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Today, we're talking
about plants.
If you've followed
me for a while,
you know I have a bit of
a thing for these guys.
And I feel like they make my
space feel incredibly calm.
They make you feel tranquil, and
they make it a nice environment
to work in because,
obviously, I work from home
as well as spending
downtime at home.
When it comes to plants, it's
not as easy as set and forget.
And now, I'm no expert,
but I've definitely managed
to keep a fair few alive.
So what I'm going
to do in this video
is I'm going to share a
whole bunch of tips with you
from beginning, like
choosing the plant that's
right for your space, all
the way up to the end, which,
in my opinion, is
like propagation.
So I have divided this video
into different sections
for you.
And we're going to be covering
a whole range of topics.
If you want to see more bit and
pieces, and behind the scenes,
and more plant stuff, jump
on over to my Instagram
and check out my
Instagram Stories.
My Instagram is @rachelaust.
All right, so let's get started.
The first thing that I
want to talk to you guys
about is the space that
you're putting you plants in.
Natural light is pretty
essential to indoor plants.
Some can do pretty well in dim
surroundings, but most of them
do need a fairly consistent
source of indirect light,
especially in order to be able
to flourish and grow well.
Make sure you're checking
your plant's care label
just so you know
exactly what it's after,
or you can look it
up online as well
and see if there's any
special needs that it has.
Things like succulents and
cacti do need continuous light.
And plants with a
decent amount of foliage
need roughly six to eight
hours of sunlight per day.
And remember, don't choose
a space for the plant.
Choose a plant that
suits the space.
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Here are some things you
might want to consider.
Now, I try to get by with
as little as possible.
But the more plants
I have, the more
I have needed, unfortunately.
So to keep my soils
out of the weather,
I do have these little
containers with scoops in them
just to make sure that they're
not getting moldy or gross.
I have some shears, but
your scissors will do fine--
some twine for tying things onto
bamboo or moss-growing poles.
Now, I've gotten away
with it for ages.
You don't need one.
But a plant mister is great.
And I've started using
it since my plants have
been getting a bit bigger.
You may also want
a watering can.
Not a necessity-- I have had
plants for years and years,
and I only invested into
one of these this year.
It is a water meter.
But this one also measures
pH of the soil and the light.
And what you do--
so I found it on eBay.
It was $15.
Place that in the soil.
And as you can see, this
plant does not need watering.
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OK, so you can get
some ideas, I'm
just going to run
around the house.
I'm going to show you a
few easy-care options.
And then I'm also
going to show you
some of my personal favorites.
The first one is
probably familiar
if you've dabbled in
plants a little bit.
And it's a devil's ivy.
I've had this one
for two years, and it
was living in a really shallow,
drainless pot, actually.
It was living in a clear--
it was like a fishbowl.
And a friend gifted
it to me years ago.
So I've had that for a while.
And I realized that
it stopped growing.
So I replanted it into this pot,
and it's trailing down again.
These guys are really
easy to care for,
and they come in lots of
different variegations as well.
So I've got another
one over here.
And, yeah, there's heaps
of different kinds,
and they're relatively
inexpensive too, like even
for the variegated ones.
In the same league is
heartleaf philodendron.
I have a couple of these guys.
So you might see a few different
ones throughout the video,
but they're really
easy to care for.
And they'll pretty
much tell you when
they need to be watered anyway.
You'll see the leaves
just start to droop.
Very fast growing, and I
think they're really pretty.
Swiss cheese, you
may be used to seeing
my other big Swiss
cheese in my kitchen,
which is growing up
a tomato trellis.
This guy is actually a
cutting from that plant.
And they grow
really, really fast.
And I just find them very
interesting to look at as well.
It's super fun watching
the leaves unfold too.
Then, of course,
we've got Monstera.
These are probably
one of my favorites.
I find them so impressive, just
with the really large leaves.
They grow up these poles.
I do have a variegated version
as well, which you don't even
want to know how hard
this thing was to find.
It was obnoxiously difficult.
So it's really small.
It's only just starting
to get the leaf shape.
They love climbing.
So if you give them
somewhere to climb,
they're just going
to go straight up.
