Tag: gardening

Plant Parenthood Made Simple: Apps for Keeping Your Plants Healthy

Plants not only drastically elevate the aesthetics of your interior decoration, but they also come with many other advantages such as better air quality and reduced stress levels, anxiety and fatigue. If you decide to do some home gardening and grow some herbs or flowering plants, our selection of plant apps will help you to take care of your greeneries even if it is your first time doing it.

Blossom

Catered to both experienced gardeners and newbies, Blossom holds a Webby award for being one of the best apps for taking care of plants. It is programmed to help you through every step of growing your plant. It includes features such as setting reminders for watering your plants based on the size of the pot and the weather and identifying any disease your plant may have and providing tips to nurse them. However, if you will need more assistance, the app even has botanical experts who are online day and night to assist you.

For those curious minds who would like to learn more about their plants or the ones growing in their neighbourhood, Blossom knows about 12 thousand plant species so all you need to do is click some pictures and the app will use its artificial intelligence technology to tell you everything you will need to know about the plant.

Download on ios or Android.
Price: HK$29.90/month

Plantin

Herbs, shrubs, succulents, flowers or whichever type of plant you own or would like to learn about, you can undoubtedly rely on this app called Plantin which literally has a database consisting of information about more than 16 thousand plants. With such wide data, this app can effortlessly aid with taking care of both healthy plants and dying ones which will need extra care and attention.

Plantin’s main goal is to make gardening more fun and for this, the app is built in a manner that makes plant parenting easy for everyone. All you need to do is scan your plant and the app will let you know the ideal environmental conditions required for it to grow well. It focuses on factors like sunlight, humidity, temperature and more. Simultaneously, plant parents can also communicate with other botanical enthusiasts to share their gardening journey.

Download on ios or Android.
Price: HK$778

Gardenia

Gardenia is an app that is most suited for house plants like herbs and vegetables you would typically grow on your terrace or balcony. Once you let the app know which plant you own in your garden, it will give you tailored information on the right portion of water, the proper fertilisers and pesticides and even the perfect placement for your potted plants so that it is exposed to the correct amount of sunlight.

Whether you have one plant or more, the app has an inbuilt tracker which allows you to set alarms in order to care for them individually. In addition to all this, Gardenia also pays attention to the daily weather and other environmental conditions of your surroundings so that the guidance provided by the app is more tailored and accurate.

Download on ios or Android.
Price: Free

PlantSnap

With an aim to get the younger generations interested in gardening, PlantSnap is an app that has collaborated with Snapchat so that you can record and share your gardening journey with your friends using cool snaps. On top of that, PantSnap has one of the largest collections of plants in its database with the app being able to recognise more than 600 thousand plants while also translating the details into nearly 40 languages thus making the app user-friendly for more people.

However, PlantSnap is limited to only helping with the identification and cannot actually help you with taking care of the plants. But, given that the app can apparently identify 90 per cent of the species around the world, this could be a go-to source if the other apps don’t have information about your plant in them.

Download on ios or Android.
Price: Free

Green thumb success: How not to kill your plants!

 When COVID-19 lockdowns started around the world, some people adopted a pet to fill the social void. Other’s got a houseplant. Or four. Or 70! No, seriously. Scroll through Instagram and you’ll notice that plants are so trendy right now. Dense snake plants to lush monstera, cute little pileas or whimsical vines – gardening has become the latest form of self-care during the peak COVID-period and plants, the newest decorating trend.  And not just for aesthetic value, there are a variety of reasons to add a splash of green in every room of your house – they purify air, lessen the toxin content, some have aromatherapy benefits and are a such a visual and visceral treat. 
 
If constant love and care is something you’re incapable of, yellowed, drooping leaves, sickened roots are downright daunting and you’re guilty of constant planticide, then allow us to draw an in-depth guide to guarantee a green thumb. And remember, houseplants thrive on a calculated regime of neglect and minimal intervention. 
 
