Ever Seen Moss Spores?

Omg LOOK AT HER RECEPTACLES! I admittedly get a case of the vapors when I find such ripe receptacles on liverwort gametangia nestled in a soft tuft of Bryophyta (mosses). HOT.

If you want to hear more dirty talk like THIS you’ll have to join me in botany class through UCLA Extension Horticulture, which starts 4/1/24! A new online section is OPEN for registration (if you’ve been on the waitlist), and you'll learn all about what's going on in this video.

Botany sections fill fast so don’t wait…Let’s go botanize!!

Confused About Garden Soil Health?

You're ready to get your veggie garden growing, so you build those beautiful new raised beds and then fill them with brand new garden bedding soil and compost. You plant your seeds or transplants, and then wonder why they just don't seem to be growing as vigorously as you'd expect; even worse they appear to be yellowing and stunted.

What's going on? I mean, you're using brand new soil so shouldn't your plants be happy?

Soil structure, biology, and ecology - as well as nutrition in the context of plant growth - is fairly complex. We don't need to get into the weeds of soil science and plant nutrition here, but it is necessary to know at least a little bit how soil works in relation to how your plants take up elements.

Building productive bioactive soils in your garden and landscape often won't be an overnight process. It can years...

NEW Soil is Not Instantly Better

Did you know? “NEW soil”, be it in the form of bagged or bulk mixes and compost, aren’t “better” right out of the gate. I know, it’s a little counterintuitive. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked “why are my new vegetable transplants turning yellow when I just planted them in all new soil!” Well, it’s the microbes that are really doing all the heavy lifting for you and breaking down matter to release nutrients for your plants.

New sterilized compost and garden soils don't yet contain those microbe populations. So, the organic matter will be very slow to break down and release nutrients.

Until there are enough microbes in the to do the job, which happens over time in the garden after you’ve added new soil or amendments, you’ll probably need to supplement your plant’s diet withe addition of fertilizer - perhaps a little more often than you think.

You can add Mycorrhizal fungi to aid your plants uptake of nutrients, and Bacteria inoculants that benefit crops such as legumes. There are also "soil stimulator" or "root stimulator" products you can add to new soil to get the microbe party started.

If you've just filled your new raised beds, or amended hard ground soil with new garden mix or compost, it make take some time for the soil to "season". Over time, as it becomes more bioactive and the microbes are able to break down organic matter and release elements for your plants, those side dressings of compost or manure will do the job and you won't have to provide supplemental fertilizer as much or as often.

Want to learn more about soils, be it for native ecosystems, managed landscapes, or indoor plants and growing?

I cover soils and plant nutrition, in different depths and contexts, in each of my UCLA Extension courses: Botany for Gardeners (spring) and Indoor Plants: Care and Maintenance (winter).

Why Humidity Matters for Houseplants

Check out my recent appearance on Episode 222 of the Growing Joy Podcast

Here is a short synopsis from Maria of my latest appearance on the Growing Joy Podcast, to talk about humidity for houseplants:

Do I really need a humidifier? Why do my plants get crispy leaves when I crank the heat? When it comes to houseplant care, humidity is right up there with water and light as one of the most important factors. I’ve spent years stressing about humidity levels. Fortunately, I invited my dear plant friend and humidity expert, Leslie Halleck, for another session of Grow Better. Understanding the science behind humidity has helped me stop freaking out and keep my plant collection happy.

Many popular houseplants are tropicals that originate in humid, rainy environments. Places like the steamy rainforest floor where humidity levels hit 90%! No wonder these plants rebel when we try to grow them in our homes.

Humidity affects the process called transpiration, which is the movement of water from the soil, through the roots, up the stem, and out through pores in the leaves. When humidity is too low, transpiration happens faster than plants would like.

Their leaves lose moisture quickly, which causes wilting, yellowing, and crispiness (I see you, my diva Calathea).

OR download in your favorite podcast App HERE

Understanding Key Humidity Concepts such as Vapor Pressure Deficit

RH: Relative humidity tells you the percentage of moisture in the air based on temperature.