Then we have a ZZ plant.
This thing will practically
grow in a cupboard.
And if you're
killing one of these,
you're doing something wrong.
These things can just
be neglected and thrive.
OK, now let's talk
favorites because I know you
don't want to have favorites.
But there's always something
that's just very interesting
to look at.
So that is Oxalis triangularis.
This is-- I don't know.
I just love it.
It shuts.
The leaves actually
shut at nighttime.
They just sort of close down.
And then in the morning,
they open up again.
It is a bold plant.
And these aren't flowers.
It will flower as well.
It gets these little
purple flowers.
These are the leaves.
They do go dormant
every few years as well.
So if it just shuts down and
needs a rest for a while,
don't think it's dead.
They do go dormant.
Excuse my lighting
cable, but I need
that for filming something.
So I'm not-- maybe I
shouldn't-- oh, whatever.
Eh, you guys get the point.
Anyway, this is a fiddle-leaf
philodendron, whose scientific
name I'm not even going to
attempt to pronounce because I
will absolutely butcher it.
I love them-- got
all these new shoots
all over it, which is
just very exciting,
new leaves and things.
And this thing,
it just takes off.
Again, it's one of
those plants where
if you mount it
on something, it's
just going to climb
right up there,
and which I think looks great.
And I'm just-- put it
next to a little fiddle.
Now we have Pileas that
my mom actually gave me
this one for my birthday.
And this one's growing
really quickly too.
It seems to love
this terracotta pot.
I have a few other ones still
in plastic nursery pots.
This one is growing
a lot more rapidly.
And I find they're just
very whimsical and very
fun to look at.
Now, I've got my Rhaph, or
Rhaphidophora tetrasperma.
I have another one there,
but I do like this one.
It's much lighter green
than my other one.
It doesn't live on
the table, but I'm
going to be repotting it.
And it's growing
too fast, and I want
to get a proper moss pole
in there for it to climb up.
And I just want to see
how tall it can get.
So, yeah, I'll show
you how to repot that
later on in the video.
One option that you can
use is shopping online.
But this can be
a bit of a gamble
sometimes as you can
never really guarantee
how well things will
turn out to look like.
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There's always other options if
you don't want to shop online.
You can head down to a
plant shop like this one
where you know they've
looked after the plants well.
But I will show you
a couple of things
that you'll want
to look out for.
So I am in a store called POP
Wilder, which is in St. Kilda.
And I have used them
myself for plant needs.
They're brilliant.
So of one of the
things that you're
going to want to look at in
your plants is the foliage.
Is it actually healthy?
So we want to make sure that
there's no signs of bugs.
So if you're in a
plant shop like this,
you know that they're probably
pretty well looked after,
and they come from good growers.
So you're looking at a fairly
stable plant and something
that will translate
well into you home.
But one of the things that
you want to look out for
is that your plant doesn't
have too many brown spots
on the leaves and
also that it doesn't
have mold or any other
signs of infection.
Check for a good root system.
This is incredibly
important when it
comes to choosing your plant.
And it may not be a good idea
to pull the plant out of the pot
and have a look because
someone might get mad at you.
But just see if you
can see the roots
from the bottom of the pot.
Also, just take a quick
second to make sure
that there's no insects, or
mildew, or mold on the plants.
You might like to keep
a tag, or, like I do,
I have a little
album in my phone.
So I can even keep photos
of the tags or screenshots
of the plant just so
I know what it is just
in case I forget
the name, and I need
to figure something
out about it,
I can always Google it later on.
A side note, the plants
that come in nursery pots
may be comfortable in there.
And you might not want to
actually repot them yet
because, already, transitioning
the plant from where
it was to your place is
a bit of a shock for it.
So sometimes, if we get home
and we repot it straight away,
it can't deal with that.
And I remember
this was a mistake
that I used to make as well.
I used to go and pick plants
up, and then bring them home,
and repot them straight
away and wonder why
they weren't doing too well.
If it comes in a pot,
leave it in the pot
until you need to repot it.
For the meantime, like if you
don't want this on display,
simply get a pot
to use as a cover.
Pots can come in a variety
of different materials.
