know little.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Nineteen eighties, NASA conducted a study examining the usage of
houseplants as a way to reduce indoor air pollutants. The
results confirmed that low light plants did remove trace organic
pollutants from the air, including toxic chemicals like benzene. But
the health benefits don't stop there.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
But then also, I think there are a lot of
psychological effects, right, and I think it impacts different folks differently.
So for me, my plants are a constant reminder of
the various different ways that I can care for myself. So,
oh my god, my plant NEAs water girl. Did I
drink water today? I probably should drink some water today. Ooh,
I got to make sure this plant has enough sunlight.
Did I let the sunshine touch my body today? Did
(07:39):
I get outside? Did I do a little occasional frolic? Right?
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Plants need more room to grow and spread their roots.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Am I giving myself the much needed room to continue
to grow in the wave that I want to? And
then plants have yellowing leaves, and we all have some
yellowing leaves in our lives that we all need to
occasionally prune. Right, So, if you allow yourself the opportunity
to fit with something so simple yet so complex, you
can see all the beauty of it all and allow
(08:09):
yourself to really see that we're all basically health plants
with complex emotion.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I love that we're all just living little house plants,
just struggling to thrive. It's true. While we all can
relate to the struggle of plants at times, plants are
also giving us a lot when it comes to fortifying
our mental health. Being around plants can reduce your stress levels.
(08:35):
The Journal of Psychological Anthropology published a study where test
subjects were split into two groups. The first group participated
in transplanting indoor plants, while the second group performed tasks
on a computer. The plant group reported feeling more comfortable
and soothed after working with the plants compared to the
computer group. And another study involving elementary school students published
(08:55):
in the International Journal for Environmental Research and Public Health
found that the students who were in classrooms with plants
had an easier time concentrating on their lessons. So I
am guilty of I have a fake plant in my apartment.
I'm embarrassed to say in front of you. But why
is it so freaking easy to kill plants? Though?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Ooh, there's a lot of things right.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
One, you think about the lifestyle of folks, right, So
how much attention can you give a plant? A lot
of folks look at a plant and sometimes feed out
of the piece of decoration and they're like, Okay, I'm
just going to put this in the corner, leave it there.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Maybe water it every day. That's really bad.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
You should water your plant every day, or they're busy
queen and they forget to water it. Right. So, I
think it's important that when you decide to bring plants
into your life that you're intentional about that process. So, like,
I would hope that folks wouldn't just go buy a
pet and not do to research on how to care
for the pet, the attention that the pet needs. Like
(09:57):
plants are pets, you need to feed them, we need
to water them. There's a lot of things that we
need to do in order to care for these living,
breathing creature. It's like a dating process. You have to
like match the plant to what you're able to provide
that plant. And when you don't do that, that's when
the plant goes to that little botanical garden in the sky.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Right, they leave us and fly up.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So let's do a little matchmaking, right now, Christopher, I
need something that's going to be hard to kill because
I also travel a fair amount, okay, and I'm forgetful
and I get a lot of light in my apartment. Okay,
what's a good starter plant?
Speaker 4 (10:32):
I'm going to say the snake plant.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
So the snake plant is a very very good one,
actually rated as one of the top air purifiers by NASA.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Really yeah yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
And the reason that the snake plant is so easy
to care for is that they are used to growing
in very arid climates, and they're marketed as low light plants.
I struggle with that low light labeling. I say, like
low light flexible, okay, where it's like, you know, they
(11:04):
can tolerate low light, but all plants typically enjoy a
good amount of light. Right, And if you think about it,
we are bringing plants into caves with windows, like that's
what our homes are, right. These are creatures that are
used to living outside, and the shadiest spot outside is
going to have more light than a shady spot inside. Right,
(11:28):
But the snake plant can tolerate a few hours of
full sun and you don't have to water them as often.
So typically the plant that I encourage folk to purchase
when they're trying it out are plants that are used
to more arid climate and they're good at storing water
in their anatomy so that they don't have to rely
(11:50):
on rainfall to survive. So the snake plant should definitely
be one that you should try out.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
It's like one of my favorites.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
I think it's always important to allow yourself to lean
on the side of curiosity. So what I try to
do is to look up and see, Okay, what is
the natural habitat of this plant. Oh, they'll give you
a better idea, like what part of the world and
in that environment where do they tend to grow, so
that you can try to mimic that habitat in your home.
(12:19):
If a plant is growing in a tree and used
to growing in a tree, they're probably getting more sunlight
than a plant that's growing in the rainforests in the shade.
So like fern, for instant ferns are used to growing
closer to the forest floor. So if you put a
fern in bright, hard sunlight, you're like, girl, like, this
(12:40):
is too much sun I'm getting sunburn. And sunburn is
real for plants.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And plants don't wear sps.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
But then secondly, if you look at the shades of
green of particular plants, that also tells you a little
bit about their ability to withstand a certain amount of sunlight.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Oh interesting, So I have this.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Is like two examples right here. I'm just gonna bring
y'all over here. So this is a Fightus elastica. This
is also known as a rubber tree, and the leaves
are a little bit darker, so that means that she
is really good at soaking up sunshine because she has
a lot of chlorophyll in her leave.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
And then you have this hybrid situation.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
This is a smaller Ficus elastica, and this is a
good example. I probably need to move her back a
little bit, but there's less chlorophyll in her leaf, so
that means that she can burn easily.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
M h.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
So it's like those small little things that you have
to think about.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That's so interesting, and sometimes You'll see plants that have
like a little bit browning at the end, and I
always just assume that maybe that was like poor water,
but like, that could also be sunburn, right, it.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Could be a number of things, Okay, And that's another
thing that I love.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
About plants is that they're going to be like, you.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Got to figure me out, baby, Like I'm not going
to give you the answer, honey.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Oh so it's like the last three guys I dated. Great, cool, No,
you're gonna get the road.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
But yeah, it could be a lack of humidity.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
It could be too much sunlight so when the leaves
are younger they are more vulnerable to sunburn. Or maybe
I need to look at the root system and give
her less water or more water. Right, So there's a
lot of different things that could cause that. But again,
we should never be looking at plants in nurseries and
(14:35):
be like, oh, my plant doesn't look like that. I'm
a bad plant parent. That's unrealistic and that's just setting
yourself up for failure. Like a nursery is built to
make these perfect looking plants so that you want to
buy them.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Our homes are not those places.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
And if you go out in the wild plants, trees,
they all have imperfections like perfection, there's no flush thing, right,
and we should never apply that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Well, sometimes it's just going through the season that right,
like right now, I've got a plants over here that
have some yellow leaves are falling out. But it was
just it was very cold here in New York up
until recently, and so now it's starting to get into
its blooming phase right in the summer. Yeah, and it's okay,
it's nothing to freak out about this. Plants do this
in nature.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, how can we avoid, unknowingly when we're getting a
new plant bringing some of those things in and potentially
unintentionally infecting the other plant babies that we have at
home already? Like, what can we look for or perhaps
you to avoid these scenarios.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
Yeah, I have a process and I would take you
all through it. So I always could. You think there's
like a group of the theme plant and they're diffectioned out,
and so I always look at the one that catches
my eye. I'm like, oh, this one is growing in
a different way, or this is shaped differently, or this
leaf looks unique or something like that, And that's how
I identify because people could be overwhelmed and they're like
(16:00):
looking for plants. So I'm like, just go for the
one that catches your eye. And then I inspect the plant.
So it's important to look under the leaves. I'll look
in the stem, and you're basically just looking for like
any kind of insects millie bugs or white thrips or
like these small little slender insects. I've even gotten into.
(16:21):
For larger plant, I bring gloves and I check the
soil because I've heard horror stories of people repotting a
large plant and like there's a large sinipy, or there
could be a nest of mice.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Mice, yes, mice.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Multiple yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
So and not to scare anybody, I don't want to
scare anyone, but.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Important to take precautions, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Take precaution.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
But these little critters need places to live too, So
like they're like, oh this cute.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah, So I tap the soil.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
I'm looking see if there's any holes or anything, just
to make sure I'm not bringing any unwanted guests into
my home. Start at the top with different leaves. Take
your time, Like shopping for a plant should be a
therapeutic process. You shouldn't be rushing yourself to bring anything
into your home right that the plant generally look healthy.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
And then even then you buy the plant.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I encourage folks to purchase a new soil as well
as a planter that is at least two inches larger
than the nursery pot. The nursery pots are mental plastic
pots that they typically come in are transportation pots. They're
not meant to be pots that your plant fits them forever.
Those are supposed to be temporary, So always buy a planter.
