Best house plant gardening nooks according to redditors
We found 76 Reddit comments discussing the best house plant gardening nooks. We ranked the 31 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 76 Reddit comments discussing the best house plant gardening nooks. We ranked the 31 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
One of he biggest killer of plants is over watering. (Yes, a lot of people pay too much attention to the plant and kill it)
When indoors you're completely changing a plants environment. There is so much that can affect a plant in how it - takes up nutrients, water and light.
When you have a plant that in its native habitat gets a lot of light and a lot of warmth and you have it indoors with considerably lower light and temperature (when bought young they are more likely to adjust without going into shock) it is going to have to adjust to those conditions meaning - since it has less light it will need less water and less nutrients, the plant is not using all its resources up like it would so it doesn't need to "re-up" because it really hasn't lost much.
So even though it uses less there are many factors that affect the soil- AC will dry out a well ventilated area rather quickly depending on the pot type. Also many plants indoors lack humidity they'd have in their native range.
Having a larger pot for small roots is bad because it will not dry out as evenly, the top will become more dry while it could still be sopping wet at the bottom. Seeing that you go and water the plant again when it doesn't need it and the plant becomes water logged, suffocates and dies.
The killing of indoor plants by overwatering is #1 most common, especially since when you bring a plant home, unless you have the same environment as the place you got it from in your home, it is going to go through some shock, many people don't know this and see their plant a little sad after they just got it and then panic and water the plant.
Plants need time to adapt. You can't just keep changing things and expect to see results in a day or two. Often times even if they look a little sad it's best to leave them be, especially if they have enough water, light and humidity. They need time.
Starting small when buying a plant in general is much better practice, for so many reasons. Just don't put it in a huge pot :)
Edit: Wow, didn't think this would get this big lol Thanks so much for such interest in plants and horticulture!
To be clear I was mostly talking about house plants in this, since they are a plant that is usually not of the climate where you live and is why they're a house plant because the can't live outside. (But not always- in FL many "house plants" can do better outside, depending on the plant still)
Doing my best to answer questions- you guys are lucky I'm sick and aren't busy outside :P
Edit 2: Here are a couple pages from one of the best houseplant books I've seen and had. There is helpful info that can be used for other plant types as well. You can get the book off Amazon, its rather inexpensive and 100% worth it.
Edit 3: Forgot to stress the fact that many of our tap water had loads of chlorine and chloramine in it. The chlorine can evaporate out if the water is left out before use but the chloramine will not. These are things that can really affect a plant over time. Along with mineral build up from water and fertilizer. Here's another good resource.
It’s Root, Nurture, Grow by Rose Ray and Caro Langton. I definitely recommend it for beginners, explains a lot about different propagation methods and best times to propagate different plants. Plus, gorgeous pictures and beautiful cover!
You can do that with a lot of plants, almost any herb. If you are interested I highly recommend this book, it has directions on how to turn your table scraps into plants. I have a mango tree, an avocado tree, and several other things going.
Don't Throw it Grow it
Honestly, the best thing you can do at this point is to get a decent grow book. I recommend Marijuana Horticulture by Jorge Cervantes. The ebook is $10. He's been writing and rewriting this thing for 30 years, and it can take you from your first grow up to production of top shelf bud.
this book seems like it would be the perfect book! Super instagramable and she might actually take advice from fancy Instagram plant people
It looks very much like a juniper plant.
Needs a lot of pruning and wiring to be a bonsai, though.
Buy a used book online or check your local library for instructional manuals.
This is a really good, thorough, and somewhat short book: Marijuana Buds for Less: Grow 8 oz. of Bud for Less Than $100
Edit: Whoops, left out the download: Download
How much homework have you guys done on growing? If all you know about so far is tents, keep reading! Read the sidebar resources, read the grower's bible and maybe a couple other books like it. Once you know enough that you believe you can put together a complete shopping list (there's some shopping lists in the sidebar for reference), then come back and ask for critiques.
Once you're ready I would say start small, like one plant each, and take them through the entire cycle. That will give you an idea of what you'll be getting yourself into when you go full-scale.