AH: Absolute humidity is the actual volume of water vapor droplets that are in a given amount of air.

VPD: Lastly, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) indicates how far the air is from saturation – like how much moisture is missing. So the higher the VPD, the faster your plant will lose moisture from its leaves.

Example: Warm air can hold more moisture than cooler air. So even if relative humidity reads 40% in a hot room and 40% in a cold room, plants will lose water faster in the hot room because of the higher VPD.o check out her new book, Tiny Plants.

What Doesn't Work to Boost Humidity

I was shocked to learn that some popular blogs about boosting humidity just don't work and can be more of a placebo.

Misting plants only increases humidity briefly before settling back down, risks inviting fungal diseases onto leaves, and misses most leaf pores anyway.

Pretty pebble trays are equally lackluster despite their popularity on blogs. Any moisture they add to the surrounding air dries up quickly without noticeably impacting VPD.

Leslie says humidifiers can work but only in large capacity, used regularly, and grouped closely with plants. But even humidifiers struggle to overcome the dry air gushing inside from HVAC systems all day long.

Why Winter Air is Drier

Winter often brings dry air indoors. Natural humidity outdoors is typically lower, and heating furnaces dry the air as it passes through them. Plus the warm air running across leaf surfaces increases transpiration. All that blasting heat from furnaces keeps VPD high indoors, and HVAC systems are built to actively strip moisture out. This explains why our homes tend to be MORE dry in winter than in the summer, even though it's more humid outdoors in the summer.

Managing Moisture Indoors

So what does work to boost moisture for houseplants? Here's what really works:

Growing Under Glass: For humidity-loving plants like aroids and Calathea, Leslie said the best tactic is growing them under glass to contain moisture around the plants.

Creating mini greenhouse environments seals in moisture availability. This could involve a glass cabinet, terrarium, cloche, or Wardian case. I was amazed to learn that these diva plants thrive with less maintenance when grown this way!

The glass recycles humidity at ideal levels to support healthy transpiration. As a bonus, this method prevents messy watering spills around your home.

As Leslie reminded me, getting to know your plants means catering conditions to their preferences. For many indoor plants, high humidity is non-negotiable

Light Still Rules

Leslie reminded us that sufficient light still governs everything for houseplant health. No amount of perfect humidity can save a plant that doesn't get enough light! So address both moisture AND adequate sunlight to help plants thrive indoors. I hope you found this episode as helpful as I did! Leslie is truly a humidity expert. If you want to know more, she offers online plant classes via UCLA Extension open to all. You can also book private online plant parties with her on her website to get advice from fellow plant lovers.

Important Links mentioned in the episode

• Botany for Gardeners Course, UCLA Extension
• Indoor Plants: Care and Maintenance Course, UCLA Extension
• Leslie’s Book Tiny Plants
• Growing Joy Ep 169: How To Prep Your Houseplants For Winter
• Growing Joy Ep 107: How To Care For A Large Plant Collection
• How to Care for Alocasia // My Favorite Alocasia Varieties! // Alocasia Care Guide
• Leslie’s Architectural Digest interview on indoor greenhouses

Struggling With Your Fiddle Leaf Fig? Here's Why

Why are you FLF’ing yourself?

I hereby absolve you of any responsibility for growing a beautiful fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) indoors, and any green guilt you may be carrying around because you keep killing them (or they constantly look so sad in your house that you feel like a bad plant parent).

See, here’s where knowing a little botany and understanding some light science comes in handy. Folks, FLFs are BIG ASS trees, and not only that they are what we consider fruit bearing trees (you know, figs?). They are in the FIG and MULBERRY family, which should tell you something about the kind of light (ENERGY) these beasts really need.

Not only are these trees getting exponentially more light outdoors (even in a dense rainforest type situation, and many FLFs will grow quite happily out in full sun) but they are also semi(hemi)epiphytic (which is why the root zone needs some drying between waterings ) and like warm humid environments to sustain that form of growth.