(17:44):
You don't want to go too large because that's going
to lead.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
To root rock.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
But you want to make sure that you place the
plant in a pot where the roots are going to
have enough room to grow, but you're not going to
drown the roots and soil and moisture and water because
as much as they need water, they also need air
and oxygen as well. Then when you bring the plant home,
you really want to We're all very familiar with quarantining
(18:11):
at this point.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So I'm too familiar personally.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Yeah, quarantine the plant.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
I always try to leave a section in my apartment
where I'm like, Okay, there's sun light coming in here,
but this is the quarantine section, like this is a
temporary station that I'm going to put the plant, and
I would say anywhere between one to two weeks, and
just occasionally check in on the plant because some past
our microscopic as eggs and stuff like that, so you
won't be able to see them with the plane, you know, eye,
(18:39):
And then I just kind of check on the plants
if she's doing well, and then if she continues to grow,
and I'm like, okay, I'm going to repotch you after
about a week or two because you don't want to
put too much shock on the plant. They're always like, girl,
I'm moving into a new place, like this is shocking.
Sunlight is different, the humidity is different to temperature. Girl,
what is this honey? So you don't want to shock
the roots. So once you repot and you're like, okay,
(19:03):
you're good, and then you can you introduce your new
green girl to the rest of the family.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
What else should people know during that kind of adjustment
period and how long Tybili does it take a plant
to adjust to a new space.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
When you bring a plant into a new space again,
they're going to go through some shock.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
We all know that moving is traumatic.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Okay, one of the most stressful things that you can
do as a human.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Right, one of the most dreadful things.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I think it's like in the top five traumatic human experiences.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
That's also the case for plants, right, So imagine the
journey of a plant. It's a sea, it's being planted
in the ground or some nursery. It grows, they uproot
it and they put it in a planter, and now
it's growing in this planter. Great, all right, Now it's
time to ship it to the plant store. Now the
(19:54):
plant door is putting it on its shelf. And then
I'm like, here, I come, let me take the plant now.
And now I'm taking it back to my little apartment.
That's a lot of moving and so unfortunately, some plants
can't handle that, and so they will put on their
best space and then when you get them home, they're like, girl, like.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
This is the last draw. I can't do it, honey,
and then go on.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
That doesn't happen often, but like sometimes when I bring
a plant home and I'm like, girl, you were going
in a few days like what happened?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
That usually would go through my head.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
I'm like, oh wow, this plant went through a lot
of transitions, and it probably looked like this is the
last draw girl.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Yeah, And to your point, know your plan, because like
you know, we brought home a Chinese palm fan and
we were like, oh, maybe it'll be good on the balcony,
maybe we'll go downstairs. We kind of moved it around
a little bit, and we were like, why is it
no matter what we do, it's suffering. And we found
out those plants in particular hate being moved or being repotted,
And so as soon as we just were like, you
know what, we'll just give her the space. This is
Herslet we'll leave her alone for like a month, and
(20:55):
then that's when she really was able to like come
to life and be the plant that she was born
to be.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And then if you think about like the leaves that
have grown in those nurseries, right when you bring that
plant into your space, it's okay if those older leaves
are going to fall off, and sometimes those are the
most beautiful leaves, right, and you're like, this is why
I bought the plant, because these leaves are so beautiful
and so unique and so large, Oh my goodness. And
(21:23):
people get upset when that's the first thing to go.
But if you think about it, right, like, there have
been phases in our lives when there was something about us,
an aspect of us that we had to really utilize
and strengthen in a certain environment, and then we moved
into the next phase of our lives. You know, maybe
it's like, Okay, now I need to shet that off
(21:45):
and grow something new. So always tell folks like, hey, yes,
that plant is beautiful right now, and you're appreciating it
for its beauty, but it's probably going to grow differently
in your space and you need to appreciate that beauty,
that growth. But yeah, and Matt, as you said, like
moving the plant around is one of the worst things
that you can do. Do not be a helicopter plant parent.
(22:06):
Leave that girl alone, honey, leave alone.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Okay, give her a second hercond exactly. I mean what
you just said about appreciating the new growth and giving
that time to grow into their new selves is so
beautiful and such a lovely lesson to apply to all
aspects of life and including our plants. Ah. Yes, leaving
(22:29):
plants alone and giving them a second to grow. And
it just is also a lot like the last three
men I dated. One of the most basic ways though,
that we can take care of plants is monitoring the
moisture level of the soil and making sure we're not
under or overwatering, because, as our queen alluded to earlier,
you don't want to end up with root rot. For
those of you unfamiliar with that term, I'm going to
(22:51):
do my best to explain it, but ultimately, it's a
fungal disease that causes your root system to decay, and
when you overwater your plants, this creates a prime environment
for root rot to take hold and thrive. The trickiest
bit of it is because it all starts to take
place underneath the surface of your soil, it can be
hard to detect at first, which is why it is
(23:12):
so important to understand the watering needs of your plant
and best drainage practices to keep it all at bay.
I want to talk about the importance of water and
perhaps more importantly drainage and when we're potting plants, how
to make sure we avoid things like root rot and
the best watering path forward for some of our plants.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, one of the number one reasons that plant leave
us for the little botanical gardening.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
This guy is overwatering.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I encourage folks to test the soil moisture before they
water any plant, right, So typically folks are like, oh,
that's dry, I need to water the plant. Which you
really need to do is look at the water near
the roots, right, and the soil at the time is
most likely going to dry out quicker than the soil
(24:03):
at the bottom.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
That makes sense.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Yeah, do you recommend like water meters for that to
see like how moist the soil is at the roots.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
If you have a little tool, this is a soil.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Probe, Oh what does that do?
Speaker 5 (24:16):
So if you look at this part of it, there's
some ridges, right, you stick it in the soil and
then you pull it out, and then there's the soil
in these little sections right.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
To describe for the audience, it looks like kind of
like a bunch of little openings like for a flute,
all down in a line.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Yeah, And so what you do is that I would
then take that soy be like, Okay, the soil at
the bottom is really dry.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
The plant needs water.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So do you not recommend using the water meters? Then?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
You know, I think technology is amazing. It's allowing us
to have this conversation right now. For me, the least
amount of technology I can use to take care of
my plant in the moment the better, because a lot
of my life is surrounded by technology and I really
try to have my plant not be that. But yeah,
(25:11):
if folks so like I want to know exactly what
the moisture is in my toil, then you through the
water meter.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, and for the audience, really like I'm a moistmeter.
It looks very similar as like a probe that you
stick into the soil and I'll kind of tell you
like between wet, dry, and moist, which would be like
kind of a medium setting where your plant's soil is at.
But I've also heard sometimes they can't be that accurate,
so I just that's why I wanted to ask.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
That's been my experience, so I tend to stay away
from them, and I kind of just feel the soil
with my hand. And that's just living in a city,
Like it's rare that I can let my feet touch
the grass or let my hand touch the soil. So
I'm going to touch the soil of my plant because
I don't have access to that readily.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
That's your version of grounding.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, yeah, very much, th All Pinnes.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Intended grounding, which is sometimes also refer to was earthing,
is a practice of having direct contact between your skin
and the earth, and it's a way to connect your
body to the electric energy of the earth. So anytime
you run in the grass and bare feet or lay
down on a lawn in a park, you are earthing
(26:15):
or grounding. And over the years the practice has grown
in its popularity and even gained a bit of support
from science. Aside from the proposed mental health benefits, some studies,
like the one published in the Journal of Inflammation Research,
found strong evidence suggesting that the practice can also reduce
inflammation and prompt healing in the body.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
And to get on a little bit more of drainage.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So the way that my wife does it, and I'm
curious to hear out what you think about this, she'll
get some soil, but you'll also get more like rocky pebbles,
and the rocky pebbles go at the bottom basically to
I guess, allow the water to escape away from the soil,
so that the water goes through the soil and makes
the soil moist, but it doesn't like stay trapped in
the soil. Is that a proper way to drain it?
And if not, what are some other ways you might
(27:02):
go about draining.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I think that's one way.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
I try my best to purchase planters that have drainage holes.
And again, depending on where you live in the world,
your water quality may be different. Some water may have
more minerals compared to others that will build up and
(27:27):
deteriorate your plant's health. And so I use terracotta. It's
a preventative way for me to care for my plant
because I'm an over waterer and so like, that's how
I kill most of my plants. Child, I'm just like,
I'm going to give you love, too much love, and
he has more water. It's like, girl, I'm drowning what
you're doing. So terracotta breathe and it's preventative. But if
(27:52):
you look at this pot here, there's this white residue
in the terracotta pot that's leftover residue from the water
that I use. So imagine that just building up over
and over time at the bottom of a pot, and
those minerals can be harmful for the plant. So I
find it best if the water just goes through the
foil and leaves the pot completely.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
But again that's my process.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Right. If you have plants that are thriving in the
way that you're caring for them, more power to you
keep doing what you're doing. But for me, drainage holds
are really important. It's basically a little hole at the
bottom of the pot. It let the water run out
and you can choose to reuse that water. But drainage
is just really really important. It's just helpful for the
(28:38):
longevity of the plant life.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
What if we were to filter our water and give
it to our plants, is that excessive Will that help
eliminate getting some of these things out of the water
system for them?
Speaker 4 (28:51):
That is a way.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
So there are certain plants that enjoy distilled water because
depending on where you live, the acidity of the water
could actually burn their route. There's a few plants that
are really sensitive to that, So it depends on the plant. Now,
on the flip side, there are some minerals that are
nutritious for our plants as well. It's just that any
(29:13):
good thing in access is not a good thing. And
for me, a person with over two hundred plants in
their home. The idea of brit and filtering all the water.