You're good to go then!
Yeah you're thinking of Paul Staments, he's a good one. David Arora is another. David has a book "All the Rain Promises and More" that's a great field guide.
For cultivating, I got this book. Between that, the subreddits, and shroomery.org I've learned a lot.
I strongly recommend reading these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Grow-Bible-Recreational-ebook/dp/B004P1JEBQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368393804&sr=8-2&keywords=growers+bible
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0932551467/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There are another couple books that I've read which have good bits of information but are by no means necessary to read. They are definitely lower quality than the two mentioned above:
http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Horticulture-Outdoor-Medical-ebook/dp/B004WKUY2S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368393921&sr=8-1&keywords=grower%27s+bible
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1478718390/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Best to start seeds inside and get use to indoor gardening. Indoor gardening eliminates a lot of the pest pressure and uncontrollable weather conditions. It also allows you to analyze and watch your plants progress much easier, do the leaves flop down when its dry? Drought stress... The soil is too wet all the time and the plant declines rapidly (overwatering stress and root related issues). Leaves start to yellow can be nutrient related issue. Mildew on leaves, lack of airflow and UV rays on leaves.
I suggest you start by getting the following for seed germination;
I use this heatmat it works well for me.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heat-Sprout-Seedling-Heat-Mat-Germination-Propagation-Sprouting-4-Sizes-/271147604536?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item3f21a81a38
LED e27 light (this plugs into a standard 60watt light socket). I suggest you start with a 21w or 27w. Then plug it into a gooseneck 60watt e27 lamp.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Spectrum-15w-21w-27w-36w-54w-E27-Bulbs-LED-Hydroponic-Plant-Grow-Light-Lamp-/141277776616?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item20e4cfcae8
Next you need a suitable soil mix for indoor growing. I recommend you use 100% coco coir in large red cups (make sure to poke holes in the bottom) for the growing medium and pre wet and continue watering with spring water/distill water/osmosis water don't use tap water or high PH water it will screw up a lot of plants. Also make sure not to waterlog the soil, you want it damp but not drenched.
This gives you an idea of how I germinate my seeds;
http://imgur.com/a/1Z5u2
Btw, I left out a lot of details such as fertilizing etc. I am making this more complex then you probably wanted, but if your going to do it... do it right.
Sticking a bunch of seeds in the dirt outside you may be discouraged due to lack of germination, insects, adverse weather conditions, and drought stress. Direct sowing works well with certain types of plants, such as Plantago sp., Taraxacum sp. (Dandelion)., and other adapted and weedy types of plants.
There is plenty of good guides that are out there on the internet for free. Something like this from amazon may be useful: http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Organic-Gardening-Indoors-Step--ebook/dp/B00N1ZLI1Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421956536&sr=8-3&keywords=gardening+guide
It's likely not a magnesium deficiency because a magnesium deficiency would cause chlorosis all over the plant and not just the leaf edges (outside of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, chlorophyll has 4 nitrogen molecules and one magnesium molecule).
Micro nutrient deficiencies can be a pain to diagnose but empirically speaking this will clear up most any micro nutrient deficiency you'll likely encounter including copper:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BT4696/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00U1V7M36&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=006D8ARD9GQ5ESQGK1BP
I'd like to caution that growweedeasy is not a very reliable source of information. I've found way too many mistakes particularly in plant lighting (there's essentially a lot of what appears copy/paste going on). If this were a case of copper deficiency due to pH lock up as mentioned in that website then you'd also likely have iron (some new growth would be turning yellow), manganese, zinc and boron deficiencies from too high of a pH. This is a better source of information:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WKUY2S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
"Don't Throw it, Grow It!"
A word of caution...I tried kiwi the way it said and they rotted, but that was probably my fault. I tried lychees too, and they didn't do anything @ all. I haven't tried anything else. It is a nifty book though.
Hi! Honestly I think that what you're doing is the way to do it. Start small, take time to learn what each plant wants, and then slowly build things up. The biggest thing to learn is how to watch the plant. What does it look like when it's thirsty? When it wants more light? Less light? When it's overwatered? What does the soil feel like when it needs to be watered?