We stick them in our dark, cold, dry homes and then wonder why they always look so sickly.

I guarantee you, 99% of you that have a happy FLF have an FLF that lives OUTSIDE on your patio, at least for a good part of the year! OR you have several grow lights, or one more powerful grow light, that is keeping your FLF from the edge of death.

While FLFs might not like super hot direct sun coming through a window and hitting it’s leaves (very high PPFD), that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need a substantial DLI (daily light integral) - meaning the overall quantity of light it receives through the day - to thrive, rather than just barely survive.

1. You never have as much light in your house as you think you do.

2. It’s ok to get rid of plants that constantly frustrate you.

3. Your compost pile is your friend.

What is Totipotency?

TOTIPOTENCY! Do you know what it is? 🌱

If you’ve taken any of my classes, or listened to me on podcasts, then you might know one of my favorite botanical vocabulary words is “totipotency”. This word refers to the potential of a cell (which may be limited or unlimited) to differentiate into tissues OTHER than what it is initially genetically programmed to do.

For example, the morphological form of a petiole cell, is, well, to grow a petiole! BUT in some species of plants (not all) petiole cells can have the genetic potential to differentiate into OTHER types of plant tissues (when wounded), such as new root shoots, bud shoots, and ultimately stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds!

Seeds are totipotent…meaning they contain all the genetic information to differentiate into ALL the plant tissues. Some cells are multipotent or pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into a few or many different (but maybe not all) types of tissue in that species.

Begonias are Masters of Vegetative Cloning

...and you’ll find that the cells in the stems, petioles, AND leaves can all differentiate into all the types of tissues the plant needs to grow an entirely new clone specimen…from roots to seeds. But you can’t do this with every plant!

Learning Resources

You can learn all the how-tos of plant propagation (seeds to vegetative propagation) in my book “Plant Parenting”. And if you want to dig into this topic further, you can join my “Botany for Gardeners” course through UCLA Extension (its open registration, online, and registration opens February 5th 2024, class starts April 1! Same for my Indoor Plants Care and Maintenance course, which I’m teaching again in spring 2024.

What plants, gardening, and landscaping ideas are on trend?

Can Anyone Really Predict Garden & Plant Trends?

Before we dig into plant and gardening related ideas I think are growing in 2024, let me make a general statement about predicting trends. Anyone who tells you they can accurately predict trends is probably just blowing a bunch of hot air up your plantaloons. So, always take trend reports with a grain of salt and a splash of skepticism. Use them as a tool to evaluate what may, or may not, be relevant to you and your business or personal needs. That said, if you've ever before heard me give a talk about green industry trends at a conference, you'll know I do believe that you can:

a. create trends
b. control conversations around trends, and
c. follow the breadcrumbs left for you all over different forms of media, popular culture, and the market to get a good sense of what consumers - in this case gardeners, plant parents, homeowners and the like - are paying attention to. The things that look like they are becoming, or could be, current and future trends.

If you pay attention, you can either create your own trends, more quickly discover topics your target customer is paying attention to so you don't end up reacting to their wants and needs after it's too late, and a trend has already disappeared.

Here are my top picks for growing houseplant and gardening trends

So, what have I noticed going on in the marketplace - be it from monitoring major and minor media, social media, industry business, and my own students - and what what trends seeds have I personally planted in the last few years? Well, when it comes to the landscape I'm not seeing a lot of new trends, but rather a lot of rebranding of established trends. When it comes to indoor gardening and houseplants, I do see some more identifiable changes going on.

GARDENING & LANDSCAPING TRENDS

Maximalist Immersive Ornamedible Gardens

Ok, I made up "ornamedible" but I think you get my point! Again, edible landscaping is nothing new. People have essentially been doing this as long as agriculture and gardening have existed. And I was teaching edible landscaping classes twenty years ago. The key word here I think is immersive. Essentially, I'm seeing a desire to blend all disciplines of ornamental gardening, with the kitchen garden, with all the outdoor living amenities and features (such as seating, kitchens, water features, etc.). You know, an all inclusive space where you can sink yourself into your surroundings outdoors, which happen to include a bit of everything from flowers, to fragrance, to your kitchen garden, to you fruit trees, to container gardens, to where you relax outdoors. Rather, I suppose, than segregated outdoor spaces, we're just going to surround ourselves with everything, all at once. I think I'll call this "garden bathing"!