1. Choose your plant and pot wisely
 
 
Keeping a living creature alive is no mean feat. Get acquainted with the sunlight condition at your apartment and purchase plants accordingly. If your home is not blessed with the rays (or straight-up gothic?) look for plants that thrive in arid conditions and shade. Knowing the environment on offer is the first step to keeping those beautiful greens alive for years. 
 
Purchasing pots according to the watering needs of the plant is equally important. Plants which require excessive moisture will grow better in plastic pots. The porous nature of the clay pots are apt if you are a nervous waterer. Depending on the size of the plant and how much you want it to grow, buy a planter in between six and 18 inches – that’s ample amount of space for the roots to dig in. 
 
2. The top cause of plant death is overwatering
 
 
Stick your fingers in the soil unto the second knuckle – if it’s damp then wait for a day before watering. Dry and powdery sand means it’s time to give some liquid therapy. Research the plants and the care regimen they require, but as a rule of thumb, lush foliage drinks up more water than let’s say, cacti – especially in growth season. The best time to water your greens is between six to 10 am when evaporation is low, so the soil stays damp for longer. How much and how often you water the plants depends upon a lot of external factors – humidity, sunlight, type of plant and pot – but the solution remains the same, check the soil to see if it’s dry. 
Top tip: Underwatering doesn’t kill plants as much as overwatering but never wait for the leaves to wilt, that causes plant stress and impacts growth.
 
3. Positioning and rotating matters
 
 
Plants love sunshine, assign your most sun-loving plant near a south-facing window for maximum rays. Winters are tricky for houseplants, with less natural light and shorter days, you will have to constantly rotate the position of your plants near the sunniest, most generous window to keep them nourished and thriving. Rotation and re-positioning happens to be one of the most overlooked techniques when it is especially critical for all-round growth. Unless you’re the awkward lopsided plant-lover?
 
4. One bad leaf can spoil the bunch!
 
 
Like your kids, your plants need the occasional haircut too. Chop the yellow branches, dead flowers, wipe the leaves from time-to-time so that there is no filter between the leaf tissue and sunlight, check the soil for unwelcome guests – pesky bugs, mildew, grey mould, rotten roots, spider mites. No matter how committed a gardener you are, bugs can cause immense damage, you will have to rely on a pesticide spray (store-brought or natural, like neem oil), to keep the soil healthy. If the houseplant looks severely diseased, try pruning the affected area and replant. Mushy, yellow leaves mean that bugs have managed to infiltrate the root and sadly, it cannot be salvaged once root rot sets in. 
 
5. Know thy self, know thy habits
 
An areca palm might match the tropical vibe at your place but does it match your lifestyle? Do you work 60-hours a week and there is no one at home to share your gardening load? Do you often go for holidays or frequently travel for work? What kind of time and energy are you ready to commit to your green streak? Purchasing plants is easy but before involving your wallet, it’s important to recognize the kind of plant person you are and whether you can handle the commitment of fussy plants. Gardening newbies should stick to what’s termed as the ‘indestructible’ plants – the spider plant, snake plant, ZZ plant, dracaena, pothos amongst others – these species are almost impossible to kill and can withstand a lot of neglect and poor conditions. 
 
Tips: 
  • Plants detest sitting near a very hot or very cold spot – next to a radiator or a window on a chilly night is not the ideal place for their growth. 
  • Dampness-loving ferns make for excellent bathroom plants.
  • Invest in a digital thermometer for an accurate reading of humidity and temperature if you’re undecided on which part of the house to keep your plants.
  • Coffee grinds, vegetable peels, citrus rinds make for fantastic organic snacks for the plants. Best part, there is no funky smell involved and plants thrive on natural composts. 
  • Self-watering planters or automatic drip irrigation kits are essential if your lifestyle involves a lot of travel or you are generally careless with your plants. Again, know thy self, know thy habits. 

Also Read: Stores for the Best Outdoor Furniture in Hong Kong