When I get a new kind of plant, I sometimes kill it before I figure out what to do. It sometimes takes me a few tries until I get it right. Don't beat yourself up if it's not all going perfectly. Just keep staying conscious, growing and learning.
Plants often need to be repotted when you get them - look underneath the pot and see if you can see roots sticking out. If they're sticking out it wants a slightly bigger home. Rule of thumb I've always heard is to go with a pot 2" larger than the one it's in. I personally like terra cotta pots (the simplest) but other people will have other opinions.
People have lots of different ways of caring for plants so I'm sure people will chime in with other (and possibly conflicting) ideas.
A few resources that might help you out:
ASPCA has a great website for looking up what's poisonous to cats
When I'm googling each plant for care instructions I try to stick to websites ending in .edu. These are often ag extensions with amazing information that I can trust.
IF you prefer books to webpages, I've found these to be helpful:
They're both quite old, but the info is solid.
Here you go! dear plant killers: a guide on how to be a good plant parent
I just started getting into houseplants too! I borrowed houseplant books from my local library, below is the list based on what I like the most:
To fit more plants into my budget, I buy mostly starter plants. Less heartbreak if I fail taking care of them and more satisfaction when I see new growth.
Check out Walmart and Home Depot in addition to local nurseries, some places have a great selection with lower price (compared to nurseries).
How Not to Kill Your Houseplant: Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged https://www.amazon.com/dp/1465463305/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DdPhDb764KBEM
This one might be a good starter book:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Illustrated-Guide-Growing-Succulents/dp/1780190921
I've also heard good things (and skimmed briefly) this one that is a bit shorter, I believe?
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Cacti-Succulents/dp/0789416573
Both are pretty cheap if you buy used.
highly recommend this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marijuana-Horticulture-Outdoor-Medical-ebook/dp/B004WKUY2S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343470602&sr=8-2
by jorge cervantes, covers literally everything, many things you wouldn't even think of (at least i wouldn't have), and helped us grow an amazingly healthy plant before we had to get rid of it :( . i'm sure you could find a pdf of it if you don't want to pay for it, but it really is the grower's bible
The House Plant Expert https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0903505355
It's the best I've found, every entry has good pics, "keys to success" and problems specific to that plant, plus a larger troubleshooting section for plants in general.
It's better to find some with the roots attached, but if not, put them in water until small roots start to sprout out then plant them or you could use a rooting compound.
And there's no such thing as a green or black thumb, plants will grow as long as you know the conditions they need in order to live. You should pick up Don't Throw It, Grow It!, it's a pretty helpful book for inspiring kitchen gardeners such as yourself.
I follow @houseplantclub on IG and the two women who run that have a book out called How to Raise a Plant and Make It Love You Back that is both adorable and informative.
JoyUsGarden.com has tons of good plant reading.
Everyone has different preferences but I bought a houseplant care book (specifically How Not To Kill Your Houseplant ) and maybe I just didn’t buy the right one but I didn’t really care for it. It was cute, I flipped through it once or twice, and then I literally never touched it again. There’s so much information available on plants online, specifically with regards to care instructions, that I find the book unnecessary. You can easily post to r/whatisthisplant or use a plant ID app (much less reliable but works somewhat) to identify plants. If you’re just trying to familiarize yourself with different species of plants, browsing plant subreddits is a good way to go.
If you want to be better at caring for plants in general, I’d highly recommend Botany for Gardeners. I haven’t finished it yet, but it really breaks down how plants work in a way that’s easy to understand but still highly scientific and in-depth. From plant anatomy, to how they grow and reproduce, this book will help you better understand your plants. It doesn’t give specific care tips, but I feel like I’ve gotten much better at caring for my plants since reading it. Far too often we’re told what to do or how to do it, rather than why we should be doing it. If you learn the way plants work, you’ll have a much better idea of how to help them when they start struggling!