Funny enough, I kind of see the opposite thing going on in the houseplant world right now, which I'll address here in a minute.

Eco-Lawns or No-Mow Lawns

Eco lawns, or eco-friendly lawns, which may also be referred to as no-mow lawns aren't anything new. So I don't really consider them a new trend for 2024, rather simply a rebranding of many forms of xeriscaping, or low-input low-maintenance landscaping. Now, this is not the same as prairie gardening or meadow gardens, which I'll talk about next (however you may see the terms used interchangeably), but rather replacing standard lawn grasses, or turfgrass as many of us in the horticulture industry refer to them, with really any type of garden plant, be it perennials, native plants, bulbs, succulents....whatever you think is pretty, or sustainable, or suits your maintenance needs. The goal being a prettier but more natural, less-manicured space, without the need for weekly mowing. We used to think of no-mow lawns more strictly in terms of replacing turfgrass with other very low growing "steppable" plants, such as creeping thyme, or other low-growing groundcovers that could handle foot traffic. Currently what I'm seeing is a more generalized shift into what I'd consider a traditional perennial border, or pollinator garden, and the like, being installed in a less formal style, in place of a conventional front yard lawn. Now, what plants you choose for an Eco-lawn should be well-adapted or native to your local area, and ideally be a more sustainable choice when it comes to resources and wildlife support. BUT, I'm also seeing plants being chosen simply for aesthetics again. So it's kind of a free-for-all when it comes to plants you replace your grass with. YOU DO YOU!

Now, unless you have a very sunny location, a lot of the eco-lawn or no-mow plant options promoted may not work for you. A spot that's too shady to successfully grow turfgrass isn't going to support sun-loving succulents or perennials. Soil drainage, rainfall, temperature, sunlight will all play a role in what plants you can, or can't, grow as a lawn alternative.

Meadow Gardens

Again, meadow gardens, or prairie gardens, aren't a new concept. They've come and go in some form many times over. I remember giving a talk oh, 10 or so years ago, at a Perennial Plant Symposium conference on "Restoring the Prairie, One Backyard at a Time" (article I wrote for Greenhouse Management Mag.) The prairie look and plant matrix approach first (this last time) took hold in the landscape design and architecture realm, and has spilled over in to home gardens and DIY landscaping. Over the last decade there's been increasing interest in prairie and meadow gardening in suburban yards, and a few different evangelists that now lead the prairie gardening charge. So meadow gardens can also be a form of Eco-lawn, or they may replace other more formal landscape design styles in existing landscape beds. Obviously, meadow gardens are very much focused on creating a natural look without all the traditional gardening maintenance that goes along with more traditional perennial and annual plantings. That's not to say you won't have some maintenance to do in a meadow garden from time to time, can take some time to get established, and will change and evolve over time, meaning some plants you didn't expect to take over may do so, and others may simply die out. So a meadow garden is by no means a set it and forget it approach to gardening, it's just different.

Now, realize that as much as prairie gardening enthusiasts want to insist this is the way you need to go in your home landscape, with only "native" plants, their way, or plants, may not work for you, given your climate, weather, soil, etc. As I always say, gardening is local...really it's ZIP CODE local. So if your region's natural environment is NOT naturally a prairie ecosystem, you may struggle to follow the advice or prairie planting lists provided in popular media. It's all about knowing your environment and the plants that will or won't work under your growing conditions, and finding appropriate alternatives. For example, if you have a very shady landscape, with a few large shade trees, don't expect to grow a field of blooming wildflowers or be able to create a traditional prairie look. It's not going to happen. You'll need to choose plants and groundcovers that can thrive in shady conditions.