And it is important to note
that the material your pot was
made from may affect the
watering needs of your plants.
So for example, Pileas
love properly drained soil,
so therefore they thrive
in terracotta pots.
I also love having
clay and ceramic pots.
It's no problem keeping
them in the nursery pots
until they're ready
to be upgraded.
OK, so like I said
earlier in the video,
I am going to be
repotting this plant.
Just personally, I do like to
let them dry out a little bit
before I repot rather than
dealing with all the wet soil
because then I'm going to give
it a thorough water-through
once I've repotted it.
The reason that I'm
going to repot it
is because, like I said, it's
growing really, really quickly.
And I want to give it
something more solid
to grow up rather than a
bamboo little stake thing.
So I'll be giving it
a proper moss pole.
So when it comes
to repotting, you
want to choose a pot that's
like-- if you can see this,
if I hold it up
to the same level,
it's about an inch bigger
on all sides of the pot.
That's going to give it a
little bit more room to grow.
You don't want to go too big.
I feel like this
is almost too big.
But, yeah, if I was to go
any bigger, what can happen
is that the plant might
not use all of the water.
Water can become
logged in the soil,
and I will talk about
soil in just a minute.
And it can lead to overwatering,
and it can lead to root rot.
So you want to make sure that
the pot is appropriately sized
so the plant can use the
water that you give it.
When we're repotting,
we want to make sure
that we are loosening the
roots within the soil.
That way, we're encouraging
them to spread out
a little further when we do
pot them into the new soil.
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And blend is definitely
the secret to life.
Well, I think so anyways.
A few things that I
like to have on hand
is your standard
organic potting mix.
I like to have charcoal,
perlite, peat moss,
orchid bark, and cacti soil.
The reason for this
is I find those ones
to be the most versatile.
And I sort of eyeball
out a mix when
I'm setting up a new plant.
Just using potting mix alone
can result in some compaction.
So sometimes it would be hard
for plants' roots to grow,
and sometimes the
water doesn't drain out
as well as it needs to.
Also, just take note,
see this moss pole here.
I'm putting that because
this Rhaph has aerial roots,
so it will grow up the pole.
I like to keep the poles wet.
So whenever I water the plant,
I will water the moss pole.
Or if I go around
in the morning,
if I'm doing some misting,
I will mist the moss pole.
The reason for this
is that aerial roots
are attracted to humidity.
So it's going to be more
attractive to grow up
that if we can keep
the humidity there.
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Many potting mixes do contain
a slow-release fertilizer
in them, but it is still
necessary to feed your plants
to make sure they're getting
the nutrients that they need.
So because I'm just
at POP Wilder still,
Mish very kindly put on display
the ones that they use here.
So this brand is called
new Munash Organics.
They're Australian made.
This is a foliage
spray, which you
use roughly every two weeks.
And this is a soil
food, which you would
use every two months or so.
I have this stinky
fish mix which I use,
and I dilute it in
my watering can.
So just put a tiny bit
in, like half a cap full,
and then fill the
rest with water.
Or I have a compost bin.
So with the compost bin--
I'm not going to show you in
there because it's obviously
food waste.
But, yeah, so the
food waste goes in,
and you put the
compost stuff with it.
There's a little
grate at the bottom,
and then it creates a liquid.
And as you can see, there's
a little, itty-bitty tap
down at the bottom.
I don't have any
ready at the moment
because I did use it previously.
But with that tap,
I can empty it.
And it creates a liquid, and,
again, dilute that into water,
and then I can use
that to fertilize
my plants if I want to.
So, obviously, I don't have
this ready all the time,
so that's why I have
the fish mix as well.
Hello, dog.
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If I wasn't renting,
I'm sure I could
be a lot more creative with
how my plants are set up
and probably end up drilling
some shelves into the wall
or something.
But this is what
we've got for now.
So have a look around.
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OK, so when it comes to the
care and the maintenance
of these guys, it depends how
seriously you want to take it.
Because there are quite a
few things that you can do,
like we're talking
about humidifying,
heat mats, pebble trays,
all of that sort of thing.