It would take weeks for me to water my plant.
I would not be here right now. I would have
been like, yo, I'm real water my plants. I can't
join you off of the podcast. So two hundred, yeah,
(29:37):
over two hundred. So yeah, if that's something folks want
to try, cool, I don't think you need to go
that far. I would just buy a planter with a
drainage hole.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
That's a good point though about acidity and just like
you know, if your plants seem to be reacting negatively
to water, that that might be something to look out for.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
Yeah, and I think it also can teach you a
little bit about the water quality in your area, right. Yeah,
there's a lot of things that we do for our
plant that in turn is actually just good for our bodies. Right. Know,
in the direction of your windows and how this sun
move through your faith is good for your body and
your sleeping pattern. Knowing the quality of the water in
your area is also good for your own body. And
(30:16):
think that we don't necessarily think about in our day
to day. But again, our plants have been around for
much longer than we have. It can teach us a
lot of life lessons that we need to start paying
attention to.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So true. Coming up on grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Propagation is when you clip a piece from a mother
plant in a way that allows that clipping to grow
into another plant.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
We'll be right back after a quick break, and we're
back with more grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
We talked a little bit about soil, but kind will
any old soil do?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
And how do you know when it's time to maybe
change the soil?
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (31:03):
So fun fact, the potting soil that we use for
our plant is not made of the top soil that
we experience in nature or dirt.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Then what is it.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
It's basically a concoction of a bunch of different things.
So it's manufactured and created for plants that are going
to be enclosed containers. You never want to take soil
from outside and plant them in that. You don't want
to do that. One of the great things about the
century is that you can go to a plant store
and they have all types of soil labeled at your fingertips,
(31:36):
So based on the plant that you have, identify the
type of soil for that particular plant. I'm an over waterer,
so I tend to add perlite, which is those white
little rocks. Also use fur bark, which is the bark
from fir trees. You can find that any pet store.
Is typically what folks use for reptile containers or tanks.
(31:58):
So I put that in my soil your recipe because
it adds like a nice woody scent when I water,
and it creates like air pockets in the soil, which
helps again preventative over water situation here. And you want
to try to remove as much of the old soil
as possible when you are repotting a plant, because you
(32:21):
don't know how much nutrition is in that soil. So
typically I would doorball soil have a certain level of
nutrients already in it, and you don't know how long
that planet has been sitting in that soil. You want
to kind of just strip I've even rinse off the
soil sometimes, just like really getting that old soil off
the roots and giving it a fresh new start, which
(32:41):
we all deserve in life.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
When do you know it's time to repot?
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
When repotting, there's two things. There's repotting in terms of
a soil refresh which means you can keep the containers
in but just change the soil, or you can change
the container. And Okay, if the plant is outgrowing, if
the soil is moldy, if it's growing mushrooms, you probably
(33:09):
want to change to soil. If there's a lot of
fungus gnats, you want to probably change the soil. Like obviously,
you want to wait at least a year, like a
year or more to reap hot You never want to
do within the year. Try to do it around growing season,
so that's spring, summer wherever you're living in the world.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, I had a bad fungal mat situation, and like,
what are some other ways we can curb this issue
and eliminate pests in our house plants.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Yeah, so I think it depends on the past. But
some general things that folks can do. It's just checking
on their plants occasionally. So like when you're watering your plant,
you should be checking the leaves out. I wipe the
leaves down of my plant. Just using water is great,
But kneem oil is like a wonderful natural pathticide in secticide,
(33:59):
and I tend to like putnam oil right in water soaked,
drag in it and then I just go through and
wipe the dust and potential paths off the plant. So
check it on your plant. Often, wipe down the leaves.
For fungal net, they do particularly well in moist soil.
So if you are good at letting your plant foil
(34:20):
dry out right to the point before they need water,
that is one of the best things that you can do.
Sometimes I'll mix in there's these mosquito pellets that you.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
Can order online.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
They're really good when it comes to fungal net and
some other paths and basically pets that lay eggs in
the soil. Literally just sprinkle a couple of those when
you're mixing your potting soil and you're replanting your plant.
Speaker 4 (34:47):
That's one of the best ways.
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Sometimes I use a mixture of cayenne pepper and brown cinnamon.
I'll mix that into the soil. They hate that too.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Oil they hate.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
If you want to use like alcohol and a little
bit of soap, like mike that in water and spray
that and like wipe down your leave that's another way.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Okay, Yeah, it's a lot of different way that you
can do that.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Pests are the worst. I am still plant shy because
of my experience with a full blown fungal net infestation. Pruning, however,
is another important plant care practice that cannot only keep
the pests away, but also improve the overall health of
a plant.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
We just wanted to talk about what pruning is and
why you might want to prune your plants.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
Yeah, so pruning it basically when you are removing any
dying or yellowing leaves from your green girl. And so
there's like some evolutionary trait where paths are drawn to
the color yellow because that means that the leaf is
dying and its defenses are down, So that means that
(36:04):
they can most likely suck out the life from that
particular leaf more easily than a healthy leaf. So you're
snipping that before they have the chance to grow and it
spread to the other parts of the plant. It also
allows the plant to focus is its energy on new growth.
So instead of focusing on a leaf that is on
its way out, you snip it. Now it's redirecting all
(36:26):
that energy and all that sugar that is creating to
the part of the plant that's growing. So pruning is
really really important. People also prune plant to shape plants.
They're cutting and reconfiguring its growth to focus on particular parts,
and then pruning could also be an opportunity for propagation.
(36:48):
So propagation is basically when you clip a piece from
a mother plant and you clip it in a way
that allows that clipping to grow into another plant. Depending
on the anatomy of a plant, propagation methods could vary.
So you could do stem cutting, you could do leaf cutting,
(37:09):
you could do soil layering. That's basically when if you
have a buyin any plant, you'll see little nose on
the vine and typically those noes will develop into roots
if they have the opportunity. And so I know folks
who will take that vine, put it in the soil
that the planet is already and so redirect it and
then the roofs will begin to grow and then they
(37:30):
just kind of dig that out. They snip it and
now we have reroofs where you can like plant it
in another pot.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
It's one of the coolest things that we've done in
our house is that we've got a couple of favorite
plants and we name our plants. So this is this
is Maurice, and we have propagated Maurice several times. Like
Maurice has went, has gone through many many lives, was
not doing so well at one point and got a
little too big for his pot, and so we kind
of broke him up and split him out among three
different pots in the Yeah. No, We've got a couple
(37:56):
of little little Maurice's around the house. So it can
be really really fun. You don't have to buy necessarily
a ton of new plants. You can use what you
have to continue growing your indoor garden.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yeah, well you can give them.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
But then also if you ever find that you have
a plant that is beginning to like leave you, and
you're like, oh, damn it, like I really want this
plant to like survive, but you realize that, you know,
maybe the foundational structure of the plants, like girl, the
roots are not going to grow. Sometimes I'll nip a
part of that plant and I'm like, well, I still have.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
You, and I'm going to grow this new little part.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Of you elsewhere that legacy lives on.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Yeah, and now with the whole new plant, but you
know that legacy, the original plant is still with me.
So yeah, pruiting is is wonderful.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Yeah, I love that you mentioned sometimes there's nothing you
can do and it's time for them to join that
potanical garden in the sky. How do we know that
the plant is at that stage and there's nothing left
to do for them besides potentially propag some of it.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
Yeah, I mean if the plant is just barked to
a crisp and you come home from a vacation and
it's just shriveled and dried and there's no green part
of the plant, that it's like, girl, you know what,
Just compost that queen, give her back to the earth. Honey.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Oh yeah, So is composting the best way to dispose
of plants once there?
Speaker 5 (39:23):
If it's not infested. You never want to compost an
invested plant. But if it went to the little botanical
garden because of neglect, then you probably can compost that plant.
But yeah, I think it depends on the person, right, Like,
I've had plants where I'm just like, girl, you are
extremely infested.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
I've tried, and you think keep coming back.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
I'm sorry I can't anymore, honestly, Like for folks who
are listening, I do not have.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
A degree in botany or horticulture.