You can get syringes of Lion’s Mane liquid cultures and poke some spawn with it, like rye berries. Once colonized you can bust up the berries and use them to inoculate a ton of supplemented sawdust, then you can fruit that.
If you want some depth, I recommend this book as it’s geared for beginners (like me). You can find PDFs online if you’re willing.
Also a newb here.. I've found this book to be quite helpful. You don't have to be a total science nerd to read it and apply the techniques he presents
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612121462/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Also this video is pretty thorough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLJgKy2taM&t=1925s
Be aware that this isn't a free guide, this is an unauthorized release of the author's book.
http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Buds-Less-Grow-Than/dp/0932551874
https://www.amazon.com/Indoor-Marijuana-Horticulture-Bible/dp/1878823299
I learned a lot from this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Buds-Less-Grow-Than/dp/0932551874
I just had this book recommended to me, which I'll probably be ordering this week: https://smile.amazon.com/How-Kill-Your-Houseplant-Horticulturally/dp/1465463305/
You’re very welcome! Provided your plant is not root bound to start with, going up one size at a time means you’ll likely be repotting it once a year (usually in the spring so it has the growing season to recover from any stress).
If it is very root bound, going up 2 sizes right away may be more appropriate. You’ll have to make the call. After that, it should likely only need to be repotted once a year (or longer) after that.
This book may be helpful if you’re interested in further research:
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Repot-That-Plant-Mistakes/dp/1939767164
The author, Will Creed, is also quite active on the gardening forums - here is a Q&A with him:
https://blog.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-experts/qa-with-will-creed-author-of-dont-repot-that-plant/
I recently went through The House Plant Expert. It has a chart like that for common house plants. The other "expert" books in this series probably have similar charts. Or I'm sure there are similar things on the internet.
Actually, the investment doesn't have to be big at all. There is a new book out called "Don't Throw It, Grow It!" which basically shows you how to start a garden using scraps from store-bought vegetables. (It's about $5, used.) And as far as fishing goes, buy used ("vintage") gear and make your own tackle (See http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/ and https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/CatalogRequest.aspx). I just found 8 used fishing rods available for $50 on Craigslist in Baltimore (under sporting goods) edit: I hit the jackpot - $25 for everything needed to go fishing: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/spo/3260672986.html) , but garage sales and antique stores are great places to find cheap tackleboxes full of used gear. With those poles and one full tacklebox, the OP could take the entire family fishing, giving them more than one pole each to manage. A few hours of reading and watching youtube before the first trip should be enough to get them started. (Disclaimer: It will definitely be enough to get them fishing, but it won't necessarily get them "catching".)
there's a little $5 book on the basics of indoor hydroponics, let me see... this guy wrote it, but this is a different book of his. it's probably just the more detailed version of the pocket guide I'm thinking of. Has tons of great info about pressure loss from bends in your ducting, and tips on alleviating those problems. (not to mention everything else you need to know) if you have a local shop you can probably have them order you the pocket guide.
There's a pasteurizing technique in this book that uses a carpet steamer and a plastic storage tote to pasteurize substrate. It's a great book in general too.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Cultivating-Mushrooms-Techniques-ebook/dp/B00GU2RIRA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1418165411&sr=8-4&keywords=mushroom+cultivation
If you want to garden, you can garden in containers under grow-lights. I don't know where you live, but if you have a home improvement store such as Home Depot near you, you can buy a fluorescent plant light and a mount (is that the right word?) for in the neighborhood of $30. Get a timer too.
You can also try growing lower light plants which would do ok in an average apartment, a good book on houseplants can help. I like Reader's Digest Success with Houseplants - http://www.amazon.com/Success-Houseplants-Editors-Readers-Digest/dp/0895770520/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342551429&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=succes+with+houseplants
You can grow mushrooms under the kitchen sink if you buy a grow kit (available at any garden/veggie supply place, or online - they run about $40 also but last a long time)
I lived in the world's most cluttered apartment outside of Hoarders for years, and we did well with them. If you mount the lights to the ceiling you can easily repair the holes before you move out, if your landlord is picky about that kind of thing.
