This really happened
“I’m probably going to kill them later…” the woman says, after giving me a handful of cash.
This isn’t a credible threat of premeditated murder, it’s after I tell her about the unusually generous plant guarantee that my place of employment offers.
"I don't know how to grow plants," she adds, now staring at the receipt like it's a Willy Wonka gold ticket.
"Come talk to me if you want to know how to care for them, I teach people how to grow plants naturally, without chemicals." I say.
She exits the store with a big smile.
Most people, if you ask them what a plant needs, would say things like, water, fertiliser, and dirt. Or, if they have a bit of experience, they might say, ‘It depends on the plant.’
They’re both right… Plants have evolved to grow in a wide range of conditions, from sub-Antarctic islands to the desert, from cloud forests to mangrove swamps. And from deep volcanic soils to soil-less cracks in a cliff.
No matter where it grows, and what conditions it thrives in, there are only five things that every single plant on the planet needs to survive (and if it has them in the optimal amounts, it will thrive).
Click the image below to download the five things every plant WANTS.
Click image to download
Of course there are nuances.
But if you ensure the plant has these things first, you won’t kill your plants at anything like the same rate, and you’ll never have to be a helicopter plant parent ever again.
When I first started gardening, I found it really hard to keep my plants from dying. It wasn't until I learned this framework in Horticulture school that I've been able to look at a struggling plant and know what its problem is...
Have you ever thought about growing plants in such simple terms?