And I feel like,
personally, I don't
want to buy heaps and
heaps and heaps of stuff.
One little thing that
I did want you to note
is that with a lot
of your plants,
you'll see they start
growing in one direction.
So every now and
again, you just want
to make sure you're
turning them around
so they can get even sunlight.
So even with ones like this,
I'm just going to rotate it.
And as you can see, I've
still got a lot of my plants
in their nursery pots.
I water my plants once
every week, roughly,
depending on how they need,
like I'll go around twice a week
and check.
But usually, it's like once a
week that they need a water.
When it comes to plants, there
are no hard-and-fast rules,
like the things that you read
are just suggestions, and feel
free to treat them that way.
Like I said, I had that devil's
ivy living in a glass fishbowl
with no drainage for two
years, and it was fine.
When I do my watering, I like
to also go around and just check
on the leaves of the plants.
And that's when I'll also do
a wipe-down of the big leaves.
I feel like the
little ones like this,
they don't really tend
to catch too much dust.
So they're normally
all right as they are.
But, yeah, these big guys
definitely need a wipe-down.
And even like the big Pilea,
I'll give it a wipe-down.
Because think of it
like a solar panel.
If a solar panel
is dusty and dirty,
it's not going to absorb
the amount of light
that it has the potential to.
I like to water
early in the morning.
The reason for this
being it gives the plant
the whole day to have light on
it to help evaporate and absorb
the water.
Now, if you don't
have a moisture meter,
there are a few
ways you can check
if your plant needs watering.
One, look at how
wilted that is, like
you can see it desperately
needs a drink because the leaves
should be sitting up like this.
And I feel like you can
tell when a plant's happy
because it looks like it
needs to ask you a question.
I'll give you some examples.
They just look like they're
trying to say something.
Hello.
Another thing you can do if
you don't have a moisture meter
is you can simply put
your finger into the soil.
See how the top
of this looks dry?
But if I place my
finger in this soil,
I can feel that it has actually
got moisture in it still.
So I'm not going to
water this one yet.
These guys do like to
be dried out thoroughly.
Most plants will come
with a little name
tag that tends to have care
instructions with it as well.
But obviously,
when it is warmer,
the plant can use more water.
So it may need more
frequent watering.
And when it comes
to winter, you might
want to step it back a notch.
A similar thing goes
with fertilizer.
I have some plants
that I wouldn't
fertilize at all in the winter.
But in summer, they go nuts.
Something to know as
well is whether you
have central heating or
air conditioning units
or things like that.
If a plant is directly in
a line of an air cone--
might not be too happy.
If they're reasonably far enough
away, they'll probably be OK.
But you've just got to be
mindful of the temperatures
that they're in.
And as well in winter, if
you're using a heating system,
that can dry out the air
a lot and, therefore,
dry out the soil of the plant.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Sorry, if I sound a bit echoey,
but I'm in the bathroom.
These are some of the ones
that like top-down watering.
I have noticed while
I do water a lot
in the bathtub, the
reason that I do that is
so it can drain out completely.
So I either do the
bathtub or a sink.
I just fill the sink
with some water,
set these in, and make sure
they're sitting in properly.
And what so it will do is
absorb some of the moisture.
If you have any extra tips,
feel free to leave them
in the comments section
because I am always
open to learning new things.
Now I want to talk
to you about leaves.
OK, so I already talked
to you about wilting.
Another thing that you
might see is puckering.
Actually, I have a
better example than this.
This guy needs a bit
of a clean, which
I'll do next time I water it.
But this is an Indian rope.
So it is a type of hoya.
This is also a hoya.
This is also a hoya.
They hold water for a
long period of time.
And something that I've noticed,
so they have quite hard leaves.
When they need a
water, this guy will
start to get little
wrinkles, and the leaves
will become soft.
Now, when I got this
guy posted to me,
he had brown along the edges.
Because this is all just
a bit of troubleshooting,
so if it's crispy,
apparently that
means it's not getting
enough moisture or water.
If they were squishy or really
dark, and they just look--
easiest way to explain
is that they look rotted.
I don't have any
examples to show you,
but that could typically
be a sign of overwatering.
