Nathalie

Location: Poland | Instagram: @variegated_velvet

Nathalie’s photography captures her plants so well and you cannot argue that her plants aren’t thriving! I’m always shook by her account and have spoken to her more recently since I’ve converted my plants into pon. I’ll be honest, I’ve always been against the idea of converting to pon as I’ve previously had a bad experience with leca, but looking at different species growing beautifully in this particular substrate on her page, I changed my mind real quick. Let’s get to know her more!

Belle: I’ll start with the basic question I ask everyone, what’s your day job?

Nathalie: Nothing very exciting, I own a real estate company.

Belle: When did you get into plants and what made you start collecting more rare specimens?

Nathalie: One of my first plants I ever bought was actually a variegated monstera, I imported it from Sweden around 3 years ago. A year later I came across aroid Facebook groups and got really hooked, before that I had no idea plants would become one of my biggest hobbies.

Belle: Have you always grown your plants in pon, if not what made you decide to move all your plants into this substrate?

Nathalie: I switched quite early, I grew my plants in aroid-mix for maybe 8 months but I am terrible at watering, I tend to underwater plants on a regular basis and this was the main reason for looking for a new medium. Aroid-mix is messy and it's easy to get these little black flies in it, I really didn't like both these things and discovering pon was a dream come true, a solution for all my problems.

Belle: A common question I now get asked after converting, is there any plants that struggled in pon?

Nathalie: You can grow anything in pon as long as the roots are good and you water them accordingly to their needs.

Plants without healthy roots can struggle, plants with old, dry-ish roots that grew in soil previously I find the most difficult.

Belle: Do you have a common procedure when you move plants into pon? And what conditions are your plant in currently?

Nathalie: It really depends, I like moving plants that rooted in water or perlite into pon, the transition is extremely smooth then, if I buy plants that grew in another substrate previously, I clean the roots carefully, if they dont look as great as I would hope, I root the plant a little bit in moss or perlite, sometimes I remove most roots and root in water again just not to risk root rot in pon, as I mentioned, semi-good roots are asking for trouble when moving into pon especially in the colder months, pon is a much colder medium. If the roots are great after cleaning, I move them into pon and water from the top only enough for the water tank to be half full, the plant won’t drink so much at the beginning anyway and too much water can lead to root rot.

The conditions in my house are different in every room but most plants are in the greenhouse and in the living room. The greenhouse is warmer and more humid, an average of 22 degrees and 75-85% humidity. The plants in the living room adapted to tough conditions and are doing great in low temperatures from 17 to 19 degrees and humidity drops down to 40%. It's really amazing how well they do despite the terrible conditions.

Belle: I’ve seen that you FINALLY gave in and got Hoyas lol! What are 3 favourite Hoyas in your collection? How are you finding them compared to other plants you’ve collected? (e.g. Philodendrons, Anthuriums, Epipremnum)

Nathalie: That’s a tough one, I have more hoyas than anthuriums now and picking only 3 is not easy but I love my different Clemensiorums, Erythrinas and Undulatas the most I think.

I find hoyas very different to aroids, they are little divas, if you think the queen anthurium is tough, get an elliptica.
I actually struggled the most with hoyas when moving from soil into pon, they all hated the change and lost all roots, I now always root them again in perlite before moving into pon. They also like to drop a baby leaf here and there for no reason, unless the reason is lifting it up for watering, I now just watch them from far away, water a little bit every 2 weeks and never touch the new growth, they still stress me a lot!

Belle: Is there any plant you struggle with in your collection? (rooting, care in general)

Nathalie: Not really. I try not to get the very demanding ones, the ones everyone says are a nightmare, because I know they won't be happy here. Most plants that died on me were hoya cuttings that wouldn't root, aroids are so much easier and once they get used to your conditions, they will be happy.

Belle: Since you’ve started collecting plants, and being a part of this community, what are a few valuable lessons you’ve learnt from the experience? (It could either be buying, selling, caring for them, being a part of this community in general)

Nathalie: Being part of the plant community is just like being in any other community, there are ups and downs, struggle, joy, mean people, good people, the most important lesson was to remember why I am in it. So leave the negativity behind, grow beautiful plants and enjoy them, nothing else should really matter.

Belle: What’s one key advice you’d give people who have joined the plant community?

Nathalie: Observe. I learned the most from observing my plants, making tons of mistakes and learning from it. There is not one recipe for success, it all depends on you, your conditions and your specific plant.

Belle: What are your plant goals for 2021? (It can be wishlist plants, wanting to pollinate more etc.)

Nathalie: Definitely trying to pollinate and grow anthuriums from seeds!