Speaker 5 (39:51):
I have a backtor's degree in psychology and a master's
degree in higher education. And a lot of what I've
learned fan one through my grandmother, who at a very
early age took me under her wing and introduced me
to her garden, and you know, really instilled in me
that we need to be very respectful and empathetic and
(40:14):
appreciative of nature, because literally, nature gives us everything that
we need in order to live and survive and thrive,
and it does it selflessly. It doesn't ask for anything
in return. So we need to be very respectful. And
so my grandmother was a very big foundation in like
this plant journey, But a lot of what I've learned
has been through trial and error. Me just like stepping
(40:37):
into the world of plant and being like, all right,
I'm gonna lead with a curious mind. Let me take
note of any mistakes or quote unquote failures.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
And just learn from them.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
I feel like we learn more from our failures than
we do our successes.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
You can just look it up online and see what
to do.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
But I mean, why not give yourself the opportunity to,
you know, teach yourself something, or let nature teach you something.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I think that that was so beautifully put Christopher. Truly, like,
I think that we learn best when we're listening to others,
and so if you're looking out for the plant, if
you're considering the plant, then that plant can really teach
you everything that you need to know about taking care
of it. And I think it's a great way to
learn about nature and to learn about ourselves taking care
of something else.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
So that was beautifully put. And thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 5 (41:24):
Ah, thank you. I could keep talking with you all
for average if it's so fine.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
I'm so glad. We really enjoyed this.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
And we feel it likewise, it's like talking with someone
who cares so much about what they do is just like,
is there anything more invigorating in life? Like that is
a beautiful thing. So no, this has been so wonderful. Seriously,
thank you.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I appreciate that. No, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yeah, And honestly, your background in psychology and higher education
is so evident because the way you talk about plants
is also so indicative of, like you said, the way
that we should treat ourselves and the way that we
should approach life in general. So yeah, I just want
to thank you so much for being here with us
and for sharing all of your insights, and this has
(42:04):
been so special and magical and wonderful.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Matt Moley, this has been absolutely amazing, and thank y'all
for letting me rant about my green girls and caring
for you know, these little potted pieces of nature in
my space. And I hope for everybody listening that you
allow yourself to again lean into curiosity, give yourself grace
(42:27):
when you're bringing plants into your home because there are
wild creatures that we are bringing into our home, and
have fun with it, like bringing plant bringing nature into
your home should be a playful, fun process where you
discover a bunch of new things about yourself, where you're living,
potentially other people, especially the plants, to bring into your space.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
So I hope folks to have fun with the process.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
I think that's like a great way to also approach
Life's just go through it with curiosity and playfulness and
you can't lose that way, right Hello?
Speaker 4 (43:00):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Yeah, thank you so much Christopher.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
You we feel like I've learned just as much about
life as I have about plants.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Oh, thank you, Christopher. You are an absolute dream and
forever our plant queen. If you want to hear more
from Christopher, don't forget to follow them on Instagram at
Plant Queen that's spelled kwee n and check out their
book You Grow Girl, Plant Queen's Guide to Growing Your Garden.
(43:29):
I'm really inspired and reminded about the ways that nature
can take care of us as we care for it.
Here's what else I'm taking with me from this conversation.
Real plants provide numerous benefits, including air purification and increased humidity,
plus mental health benefits. Plants can tell us a lot
about what we need and remind us to take care
(43:49):
of ourselves. Choose plants that are suitable for your space
in terms of light and water requirements and temperature. Snake
plants or other plants meant for more air climates tend
to be more resilient and don't require as much watering.
Proper drainage is essential to prevent root rot and maintain
plant health. Pests can not only be annoying, they can
(44:12):
ruin the health of your plants. Christopher recommends non chemical
remedies like cayenne pepper or ground cinnamon in the soil.
Peppermint oil is also a great option, and don't forget
to check new plants carefully before you bring them back
from leaf to soil. Just to make sure you're not
bringing in any new pests or diseases that could impact
the health of your other plants at home. Also, you
(44:35):
may want to consider quarantining those new plants for a
few weeks before putting them near the others. Pruning helps
redirect a plant's energy and can promote new growth. Propagation
allows you to create new plants from existing ones. If
a plant is beyond saving and it's not infested, consider
composting it as it transcends to that beautiful botanical garden
(44:57):
in the sky. And finally, approach plant care with curiosity
and playfulness and learn from your experiences. Mattie stills, plants
are wild creatures and I'm going to treat them as
such moving forward. What was your favorite part of this episode?
Speaker 3 (45:12):
My favorite part was what Christopher was touching on at
the end, which is everything is so fast paced nowadays,
and there's so many tiny little things to keep track
of that can just stress us out. And plants can
absolutely do the opposite that they can force you to
slow down a little bit, to spend some time with nature,
to connect with nature, and to appreciate the things that
nature can give us. And I hope that whoever decides
(45:33):
to take it on can just take a little bit
of that piece with them and enjoy it and let
it be a trial and error. You know, you don't
have to be perfect. You can kill a plant or two.
We've all been there. As long as you're learning along
the way and having fun, I think that's the most
important thing.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
But what about you?
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Yeah, a lot of practical advice in this one, great conversation,
lots to take home and practice. But Matt, what other
great conversations and guests are on the horizon for us?
Speaker 3 (45:55):
Many, many many Next episode, we're digging into one of
my favorite topics, personal finance. And while that seems very broad,
we're going to just focus on financial awareness, you know,
tracking expenses and the big bee we've learned about in
the first few seasons of this show, budgeting. And we'll
be joined by two yeah, incredibly special guests, Austin Hankowitz
from the Rate of Return newsletter and the Rich Habits
(46:16):
podcast and Jennise Torres from the podcast Yo Kiero Dinero
and the author of the new book Financially Lit, The
Modern Latina's Guide to level up your Dinero and become
financially PoTA Rosa, Matt.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
This may be your favorite topic to learn about, but
it personally gives me hives, and I'm hoping that our
friends Bustin Jine's will help me get over that and
set me on the path of being a grown up
about my finances.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Well, we're going to get you there, one high yield
savings account at a time, but we'll find out more
in two weeks on the next episode of Grown Up
Stuff How to Adult. And if you are enjoying the show,
don't forget to follow or subscribe wherever you were listening
so you don't miss an episode. We also want to
hear from you, so go ahead and leave us a
rating and review on your podcast player of choice while you're.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
At it, or send us an email tell us what
kind of adulting stuff you're trying to figure out and
want us to cover on the show. You can send
us an email or voice note to Grownupstuffpod at gmail
dot com. That's Grownupstuff Pod at gmail dot com. You
might hear us thanking you on an upcoming episode, and
remember you might not be graded in life.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
But it never hurts to do your homework. This is
a production from Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. Our executive producers
are Mallisosha.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
And Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt Stillo.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
And written by Malisoshia. This episode was edited by Sierra
Spreen and special thanks to our teammates at Ruby Studio,
including Ethan Fixel, ragis Wan Krasnov, Amber Smith, Deborah Garrett,
and Andy Kelly
The other day, I was visiting a friend's house and
I couldn't help but notice how alive and beautiful their
space was. And as I looked around, trying to figure
out how I could mimic some of this feeling and
appeal in my own apartment, I realized something house Plants
are cute. Not only do they liven up a space
and make it feel less sterile and more like a home,
(00:25):
but they bring considerable benefits to our health and wellness too.
In fact, a study published in the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health found that being in rooms
with plants caused the subjects blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate,
and body temperature to low work. But for anyone who
has ever fallen victim to the fickleness of a fiddlely
(00:46):
fig transitioning from plastic plants to the real thing takes
time and attention. They are living, breathing things that require
just as much care as our furry pets, and they
will not be ignored. So how can we set ourselves
up for success as plant parents? Are there starter plants
we should consider before graduating to those that require more
(01:06):
nuanced care, And perhaps most importantly, how can we keep
the pests at a I am looking at you, fungus nats.
Start taking notes, because this.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is grown up stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Hello to all my fellow grown ups and budding plant
parents listening. Welcome to another episode of grown Up Stuff
How to Adult, the podcast dedicated to helping you figure
out all the important adulting life lessons like keeping your
monsterra alive and knowing how much water is too much
water for your staghorn fern. Thank you, as always for
(01:42):
coming back and listening to our podcast. I'm Molly and
I'm joined by my green thumbed partner in podcasting, Matt Stillo.
Today we're gonna be digging. That's right, I said digging.
It's a plant episode, and we're gonna roll with the puns.
We're gonna be digging into the world of plant parenthood,
specifically grow and caring for indoor plants. Now, Mattie, Matt,
(02:04):
I feel like you are very well versed in plant parenthood.
You have a beautiful little green guy there next to
you on your desk, and this was a topic that
you felt very passionate about when we first started planning
out this season. Talk to me a little bit about
your relationship with plants.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I think of plant parenthood is the mark of this
person has their shit together.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
They are not.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Only taking care of everything in their life, but they
are taking care of the plants and their life as
well and exceeding because you're like fees are.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Lush and beautiful. I don't have this love to give
to me. How do you give it to plants?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I'm now happy to say that I am a
person who has many plants their home and they are
all thriving.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
But it was a journey.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I killed a cactus, which is like a big fucking
to yourself because cactuses are basically impossible to kill. But
then my wife Elena is really into plants because she
grew up like her parents will have a lot of
property and they grow like raspberries and strawberries and cucumbers
and tomatoes and stuff. So it's been like a part
of her life for a long time and she really
loved caring for things like me and also plants.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
She's the best. Shout out to Alanta, by the way,
she's the best.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Shout out to her. She brought many plants into our
lives over time. I really learned a lot about, like,
you know, what plants can teach you, which is that
like things take time and to nurture and gross something,
and they give you something back. They purify our air,
they give us like fresher oxygen to breathe in our house,
and they just bring a lot of like light and
life and joy into the house. And they also make
it really look nice.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And you know, people come over and they're like, damn plants.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So say something that I enjoyed learning a lot about
from Alena and just enjoying day to day. So it's
been a cool thing. But I mean, what's your journey been.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like I had a lot of plants. I had a
roommate who was really well versed in plants, and so
I was like, yeah, I'm going to get plants. She
went to like the plant store and or the nursery,
I guess is more what you call it than the
plant store. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to
do this. A couple of snake plants. This is gonna
be great. And in a matter of days, our entire
(04:04):
apartment was like infested with fungus gnats and no matter
what I did, I could not get rid of them.