Make it Easy for Me Landscapes: Grow Fluffy

Not much to say on this "trend" other than reducing labor and maintenance in the landscape is also nothing new and is still the top of most homeowner lists (with the exception of those who consider themselves gardeners). LOW WATER use plants that require LITTLE TO NO PRUNING. Pretty simple.

For any of you who want these landscape features, you need to go ahead and embrace my gardening style, which I call "fluffy gardening". Ditch the square holly and boxwood hedges, and let all your plants grow to their natural form and size (which means you have to plan from the beginning). Once you stop pruning them all the time, you'll end up with plants that actually flower and fruit, which will certainly make the birds and the bees happier.

HOUSEPLANT TRENDS

Edited Houseplant Collections

Ok, pandemic parents got a little overwhelmed with their huge plant collections, amassed over a relatively short period of time. Many were surprised at the amount of time, and mess, a big collection of big indoor houseplants needs and generates. So I'm seeing a lot of houseplant enthusiasts editing down their collections, or seeking out specific species that may be better suited to their needs. Especially as many of them have become much more educated on the subject. While trends might be moving into a more maximalist and colorful mix in the outdoor garden, I'm seeing more neutral interiors with a fewer, but more thoughtful, plant selections represented indoors. Interesting forms and shapes.

Now, let me be clear...most of them aren't giving up on houseplants. There's still a huge interested and pandemic collectors are still buying new plants. But I do see them becoming more analytical and purposeful about which plants they buy. So, not necessarily no houseplants, but rather more curated collections that are better suited to personal style and schedule.

Tiny Houseplants

Yeah, I'll just admit I've been forcing this trend on everyone since I put out my "Tiny Plants" book! But interestingly enough, I have felt a vibe lately, and I'm starting to get more new articles popping up about tiny plant trends. Again, an interest in tiny plants isn't totally new, anyone who has planted terrariums, vivariums, aquariums, or ripariums, is obviously dabbling in the world of tiny plants. BUT, I think smaller and miniature houseplants are starting to appeal to more houseplant enthusiasts as a direct reaction to downsizing some of their larger plant collections. Tiny plants allow you to keep collecting, but without filling up - or over filling - your space! If you only have a small space indoors with which to keep plants, or struggle with low humidity indoors, then growing tiny solves all sorts of problems and creates all sorts of opportunities. Again it makes collecting plants easier. I teach you ALL about it in my book.

But beware, a lot of the blog posts I see popping up lately about tiny plants, often don't actually include any tiny plants! Sorry, but a rubber tree, or an asparagus fern, or a Swiss cheese plant are NOT tiny plants, lol. So dig a little deeper if you're actually looking to grow tiny.

Aroids are SO Yesterday...Let's Bloom!

Ok, I don't think anyone is giving up on their Monstera or Philodendron anytime soon, nor should they. But I know there is a lot of fatigue from dealing with both very expensive and very high-humidity diva aroids (such as Anthurium). And I see a shift in preference to more color and to flowers. Obviously growing flowering plants usually requires grow-lighting, but after the last few years of home gardeners investing in more grow lighting, and the ease of use, availability, and quality of LED grow lighting available, growing indoor bloomers such as orchids and Gesneriads is making a comeback. You can learn more about setting up grow lights in my book "Gardening Under Lights".

Think miniature orchids, African violets, Streptocarpus, gloxinia, and the like...These small blooming plants can bring a lot of cheer indoors without a lot of work.

Indoor Trees & Olives: The new Fiddle Leaf Fig

Indoor trees are a thing again. Oh boy. Ok, let me just tell you right now that keeping olive trees indoors is not easy, just as keeping a fiddle leaf fig happy indoors in most home environments isn't easy either! That's because they are TREES that need a lot of light. But oh yeah, if you look at any of the popular furniture sites, magazine covers , etc, right now...there's the olive tree. So get ready for more requests.

