How it began
(or, going from 1 to 120 houseplants)
When I tell people about my houseplants, they will often confide in me that they are "bad with houseplants". "Everything dies,", they'll say. "I have a black thumb, instead of a green one". I would use these exact words too, until I discovered the joy of taking care of houseplants about six years ago.
Until early 2016, I didn't care about houseplants. My office mate had a large epipremnum that with its lengthy branches stretching halfway across the office freaked me out. I wouldn't even touch it.
I remember buying two fairly large succulents a few years earlier, and they seemed to do well, even though I only watered them about four times a year.
Then there was the plant I briefly owned, a spathiphyllum (peace lily) given to me as a housewarming present by an ex-boyfriend. Once we broke up, I quickly moved the plant--now known as 'the ex-plant'--to my office, and then on to the office of a colleague who was eager for more plants in her space.
I also had an expensive orchid for a while, in an even more expensive pot, bought from a fancy flower store in my street. Once it lost its flowers, I had no idea what to do with it, and either drowned it, or killed it with inattention.
So, let's say that that houseplants and I didn't exactly get along.
I was so bad at taking care of plants that even the fake plastic plant on my desk spontaneously shed its leaves.
The gateway cactus
In May 2016 I was signed off work due to burnout. At night I'd lie in bed thinking and worrying about work. Who would take over my classes? When would I be well enough to go back? How would I know if I was well enough? What if they wanted me to go back before that time?
After weeks of listening to me worry night after night, my partner turned to me and said "Don't think about work. Think about anything else. Think about cacti".
So a week later, J. bought me a cactus. We bought it at a really lovely store a few streets away from where we both lived. The young owner gave me detailed tips about the cactus which I still follow: water cacti once every 2 weeks between April and October, and let them rest in winter.
That cactus turned out to be a gateway plant.
Learning about houseplants (and how not to kill them)
Today, I have around 120 houseplants. I still have that cactus, and those two succulents--including babies of both plants that are now creating their own babies.
Along the way, and especially in the beginning, my excitement was outpaced by my absolute lack of knowledge about what a certain plant needed. I tend to underwater rather than overwater, and killed several plants that way, including a beautiful calathea musaica.
My flat had large windows in both the living room and the bedroom. The living room was flooded by light for most of the day, and felt like a furnace in summer. A large tree stood in front of my north-facing bedroom window, and with its high ceilings and ample size, it was a cool and more shadowy room.
I killed another calathea and a peperomia by putting them in a corner of this room, way too far away from the window that wasn't letting in a lot of light anyway.
By the time the plants were dying it was mostly too late to do something. I didn't know how to interpret the leaves curling on the calathea musaica. I didn't know that calatheas like to have moist soil.
Since then, however, I've begun to absolutely love taking care of plants. I tried to find out as much as possible about my plants. I read books, watched videos and spoke to plant experts. I experimented with watering, and with putting plants in different parts of my house.
Whenever I encounter a houseplant in another space I have to keep myself from poking a finger into the soil to test how it's doing. Or, to take a cutting from plants in public spaces.
It's the observing that helped me the most. AÂ year or so after the cactus, I got a large second-hand epipremnum. It had pride of place on my livingroom mantle, and it thrived (and continues to do so). It's such an easy plant to take care of: when it's too dark, it loses its patterning. When it's too dry, the leaves hang, though they perk up again within hours of watering.
I even got comfortable repotting and propagating plants. I propagated dozens of pilea babies and gifted them to friends.
I've loved deepening my knowledge of houseplants. I love learning about them, and also learning what they need in my particular home. You can find out a lot about houseplants online and from a grower, but the real test is how they do in your home. That figuring out of what a plant needs, and watching it grow, is one of the most relaxing things I know.
Do you have a collection of houseplants too? If so, how did you get into it? Or are you convinced that you have a "black thumb"? Do share in the comments.