If you want to spend more time with kids you could volunteer with Big Sisters or another mentoring organization. I had a friend who did that for many years. If you can knit you might feel fulfilled making premie hats to donate to hospitals (not really spending time with kids, I know, but you might feel good about doing it).
You might have better luck getting your sewing machine repaired rather than buy a new one, check your yellow pages for appliance servicepeople. FWIW I got a pretty serviceable machine at Goodwill for $20. I'm not sure what you need a machine to do for it to cost $1K unless you have one of those auto embroidery machines or an industrial machine of some kind. The ones I priced out for myself, before the Goodwill find, was about $300 new. But I'm sure you know what you are looking for. I only mention it because you are saving for a down payment and kids, so just take advantage of good deals when you can. Have you tried craigslist/ebay?
You already sound like you are quite busy. I feel I'm mostly unqualified to answer your question because I've been living in this fairly new to me city for about 3 years and I don't know anyone, at all, except my coworkers, so I don't go out (which, in return, doesn't help me meet people) so all of my hobbies are pretty solitary. I do a lot of knitting and painting, I have a vegetable garden (you'll get there!!), I read, and I love to cook. I play video games sometimes, but not as much as I do in the winter. I like to watch tv shows on netflix and go on nature walks. We're probably not too different!
I’m following The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms . They are saying that I need to get the sawdust moisture just right to prevent bacterial competition to the mycelium. But to know how much water I must add I either need to completely dry the sawdust OR know the moisture content of my sawdust pile by taking a representative sample. They want me to take the rep sample, weight it then bake it dry, then weigh it again so I can make a ratio of dry to original weight.
It’s not that big of a deal, but each time I want to make a few bags I will have to do the oven method to see if my water content had changed. I thought it would be easier if I could spent 10-20 bucks on a moisture meter and just shove it in the bucket of sawdust for an instant read.
Pick up this book, it is the perfect beginners guide that gives a good summary of a broad range of related topics.
The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612121462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Le8lDbK2HHJGC
I'd recommend reading through this book.
I'd also look around to see if there's a city owned greenhouse or a botanical garden you can volunteer at. If you have a university or community college around you could see if they offer any plant ID classes if you're very interested.
I got this book by Miles Anderson at the library, and it was pretty comprehensive.
No prob :D. Also just note that if you do use CFL's then use ALOT of them since they don't put out a lot of "leumens" which is basically the volume of light projected from the bulb, and if possible use reflectors so you dont have "light leak"
Like I said I did this when I had cancer to learn :). I bought the following book: http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Buds-Less-Grow-Than/dp/0932551874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311165199&sr=8-1
It's where I learned everything from
Hey man I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I just started.
For me my concerns were
I would recommend this book
http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Buds-Less-Grow-Than/dp/0932551874
If you can afford it buy it, otherwise the torrent is easy to find. It's a quick crash course.
I've also had to move my grow because of the smell. Be ready for that it is gonna hit you hard
Edit for clarity
They are warm spectrum (2700K) CFL's which are the most common and yes you will be able to find them at Home Depot or any store which would sell household lightbulbs. Get the highest actual watt you can and nothing less than the 23 watt ones.
If you want to grow on the cheap with CFL's then your first purchase should be this book.
Or if you are strapped for cash you can just torrent it here.
No problem. Just be sure to get a pot with drain wholes, and also remember to fertilize if you aren't already. But never use too much fertilizer!
Also when you get a new pot, don't get one that's too big.
Basically just read "Growing Healthy Houseplants" by Ellen Zachos. It's full of information and fun to read.
I bought it from bookdepository.com but you can also get it on Amazon (the kindle edition can be read using the browser; you don't need a kindle device).
Please do some more reading, get a book like: The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms by Stephen Russel. The eBook is $10
The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612121462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_uJ2GzbQRZY3VM
Jeorge Cervantes is the man, anything he produces is good stuff...I just learned he has DVDs but he also has about 4 or 5 books.
I own this one...I can't tell you the number of times it has been useful.