So ultimately I like realized that they were like all
coming out of the like the dirt and the plants. Ultimately,
I just decided to kind of let them go. I'm
not gonna lie. I have a little baggage from that experience,
(04:24):
but I'm hoping our guest today will also give us
some guidance.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, I'm sure our guests will be able to help
you through that and maybe even help you through some
of your focus NAT trauma, because it's real, it is. Today,
we are joined by Instagram's very own Plant Queen, Christopher Griffin.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Christopher is a plant fluencer with nearly five hundred and
twenty thousand followers on Instagram, where they share insights on plants, nature,
growing practices, self care, fashion, and so much more.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
They are also the author of the book You Grow Girl,
Plant Queen's lush guide Growing your Garden Today.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
The Plant Queen cares for more than two hundred thriving
plants in their Brooklyn apartment.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Christopher, Welcome to the show. We are just so thrilled
to have you on. We've been waiting for this all week.
You were finally here. We're excited to get into it.
And I just want to say spoiler early for everyone
out there, there are fake plants in the world, which
leads me to the first question. Surprise all about aesthetics
or do real plants provide any benefits the fake plants
do not.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Oh, that is such a good question, Matt.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
There's definitely more benefit to having a real, live, living, breathing,
photo synthathizing plant in your spathe. But I encourage folks,
if fake plant is going to inch you further into
bringing real plant into your home, start where you need to.
(05:53):
But all plants breathe oxygen and moisture into the air. Now,
there's been studies by NASA and other scientists that label
plants as air purifiers. Now, when it comes to how
many plants you need to have in your space in
order to like truly benefit from the air purification, I
(06:16):
don't think we're there yet. But by the nature of
how they grow and how they survive and how they
feed themselves, they do clean our air. And that's why
it's important that we protect as much of the world
as far as as possible, because they are far as
our air filtration systems that we need to live, breathe
(06:36):
and survive.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
On this planet.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
So plants are many trees, right, and so they do
that in our spaces. I find that after I water
my plant that the humidity in my space goes up tremendously.
So we love to skin look and supple honey, so
you know little.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Nineteen eighties, NASA conducted a study examining the usage of
houseplants as a way to reduce indoor air pollutants. The
results confirmed that low light plants did remove trace organic
pollutants from the air, including toxic chemicals like benzene. But
the health benefits don't stop there.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
But then also, I think there are a lot of
psychological effects, right, and I think it impacts different folks differently.
So for me, my plants are a constant reminder of
the various different ways that I can care for myself. So,
oh my god, my plant NEAs water girl. Did I
drink water today? I probably should drink some water today. Ooh,
I got to make sure this plant has enough sunlight.
Did I let the sunshine touch my body today? Did
(07:39):
I get outside? Did I do a little occasional frolic? Right?
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Plants need more room to grow and spread their roots.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Am I giving myself the much needed room to continue
to grow in the wave that I want to? And
then plants have yellowing leaves, and we all have some
yellowing leaves in our lives that we all need to
occasionally prune. Right, So, if you allow yourself the opportunity
to fit with something so simple yet so complex, you
can see all the beauty of it all and allow
(08:09):
yourself to really see that we're all basically health plants
with complex emotion.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I love that we're all just living little house plants,
just struggling to thrive. It's true. While we all can
relate to the struggle of plants at times, plants are
also giving us a lot when it comes to fortifying
our mental health. Being around plants can reduce your stress levels.
(08:35):
The Journal of Psychological Anthropology published a study where test
subjects were split into two groups. The first group participated
in transplanting indoor plants, while the second group performed tasks
on a computer. The plant group reported feeling more comfortable
and soothed after working with the plants compared to the
computer group. And another study involving elementary school students published
(08:55):
in the International Journal for Environmental Research and Public Health
found that the students who were in classrooms with plants
had an easier time concentrating on their lessons. So I
am guilty of I have a fake plant in my apartment.
I'm embarrassed to say in front of you. But why
is it so freaking easy to kill plants? Though?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Ooh, there's a lot of things right.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
One, you think about the lifestyle of folks, right, So
how much attention can you give a plant? A lot
of folks look at a plant and sometimes feed out
of the piece of decoration and they're like, Okay, I'm
just going to put this in the corner, leave it there.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Maybe water it every day. That's really bad.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
You should water your plant every day, or they're busy
queen and they forget to water it. Right. So, I
think it's important that when you decide to bring plants
into your life that you're intentional about that process. So, like,
I would hope that folks wouldn't just go buy a
pet and not do to research on how to care
for the pet, the attention that the pet needs. Like
(09:57):
plants are pets, you need to feed them, we need
to water them. There's a lot of things that we
need to do in order to care for these living,
breathing creature. It's like a dating process. You have to
like match the plant to what you're able to provide
that plant. And when you don't do that, that's when
the plant goes to that little botanical garden in the sky.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Right, they leave us and fly up.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So let's do a little matchmaking, right now, Christopher, I
need something that's going to be hard to kill because
I also travel a fair amount, okay, and I'm forgetful
and I get a lot of light in my apartment. Okay,
what's a good starter plant?
Speaker 4 (10:32):
I'm going to say the snake plant.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
So the snake plant is a very very good one,
actually rated as one of the top air purifiers by NASA.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Really yeah yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
And the reason that the snake plant is so easy
to care for is that they are used to growing
in very arid climates, and they're marketed as low light plants.
I struggle with that low light labeling. I say, like
low light flexible, okay, where it's like, you know, they
(11:04):
can tolerate low light, but all plants typically enjoy a
good amount of light. Right, And if you think about it,
we are bringing plants into caves with windows, like that's
what our homes are, right. These are creatures that are
used to living outside, and the shadiest spot outside is
going to have more light than a shady spot inside. Right,
(11:28):
But the snake plant can tolerate a few hours of
full sun and you don't have to water them as often.
So typically the plant that I encourage folk to purchase
when they're trying it out are plants that are used
to more arid climate and they're good at storing water
in their anatomy so that they don't have to rely
(11:50):
on rainfall to survive. So the snake plant should definitely
be one that you should try out.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
It's like one of my favorites.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
I think it's always important to allow yourself to lean
on the side of curiosity. So what I try to
do is to look up and see, Okay, what is
the natural habitat of this plant. Oh, they'll give you
a better idea, like what part of the world and
in that environment where do they tend to grow, so
that you can try to mimic that habitat in your home.
(12:19):
If a plant is growing in a tree and used
to growing in a tree, they're probably getting more sunlight
than a plant that's growing in the rainforests in the shade.
So like fern, for instant ferns are used to growing
closer to the forest floor. So if you put a
fern in bright, hard sunlight, you're like, girl, like, this
(12:40):
is too much sun I'm getting sunburn. And sunburn is
real for plants.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And plants don't wear sps.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
But then secondly, if you look at the shades of
green of particular plants, that also tells you a little
bit about their ability to withstand a certain amount of sunlight.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Oh interesting, So I have this.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Is like two examples right here. I'm just gonna bring
y'all over here. So this is a Fightus elastica. This
is also known as a rubber tree, and the leaves
are a little bit darker, so that means that she
is really good at soaking up sunshine because she has
a lot of chlorophyll in her leave.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
And then you have this hybrid situation.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
This is a smaller Ficus elastica, and this is a
good example. I probably need to move her back a
little bit, but there's less chlorophyll in her leaf, so
that means that she can burn easily.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
M h.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
So it's like those small little things that you have
to think about.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That's so interesting, and sometimes You'll see plants that have
like a little bit browning at the end, and I
always just assume that maybe that was like poor water,
but like, that could also be sunburn, right, it.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Could be a number of things, Okay, And that's another
thing that I love.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
About plants is that they're going to be like, you.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Got to figure me out, baby, Like I'm not going
to give you the answer, honey.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Oh so it's like the last three guys I dated. Great, cool, No,
you're gonna get the road.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
But yeah, it could be a lack of humidity.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
It could be too much sunlight so when the leaves
are younger they are more vulnerable to sunburn. Or maybe
I need to look at the root system and give
her less water or more water. Right, So there's a
lot of different things that could cause that. But again,
we should never be looking at plants in nurseries and
(14:35):
be like, oh, my plant doesn't look like that. I'm
a bad plant parent. That's unrealistic and that's just setting
yourself up for failure. Like a nursery is built to
make these perfect looking plants so that you want to
buy them.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Our homes are not those places.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
And if you go out in the wild plants, trees,
they all have imperfections like perfection, there's no flush thing, right,
and we should never apply that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Well, sometimes it's just going through the season that right,
like right now, I've got a plants over here that
have some yellow leaves are falling out. But it was
just it was very cold here in New York up
until recently, and so now it's starting to get into
its blooming phase right in the summer. Yeah, and it's okay,
it's nothing to freak out about this. Plants do this
in nature.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, how can we avoid, unknowingly when we're getting a
new plant bringing some of those things in and potentially
unintentionally infecting the other plant babies that we have at
home already? Like, what can we look for or perhaps
you to avoid these scenarios.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
Yeah, I have a process and I would take you
all through it. So I always could. You think there's
like a group of the theme plant and they're diffectioned out,
and so I always look at the one that catches
my eye. I'm like, oh, this one is growing in
a different way, or this is shaped differently, or this
leaf looks unique or something like that, And that's how
I identify because people could be overwhelmed and they're like
(16:00):
looking for plants. So I'm like, just go for the
one that catches your eye. And then I inspect the plant.
