I feel like this ‘plant journey’ is something everyone is going through. Still, each individual will experience different things depending on when they’ve entered the community, their plant interests, and how you approach this hobby. I honestly didn’t think I would be this deep into this plant life, but I now truly understand how having greenery in your space can be a beautiful experience. I am not a botanist, and I’m sure many of you who entered this world isn’t either, meaning we fully rely on our personal experiences, wins, the action of risk-taking, and making mistakes to learn. I’ve not collected for long — well, I don’t consider 2 years as a very long (I started in Feb 2018) period as there are many other collectors, botanists, and plant lovers who have been a part of this world for decades. But all I can say at this present moment I feel like I’m getting the hang of it and finally have a healthy balanced relationship with buying plants, caring for them as a plant enthusiast.

Ten things I’ve learnt:

1. Don’t stress over the small imperfections. As humans, we have flaws, so don’t expect your plants to be 100% perfect for Instagram. Plants in nature aren’t perfect too, and they go through phases of losing leaves then growing new ones — this doesn’t make a plant ugly when it’s got marks or scars from shipping. We see variegation (which is essentially a defect) as something beautiful and sometimes of higher value, so change your mindset; some imperfections are just a part of nature.

2. Understand how many plants you can handle. You don’t need all the plants in the world. I have around 50-60 in my collection right now (excluding seedlings and hoyas — they live on neglect). The less you have, the more time you have to care for them truly. I know other people can handle more, so this is just my personal limit. Taking care of your plants shouldn’t be a chore; it shouldn’t make you feel overwhelmed or stressed — it should bring peace and calm into and around your space.

3. Understand what plants fit with your lifestyle and home. Don’t bring plants in that will die. Research setups that could help make it more efficient, making it easier for you and ensuring it doesn’t compromise time from other areas of your life.

4. Being a plant parent means being a patient plant parent. THEY WILL GROW! But only if you put in the care they need to thrive.

5. Genuinely think about how much money you can spend on plants, make sure you budget, and consider your income and the money you have left to spend after recurring payments such as rent and bills. This also means keeping track of money spent on plant accessories such as substrate, pots, fertiliser, grow lights, heat mat, etc. When I see something I like or know I want more liquid money to spend on plants — I see it as saving for a holiday, for example, where you might need to become stricter in other areas such as not eating out/ordering takeaways and cook at home or meal prep 7 days a week or spend less on buying clothes. I know that buying plants can also be seen as an investment, but don’t squeeze yourself dry.

6. Decide whether you want to choose quantity over quality or quality over quantity. I’m not saying hard to find plants = quality; quality, in this case, is your collection you are truly content with. For example, 10 plants at £20 each = £200, an alternative to this is 2 plants for £100 each = £200 or 1 plant for £200

   or 10 plants that are £120 each = £1,2000 — 2 plants at £600 each = £1,2000 or 1 plant at £1,200. This has shifted my spending quite a bit last year and led to my 2021 plant goals!

7. Sometimes it is better to wait for the right plant for you rather than spend your hard-earned money on a plant you want. A few times, I’ve taken maybe a year to find a Philodendron Majestic and a while to find a Philodendron Burle Marx Fantasy. And you know what, there’s still LOADS of Anthuriums I would love to own, but I can wait it out, and I don’t want to spend ludicrous money on it. I sometimes see it as a waiting game because I know if it’s my plant, it’ll come to me under good circumstances. By this, I mean not buying from a shit seller just because you want that plant and it ends up dying, buying an unrooted cutting when you’re not confident whether you cant root it or not, etc. I promise that it will feel so much more rewarding if you wait.

8. Remember that this is not a competition. If you love a specific type of plant that makes you happy, if you are happy with what you own, don’t let Instagram or other people make you feel shit about yourself. In the past, I did worry because when I post my rubber plant on IG, for example, I rarely get any likes and stress about it— but like, I LOVE MY RUBBER PLANT lol, so now I post what I want because why should I care if other people like it or not? MY collection and what makes ME happy — and social media is just a platform to share that. Put out content you love, not what you think other people would love; that way, it would be a more authentic, organic, and enjoyable experience for you.

9. Adding on to my previous point on social media — we are a part of a massive community, which means we are a part of this cross-section of people from different geographic regions, cultures, ages, how people have grown up, backgrounds, careers, etc. Besides being kind, because you have NO idea who that person is and assumptions can be easily made online, remember that some plants are easier to find/might be more affordable in different areas of the world. Additionally, there are people in this community who are in their 20’s who might need to save for a car, house, future, wedding, kids, for example, where their money is and should be prioritised in these areas (me included) instead of spending it all on plants. But don’t forget that there are also people in this community who have achieved all these milestones already, or some might not want kids or don’t have dependents, so they have more liquidity.

10. Finally, you don’t need to have the rarest plant — being able to grow whatever plant into a healthy big beautiful specimen over time because of the time you put into it; your love and care are a lot more impressive and respectful, in my view. And please really think about it whether you are in it for the trend and easy cash (flipping, selling shit quality plants) or you’re in this for the long run.