It shouldn’t ever feel like a chore, feel chaotic, overwhelming or stress you out.

A few of you may know already from following me that I’m all about making this plant hobby as efficient and as low maintenance as possible. I want to use my time to do other things, and I personally don’t want to spend hours on plant care. It shouldn’t ever feel like a chore, feel chaotic, overwhelming, or stress you out. This hobby is meant to bring you so much peace and calm into your space. 

After a year and a half of being on this plant journey, I’ve had plants come in and out of my care. But there is nothing wrong with that, as you need to get a feel of all the different types of plants out there and be honest with yourself — what types of plants you like despite the trend, what plants suits your environment (humidity, light) and also lifestyle (can it tolerate neglect if you’re busy?). At times, I did have more plants, but I also get to a point where I would resent them and sell them off.

But two main things that trigger this overwhelming feeling inside: 

a) When I have too many plants

b) When plant care takes too much time, I have to compromise other areas of my life. 

Too many plants: My number is around 50-60 plants, I’d say, that’s my max, even with the help of Lechuza Pon. Before transferring my plants into Lechuza pon and a self-watering system, I would definitely say my limit was 40… then I get all hot and bothered, lol. But everyone has their own limit. You just have to figure out when you start feeling a little uncomfortable in your own space. For me, my flat started looking a bit messy, there’s not enough space to do normal things, there’s some plants I looked at and resent, I can’t think because it just feels too cluttered. I know some people are absolutely fine with having a beautiful jungle in their home, but I’m definitely of the opposite of that, well… I’d say I can deal with organised mess. 

When plant care takes too much time: This is when I look at my plants and roll my eyes or do a massive sigh because it’s such a big job. It might be carrying plants to the sink to water, cleaning the cabinet, cleaning the humidifier, checking for pests, checking each plant if they need watering or not and the list goes on. There’s a lot when you actually sit down and think about it. Sometimes you might look at your watch and think OMG it’s been an hour, or two hours, which sometimes mean compromising other areas of your life like exercising, work, daily tasks, speaking to family, or friends. Some people might allocate time per week to handle plant care, which is also a more systematic way to deal with it. This definitely comes with how many plants you own because the job gets bigger or smaller depending on that number. 

There are obviously ways around this. My biggest solution was moving my plants into Lechuza pon substrate and a self-watering system alongside the Ikea cabinet, which holds the temperature and humidity extremely well. But what I’m trying to get across here is, you don’t have to own ALL the plants in this world to gain respect within the community. I have more respect for people who can grow their plants out beautifully and get bigger leaves in their care. Don’t ever let social media pressure you into thinking you NEED to buy a trending or rare plant to gain validation; just make sure you truly like it.

You do you!