So it's important to look under the leaves. I'll look
in the stem, and you're basically just looking for like
any kind of insects millie bugs or white thrips or
like these small little slender insects. I've even gotten into.
(16:21):
For larger plant, I bring gloves and I check the
soil because I've heard horror stories of people repotting a
large plant and like there's a large sinipy, or there
could be a nest of mice.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Mice, yes, mice.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Multiple yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
So and not to scare anybody, I don't want to
scare anyone, but.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Important to take precautions, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Take precaution.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
But these little critters need places to live too, So
like they're like, oh this cute.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah, So I tap the soil.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
I'm looking see if there's any holes or anything, just
to make sure I'm not bringing any unwanted guests into
my home. Start at the top with different leaves. Take
your time, Like shopping for a plant should be a
therapeutic process. You shouldn't be rushing yourself to bring anything
into your home right that the plant generally look healthy.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
And then even then you buy the plant.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I encourage folks to purchase a new soil as well
as a planter that is at least two inches larger
than the nursery pot. The nursery pots are mental plastic
pots that they typically come in are transportation pots. They're
not meant to be pots that your plant fits them forever.
Those are supposed to be temporary, So always buy a planter.
(17:44):
You don't want to go too large because that's going
to lead.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
To root rock.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
But you want to make sure that you place the
plant in a pot where the roots are going to
have enough room to grow, but you're not going to
drown the roots and soil and moisture and water because
as much as they need water, they also need air
and oxygen as well. Then when you bring the plant home,
you really want to We're all very familiar with quarantining
(18:11):
at this point.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So I'm too familiar personally.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Yeah, quarantine the plant.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
I always try to leave a section in my apartment
where I'm like, Okay, there's sun light coming in here,
but this is the quarantine section, like this is a
temporary station that I'm going to put the plant, and
I would say anywhere between one to two weeks, and
just occasionally check in on the plant because some past
our microscopic as eggs and stuff like that, so you
won't be able to see them with the plane, you know, eye,
(18:39):
And then I just kind of check on the plants
if she's doing well, and then if she continues to grow,
and I'm like, okay, I'm going to repotch you after
about a week or two because you don't want to
put too much shock on the plant. They're always like, girl,
I'm moving into a new place, like this is shocking.
Sunlight is different, the humidity is different to temperature. Girl,
what is this honey? So you don't want to shock
the roots. So once you repot and you're like, okay,
(19:03):
you're good, and then you can you introduce your new
green girl to the rest of the family.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
What else should people know during that kind of adjustment
period and how long Tybili does it take a plant
to adjust to a new space.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
When you bring a plant into a new space again,
they're going to go through some shock.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
We all know that moving is traumatic.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Okay, one of the most stressful things that you can
do as a human.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Right, one of the most dreadful things.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I think it's like in the top five traumatic human experiences.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
That's also the case for plants, right, So imagine the
journey of a plant. It's a sea, it's being planted
in the ground or some nursery. It grows, they uproot
it and they put it in a planter, and now
it's growing in this planter. Great, all right, Now it's
time to ship it to the plant store. Now the
(19:54):
plant door is putting it on its shelf. And then
I'm like, here, I come, let me take the plant now.
And now I'm taking it back to my little apartment.
That's a lot of moving and so unfortunately, some plants
can't handle that, and so they will put on their
best space and then when you get them home, they're like, girl, like.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
This is the last draw. I can't do it, honey,
and then go on.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
That doesn't happen often, but like sometimes when I bring
a plant home and I'm like, girl, you were going
in a few days like what happened?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
That usually would go through my head.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
I'm like, oh wow, this plant went through a lot
of transitions, and it probably looked like this is the
last draw girl.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Yeah, And to your point, know your plan, because like
you know, we brought home a Chinese palm fan and
we were like, oh, maybe it'll be good on the balcony,
maybe we'll go downstairs. We kind of moved it around
a little bit, and we were like, why is it
no matter what we do, it's suffering. And we found
out those plants in particular hate being moved or being repotted,
And so as soon as we just were like, you
know what, we'll just give her the space. This is
Herslet we'll leave her alone for like a month, and
(20:55):
then that's when she really was able to like come
to life and be the plant that she was born
to be.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And then if you think about like the leaves that
have grown in those nurseries, right when you bring that
plant into your space, it's okay if those older leaves
are going to fall off, and sometimes those are the
most beautiful leaves, right, and you're like, this is why
I bought the plant, because these leaves are so beautiful
and so unique and so large, Oh my goodness. And
(21:23):
people get upset when that's the first thing to go.
But if you think about it, right, like, there have
been phases in our lives when there was something about us,
an aspect of us that we had to really utilize
and strengthen in a certain environment, and then we moved
into the next phase of our lives. You know, maybe
it's like, Okay, now I need to shet that off
(21:45):
and grow something new. So always tell folks like, hey, yes,
that plant is beautiful right now, and you're appreciating it
for its beauty, but it's probably going to grow differently
in your space and you need to appreciate that beauty,
that growth. But yeah, and Matt, as you said, like
moving the plant around is one of the worst things
that you can do. Do not be a helicopter plant parent.
(22:06):
Leave that girl alone, honey, leave alone.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Okay, give her a second hercond exactly. I mean what
you just said about appreciating the new growth and giving
that time to grow into their new selves is so
beautiful and such a lovely lesson to apply to all
aspects of life and including our plants. Ah. Yes, leaving
(22:29):
plants alone and giving them a second to grow. And
it just is also a lot like the last three
men I dated. One of the most basic ways though,
that we can take care of plants is monitoring the
moisture level of the soil and making sure we're not
under or overwatering, because, as our queen alluded to earlier,
you don't want to end up with root rot. For
those of you unfamiliar with that term, I'm going to
(22:51):
do my best to explain it, but ultimately, it's a
fungal disease that causes your root system to decay, and
when you overwater your plants, this creates a prime environment
for root rot to take hold and thrive. The trickiest
bit of it is because it all starts to take
place underneath the surface of your soil, it can be
hard to detect at first, which is why it is
(23:12):
so important to understand the watering needs of your plant
and best drainage practices to keep it all at bay.
I want to talk about the importance of water and
perhaps more importantly drainage and when we're potting plants, how
to make sure we avoid things like root rot and
the best watering path forward for some of our plants.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Yeah, one of the number one reasons that plant leave
us for the little botanical gardening.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
This guy is overwatering.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I encourage folks to test the soil moisture before they
water any plant, right, So typically folks are like, oh,
that's dry, I need to water the plant. Which you
really need to do is look at the water near
the roots, right, and the soil at the time is
most likely going to dry out quicker than the soil
(24:03):
at the bottom.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
That makes sense.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Yeah, do you recommend like water meters for that to
see like how moist the soil is at the roots.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
If you have a little tool, this is a soil.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Probe, Oh what does that do?
Speaker 5 (24:16):
So if you look at this part of it, there's
some ridges, right, you stick it in the soil and
then you pull it out, and then there's the soil
in these little sections right.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
To describe for the audience, it looks like kind of
like a bunch of little openings like for a flute,
all down in a line.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Yeah, And so what you do is that I would
then take that soy be like, Okay, the soil at
the bottom is really dry.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
The plant needs water.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So do you not recommend using the water meters? Then?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
You know, I think technology is amazing. It's allowing us
to have this conversation right now. For me, the least
amount of technology I can use to take care of
my plant in the moment the better, because a lot
of my life is surrounded by technology and I really
try to have my plant not be that. But yeah,
(25:11):
if folks so like I want to know exactly what
the moisture is in my toil, then you through the
water meter.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, and for the audience, really like I'm a moistmeter.
It looks very similar as like a probe that you
stick into the soil and I'll kind of tell you
like between wet, dry, and moist, which would be like
kind of a medium setting where your plant's soil is at.