It could either go yellow or
it could go brown, and still
be kind of squishy to the touch,
and just not look healthy.
And that's something
that you don't want.
I think another important
thing to remember
when it comes to plant
care is that plants
live in a circular cycle.
Dying pieces of a plant
are part of its lifecycle.
A leaf is not going
to live forever.
If the whole plant looks like
it's in trouble, then, yeah,
like jump in there,
and fix what's wrong.
But if one leaf is
dying, that's OK.
Check for new growth.
If there's new signs
of growth, then you're
probably heading in the
right direction anyway.
You want the plant to put
its energy into new growth
and into getting bigger.
You might also want to
consider what type of water
that you're using.
My guys are totally
fine with tap water,
but that's going to depend
on where you live as well.
Tap water, obviously,
does have extra things put
in it, like fluoride,
and chlorine,
and all those sorts of things.
So see how your
plants go with it.
I mean, I've read other people
using things like distilled
water, catching rainwater and
using that for your plants,
or--
you know, do what feels
comfortable for you
and what works for your plants.
Now I want to tell you guys
about some common pests.
I've only experienced one,
which was fungus gnats.
And I got rid of those with
some sticky yellow sheets
and also using some
Venus flytraps.
So these look like tiny
little black flies,
and they hover over the soil.
And they lay their eggs
in the soil of the plants.
They don't really
cause any major damage,
but you don't want them around.
They're just gross.
The next one-- I'm not going
to draw the actual bug itself.
I'm going to show
you how to spot it.
These are mealy bugs.
They're tiny, and they're
white, and they're fuzzy.
And they feed
underneath the leaves.
And you'll see
these like cottony,
white areas start to
appear on your plant.
Before you going nuts
on the heavy chemicals,
make sure you're trying
washing your plants down first.
Another common one
is spider mites,
and these may look like tiny
specks on the back of the leaf,
or very fine webbing on
the undersides of leaves
and around the stems,
and things like that.
There are lots of other
different types of pests
as well, but I thought I
would just share with you
three very common ones.
When you are doing the rounds
and watering your plants,
make sure you check the leaves.
You want to look out for
signs of these things.
Because if one plant has
it, it can very easily
spread it onto other things.
So if you do spot
something, you're
going to want to move
it out into quarantine,
treat the issue.
But if you did have lots of
other plants close to it,
you're probably going
to want to treat them
as well just for the
sake of prevention--
so just making sure that
you're checking those leaves
because you don't want
that sort of situation
to get out of control and
infect all of your plants.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Propagation is so fun.
But make sure you look up what
your plant needs because they
do prefer different things.
So there is, of course,
the water method
where you will allow
a cutting or a slip
to grow roots in water.
You can also use lightweight,
expanded clay aggregate,
which is like semi-hydroponics.
You can use sphagnum
moss and allow
it to grow roots in there.
Make sure that it's
growing proper roots
like an inch or two long before
you're potting it into soil.
You can see here, this Pilea,
it propagates differently.
It grows little
pups on the site.
And then we have nodes.
So some plants
like this one, you
can see there's these little
aerial roots sticking off.
And what we want
to do is we want
to cut the plant above
that node because that's
where the root is
going to grow out of.
You'll see a lot of really
common indoor plants have this.
And they are so
easy to propagate.
So what you would do
is cut above that node,
place it in water, allow
it to grow roots, and then
plant it up.
These are things that
I've learned through trial
and error, through
reading, or advice
that I've been given
from other plant lovers.
I hope you're feeling a
little bit more confident
now in keeping your
green friends alive.
Some of it is going
to come down to doing
a little bit of research and
maybe a bit of trial and error
if you see a problem and you
need to try and figure out
what it is.
Once you overcome
that general anxiety
of trying not to kill
something, it's actually really,
really enjoyable.
And I feel like having that
little bit of gardening
time, like indoor
gardening time, is
such a great way for me
to relax during the week.
It's just like a couple
of blocks of time
where I can't be
on my phone, and I
can't be doing
other things, and I
have to be solely
focused on the task.
Anyway, I hope you're
doing really well,
and I will catch you
guys in my next upload.
Bye.
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