But I've also heard sometimes they can't be that accurate,
so I just that's why I wanted to ask.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
That's been my experience, so I tend to stay away
from them, and I kind of just feel the soil
with my hand. And that's just living in a city,
Like it's rare that I can let my feet touch
the grass or let my hand touch the soil. So
I'm going to touch the soil of my plant because
I don't have access to that readily.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
That's your version of grounding.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, yeah, very much, th All Pinnes.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Intended grounding, which is sometimes also refer to was earthing,
is a practice of having direct contact between your skin
and the earth, and it's a way to connect your
body to the electric energy of the earth. So anytime
you run in the grass and bare feet or lay
down on a lawn in a park, you are earthing
(26:15):
or grounding. And over the years the practice has grown
in its popularity and even gained a bit of support
from science. Aside from the proposed mental health benefits, some studies,
like the one published in the Journal of Inflammation Research,
found strong evidence suggesting that the practice can also reduce
inflammation and prompt healing in the body.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
And to get on a little bit more of drainage.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So the way that my wife does it, and I'm
curious to hear out what you think about this, she'll
get some soil, but you'll also get more like rocky pebbles,
and the rocky pebbles go at the bottom basically to
I guess, allow the water to escape away from the soil,
so that the water goes through the soil and makes
the soil moist, but it doesn't like stay trapped in
the soil. Is that a proper way to drain it?
And if not, what are some other ways you might
(27:02):
go about draining.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I think that's one way.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
I try my best to purchase planters that have drainage holes.
And again, depending on where you live in the world,
your water quality may be different. Some water may have
more minerals compared to others that will build up and
(27:27):
deteriorate your plant's health. And so I use terracotta. It's
a preventative way for me to care for my plant
because I'm an over waterer and so like, that's how
I kill most of my plants. Child, I'm just like,
I'm going to give you love, too much love, and
he has more water. It's like, girl, I'm drowning what
you're doing. So terracotta breathe and it's preventative. But if
(27:52):
you look at this pot here, there's this white residue
in the terracotta pot that's leftover residue from the water
that I use. So imagine that just building up over
and over time at the bottom of a pot, and
those minerals can be harmful for the plant. So I
find it best if the water just goes through the
foil and leaves the pot completely.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
But again that's my process.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Right. If you have plants that are thriving in the
way that you're caring for them, more power to you
keep doing what you're doing. But for me, drainage holds
are really important. It's basically a little hole at the
bottom of the pot. It let the water run out
and you can choose to reuse that water. But drainage
is just really really important. It's just helpful for the
(28:38):
longevity of the plant life.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
What if we were to filter our water and give
it to our plants, is that excessive Will that help
eliminate getting some of these things out of the water
system for them?
Speaker 4 (28:51):
That is a way.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
So there are certain plants that enjoy distilled water because
depending on where you live, the acidity of the water
could actually burn their route. There's a few plants that
are really sensitive to that, So it depends on the plant. Now,
on the flip side, there are some minerals that are
nutritious for our plants as well. It's just that any
(29:13):
good thing in access is not a good thing. And
for me, a person with over two hundred plants in
their home. The idea of brit and filtering all the water.
It would take weeks for me to water my plant.
I would not be here right now. I would have
been like, yo, I'm real water my plants. I can't
join you off of the podcast. So two hundred, yeah,
(29:37):
over two hundred. So yeah, if that's something folks want
to try, cool, I don't think you need to go
that far. I would just buy a planter with a
drainage hole.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
That's a good point though about acidity and just like
you know, if your plants seem to be reacting negatively
to water, that that might be something to look out for.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
Yeah, and I think it also can teach you a
little bit about the water quality in your area, right. Yeah,
there's a lot of things that we do for our
plant that in turn is actually just good for our bodies. Right. Know,
in the direction of your windows and how this sun
move through your faith is good for your body and
your sleeping pattern. Knowing the quality of the water in
your area is also good for your own body. And
(30:16):
think that we don't necessarily think about in our day
to day. But again, our plants have been around for
much longer than we have. It can teach us a
lot of life lessons that we need to start paying
attention to.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So true. Coming up on grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Propagation is when you clip a piece from a mother
plant in a way that allows that clipping to grow
into another plant.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
We'll be right back after a quick break, and we're
back with more grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
We talked a little bit about soil, but kind will
any old soil do?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
And how do you know when it's time to maybe
change the soil?
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (31:03):
So fun fact, the potting soil that we use for
our plant is not made of the top soil that
we experience in nature or dirt.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Then what is it.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
It's basically a concoction of a bunch of different things.
So it's manufactured and created for plants that are going
to be enclosed containers. You never want to take soil
from outside and plant them in that. You don't want
to do that. One of the great things about the
century is that you can go to a plant store
and they have all types of soil labeled at your fingertips,
(31:36):
So based on the plant that you have, identify the
type of soil for that particular plant. I'm an over waterer,
so I tend to add perlite, which is those white
little rocks. Also use fur bark, which is the bark
from fir trees. You can find that any pet store.
Is typically what folks use for reptile containers or tanks.
(31:58):
So I put that in my soil your recipe because
it adds like a nice woody scent when I water,
and it creates like air pockets in the soil, which
helps again preventative over water situation here. And you want
to try to remove as much of the old soil
as possible when you are repotting a plant, because you
(32:21):
don't know how much nutrition is in that soil. So
typically I would doorball soil have a certain level of
nutrients already in it, and you don't know how long
that planet has been sitting in that soil. You want
to kind of just strip I've even rinse off the
soil sometimes, just like really getting that old soil off
the roots and giving it a fresh new start, which
(32:41):
we all deserve in life.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
When do you know it's time to repot?
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
When repotting, there's two things. There's repotting in terms of
a soil refresh which means you can keep the containers
in but just change the soil, or you can change
the container. And Okay, if the plant is outgrowing, if
the soil is moldy, if it's growing mushrooms, you probably
(33:09):
want to change to soil. If there's a lot of
fungus gnats, you want to probably change the soil. Like obviously,
you want to wait at least a year, like a
year or more to reap hot You never want to
do within the year. Try to do it around growing season,
so that's spring, summer wherever you're living in the world.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, I had a bad fungal mat situation, and like,
what are some other ways we can curb this issue
and eliminate pests in our house plants.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Yeah, so I think it depends on the past. But
some general things that folks can do. It's just checking
on their plants occasionally. So like when you're watering your plant,
you should be checking the leaves out. I wipe the
leaves down of my plant. Just using water is great,
But kneem oil is like a wonderful natural pathticide in secticide,
(33:59):
and I tend to like putnam oil right in water soaked,
drag in it and then I just go through and
wipe the dust and potential paths off the plant. So
check it on your plant. Often, wipe down the leaves.
For fungal net, they do particularly well in moist soil.
So if you are good at letting your plant foil
(34:20):
dry out right to the point before they need water,
that is one of the best things that you can do.
Sometimes I'll mix in there's these mosquito pellets that you.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
Can order online.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
They're really good when it comes to fungal net and
some other paths and basically pets that lay eggs in
the soil. Literally just sprinkle a couple of those when
you're mixing your potting soil and you're replanting your plant.
Speaker 4 (34:47):
That's one of the best ways.
Speaker 5 (34:49):
Sometimes I use a mixture of cayenne pepper and brown cinnamon.
I'll mix that into the soil. They hate that too.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Oil they hate.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
If you want to use like alcohol and a little
bit of soap, like mike that in water and spray
that and like wipe down your leave that's another way.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Okay, Yeah, it's a lot of different way that you
can do that.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Pests are the worst. I am still plant shy because
of my experience with a full blown fungal net infestation. Pruning, however,
is another important plant care practice that cannot only keep
the pests away, but also improve the overall health of
a plant.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
We just wanted to talk about what pruning is and
why you might want to prune your plants.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
Yeah, so pruning it basically when you are removing any
dying or yellowing leaves from your green girl. And so
there's like some evolutionary trait where paths are drawn to
the color yellow because that means that the leaf is
dying and its defenses are down, So that means that
(36:04):
they can most likely suck out the life from that
particular leaf more easily than a healthy leaf. So you're
snipping that before they have the chance to grow and it
spread to the other parts of the plant. It also
allows the plant to focus is its energy on new growth.
So instead of focusing on a leaf that is on
its way out, you snip it. Now it's redirecting all
(36:26):
that energy and all that sugar that is creating to
the part of the plant that's growing. So pruning is
really really important. People also prune plant to shape plants.
They're cutting and reconfiguring its growth to focus on particular parts,
and then pruning could also be an opportunity for propagation.
(36:48):
So propagation is basically when you clip a piece from
a mother plant and you clip it in a way
that allows that clipping to grow into another plant. Depending
on the anatomy of a plant, propagation methods could vary.
So you could do stem cutting, you could do leaf cutting,
(37:09):
you could do soil layering. That's basically when if you
have a buyin any plant, you'll see little nose on
the vine and typically those noes will develop into roots
if they have the opportunity. And so I know folks
who will take that vine, put it in the soil
that the planet is already and so redirect it and
then the roofs will begin to grow and then they
(37:30):
just kind of dig that out. They snip it and
now we have reroofs where you can like plant it
in another pot.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
It's one of the coolest things that we've done in
our house is that we've got a couple of favorite
plants and we name our plants. So this is this
is Maurice, and we have propagated Maurice several times. Like
Maurice has went, has gone through many many lives, was
not doing so well at one point and got a
little too big for his pot, and so we kind
of broke him up and split him out among three
different pots in the Yeah. No, We've got a couple
(37:56):
of little little Maurice's around the house. So it can
be really really fun. You don't have to buy necessarily
a ton of new plants. You can use what you
have to continue growing your indoor garden.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yeah, well you can give them.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
But then also if you ever find that you have
a plant that is beginning to like leave you, and
you're like, oh, damn it, like I really want this
plant to like survive, but you realize that, you know,
maybe the foundational structure of the plants, like girl, the
roots are not going to grow. Sometimes I'll nip a
part of that plant and I'm like, well, I still have.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
You, and I'm going to grow this new little part.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Of you elsewhere that legacy lives on.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Yeah, and now with the whole new plant, but you
know that legacy, the original plant is still with me.
So yeah, pruiting is is wonderful.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Yeah, I love that you mentioned sometimes there's nothing you
can do and it's time for them to join that
potanical garden in the sky. How do we know that
the plant is at that stage and there's nothing left
to do for them besides potentially propag some of it.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
Yeah, I mean if the plant is just barked to
a crisp and you come home from a vacation and
it's just shriveled and dried and there's no green part
of the plant, that it's like, girl, you know what,
Just compost that queen, give her back to the earth. Honey.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Oh yeah, So is composting the best way to dispose
of plants once there?
Speaker 5 (39:23):
If it's not infested. You never want to compost an
invested plant. But if it went to the little botanical
garden because of neglect, then you probably can compost that plant.
But yeah, I think it depends on the person, right, Like,
I've had plants where I'm just like, girl, you are
extremely infested.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
I've tried, and you think keep coming back.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
I'm sorry I can't anymore, honestly, Like for folks who
are listening, I do not have.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
A degree in botany or horticulture.
Speaker 5 (39:51):
I have a backtor's degree in psychology and a master's
degree in higher education. And a lot of what I've
learned fan one through my grandmother, who at a very
early age took me under her wing and introduced me
to her garden, and you know, really instilled in me
that we need to be very respectful and empathetic and
(40:14):
appreciative of nature, because literally, nature gives us everything that
we need in order to live and survive and thrive,
and it does it selflessly. It doesn't ask for anything
in return. So we need to be very respectful. And
so my grandmother was a very big foundation in like
this plant journey, But a lot of what I've learned
has been through trial and error. Me just like stepping
(40:37):
into the world of plant and being like, all right,
I'm gonna lead with a curious mind. Let me take
note of any mistakes or quote unquote failures.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
And just learn from them.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
I feel like we learn more from our failures than
we do our successes.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
You can just look it up online and see what
to do.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
But I mean, why not give yourself the opportunity to,
you know, teach yourself something, or let nature teach you something.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I think that that was so beautifully put Christopher. Truly, like,
I think that we learn best when we're listening to others,
and so if you're looking out for the plant, if
you're considering the plant, then that plant can really teach
you everything that you need to know about taking care
of it. And I think it's a great way to
learn about nature and to learn about ourselves taking care
of something else.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
So that was beautifully put. And thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 5 (41:24):
Ah, thank you. I could keep talking with you all
for average if it's so fine.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
I'm so glad. We really enjoyed this.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
And we feel it likewise, it's like talking with someone
who cares so much about what they do is just like,
is there anything more invigorating in life? Like that is
a beautiful thing. So no, this has been so wonderful. Seriously,
thank you.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I appreciate that. No, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yeah, And honestly, your background in psychology and higher education
is so evident because the way you talk about plants
is also so indicative of, like you said, the way
that we should treat ourselves and the way that we
should approach life in general. So yeah, I just want
to thank you so much for being here with us
and for sharing all of your insights, and this has
(42:04):
been so special and magical and wonderful.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Matt Moley, this has been absolutely amazing, and thank y'all
for letting me rant about my green girls and caring
for you know, these little potted pieces of nature in
my space. And I hope for everybody listening that you
allow yourself to again lean into curiosity, give yourself grace
(42:27):
when you're bringing plants into your home because there are
wild creatures that we are bringing into our home, and
have fun with it, like bringing plant bringing nature into
your home should be a playful, fun process where you
discover a bunch of new things about yourself, where you're living,
potentially other people, especially the plants, to bring into your space.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
So I hope folks to have fun with the process.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
I think that's like a great way to also approach
Life's just go through it with curiosity and playfulness and
you can't lose that way, right Hello?
Speaker 4 (43:00):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Yeah, thank you so much Christopher.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
You we feel like I've learned just as much about
life as I have about plants.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Oh, thank you, Christopher. You are an absolute dream and
forever our plant queen. If you want to hear more
from Christopher, don't forget to follow them on Instagram at
Plant Queen that's spelled kwee n and check out their
book You Grow Girl, Plant Queen's Guide to Growing Your Garden.
(43:29):
I'm really inspired and reminded about the ways that nature
can take care of us as we care for it.
Here's what else I'm taking with me from this conversation.
Real plants provide numerous benefits, including air purification and increased humidity,
plus mental health benefits. Plants can tell us a lot
about what we need and remind us to take care
(43:49):
of ourselves. Choose plants that are suitable for your space
in terms of light and water requirements and temperature. Snake
plants or other plants meant for more air climates tend
to be more resilient and don't require as much watering.
Proper drainage is essential to prevent root rot and maintain
plant health. Pests can not only be annoying, they can
(44:12):
ruin the health of your plants. Christopher recommends non chemical
remedies like cayenne pepper or ground cinnamon in the soil.
Peppermint oil is also a great option, and don't forget
to check new plants carefully before you bring them back
from leaf to soil. Just to make sure you're not
bringing in any new pests or diseases that could impact
the health of your other plants at home. Also, you
(44:35):
may want to consider quarantining those new plants for a
few weeks before putting them near the others. Pruning helps
redirect a plant's energy and can promote new growth. Propagation
allows you to create new plants from existing ones. If
a plant is beyond saving and it's not infested, consider
composting it as it transcends to that beautiful botanical garden
(44:57):
in the sky. And finally, approach plant care with curiosity
and playfulness and learn from your experiences. Mattie stills, plants
are wild creatures and I'm going to treat them as
such moving forward. What was your favorite part of this episode?
Speaker 3 (45:12):
My favorite part was what Christopher was touching on at
the end, which is everything is so fast paced nowadays,
and there's so many tiny little things to keep track
of that can just stress us out. And plants can
absolutely do the opposite that they can force you to
slow down a little bit, to spend some time with nature,
to connect with nature, and to appreciate the things that
nature can give us. And I hope that whoever decides
(45:33):
to take it on can just take a little bit
of that piece with them and enjoy it and let
it be a trial and error. You know, you don't
have to be perfect. You can kill a plant or two.
We've all been there. As long as you're learning along
the way and having fun, I think that's the most
important thing.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
But what about you?
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Yeah, a lot of practical advice in this one, great conversation,
lots to take home and practice. But Matt, what other
great conversations and guests are on the horizon for us?
Speaker 3 (45:55):
Many, many many Next episode, we're digging into one of
my favorite topics, personal finance. And while that seems very broad,
we're going to just focus on financial awareness, you know,
tracking expenses and the big bee we've learned about in
the first few seasons of this show, budgeting. And we'll
be joined by two yeah, incredibly special guests, Austin Hankowitz
from the Rate of Return newsletter and the Rich Habits
(46:16):
podcast and Jennise Torres from the podcast Yo Kiero Dinero
and the author of the new book Financially Lit, The
Modern Latina's Guide to level up your Dinero and become
financially PoTA Rosa, Matt.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
This may be your favorite topic to learn about, but
it personally gives me hives, and I'm hoping that our
friends Bustin Jine's will help me get over that and
set me on the path of being a grown up
about my finances.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Well, we're going to get you there, one high yield
savings account at a time, but we'll find out more
in two weeks on the next episode of Grown Up
Stuff How to Adult. And if you are enjoying the show,
don't forget to follow or subscribe wherever you were listening
so you don't miss an episode. We also want to
hear from you, so go ahead and leave us a
rating and review on your podcast player of choice while you're.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
At it, or send us an email tell us what
kind of adulting stuff you're trying to figure out and
want us to cover on the show. You can send
us an email or voice note to Grownupstuffpod at gmail
dot com. That's Grownupstuff Pod at gmail dot com. You
might hear us thanking you on an upcoming episode, and
remember you might not be graded in life.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
But it never hurts to do your homework. This is
a production from Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. Our executive producers
are Mallisosha.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
And Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt Stillo.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
And written by Malisoshia. This episode was edited by Sierra
Spreen and special thanks to our teammates at Ruby Studio,
including Ethan Fixel, ragis Wan Krasnov, Amber Smith, Deborah Garrett,
and Andy Kelly
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