Trees indoors in general is a decorating trend gaining popularity right now - again, because of how people see them styled in photo shoots - just like the infamous FLF - so get ready to modify your long-term expectations about indoor survival of such trees, be prepared to buy some grow lighting, and to potentially move such trees indoors only temporarily...then move them back outside. Or, you can just pick up one of the many FAKE olive trees you can find for sale right now! That's a thing right now too! Not really what I'd call going natural but it's definitely going easier.

Indoor & Outdoor Gardens: Give me ALL THE PEACH FUZZ!

Ok if you want to get in on some color trends and play along with Pantone's annual "trend" creation, then peach fuzz it is! Now, I'm including this because I happen to have a particular penchant for peach plants...along with an affinity for alliteration. (I'm sorry, I had to do it!). So I'm getting on board with peach fuzz and if you are too here is a list of some of my favorite peach flowering or foliage houseplants/tropicals:

• Philodendron 'McColley Finale', 'Prince of Orange'
• Anthurium 'Joli Peach'
• There are a BUNCH of succulents that have foliage color ranging into peach - Echiveria 'Peach Garden', 'Peach Curls', Pachyphytum 'Peach Beauty', Graptosedum 'California Sunset'...I mean there are a bunch.
• As well as many succulents with peach colored flowers
• Lewisia longipetala 'Little Peach'
• Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Orange;'
• Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Peach' but there are a bunch of hibiscus cultivars in the peach range
• Plumeria 'Penang Peach'
• There are several peach flowering Abutilon cultivars - 'Thompson's Variegated Peach', 'Blushing Moonlight', Victor Reiter’
• Ixora 'Peach Delight' but there are several other cultivars in the peach/orange range.
• Copper plant could get in the mix - Acalypha wilkesianaTillandsia capitata ‘Peach’ - the silver leaves turn a nice peach color (AND They are already fuzzy!)
• Philodendron 'McColley Finale', 'Prince of Orange'

There are other "vibes" I could talk about in terms of gardening and houseplant trends right now, but I think this is enough to digest for now! What trends are you seeing, or what trends would you like to start?

Can you trust the internet to ID your plants?

Plant ID online is like…

Bad lip reading for plants!

To celebrate National Houseplant Appreciation Day (no for real, it’s a thing because we say it is), and the start of my UCLA Indoor Plants course this week where we’re learning the basics of plant nomenclature, I’m gifting you a bit of clarity on some very common, very bad mis-identification of some of your favorite chartreuse philodendron varieites. Tread carefully with all those plant apps and websites (bring a machete)…because it’s a jungle out there!

That heartleaf philodendron isn’t really ‘Lemon Lime’ OR ‘Neon’ it’s Philodendron hederaceum var. oxycardium ‘Aureum’. The cultivar name ‘Lemon Lime’ belongs to a cultivar of Philodendron domesticum. An official cultivar name may only be associated with ONE species of the same genus. You don’t get to just pick the one you like!

‘Neon’ is a cultivar name used with a Pothos, Epripremnum aureum ‘Neon’. Now, you can have one selection of Epipremnum with the cultivar name ‘Neon” and ONE selection of Philodendron with the same name ‘Neon’…but you can't have the same cultivar name for two different plants in the same genus. That said, folks still get it wrong with ‘Neon’ when using it with Philodendron. Any web search will server you up with any number of incorrect identifications and incorrect cultivar names.

💚💛💚

Cheers to your botanical factoid of the day!

What in the TOMATO??

Have you ever had a tomato that’s sitting out on the counter (where they should always be, never in the refrigerator!), and it looked like little aliens were sprouting inside the fruit?

For your botanical factoid of the day, this is called vivipary! Vivipary in fruits happen when the germination inhibiting hormone in the seeds breaks down, and exposed to the moisture in the warm cozy fruit the mature seeds inside the fruit start germinating and growing. Eventually they will burst through the skin of the tomato (“An organism. Open the hatch!).

Tiny seedlings have enough resources stored up in the seed to allow them to grow this way…but eventually they’ll need more light, water, and nutrients to keep growing. Now, you don’t want to eat these tomato seedlings - they are in the nightshade family and contain toxins. BUT you can try planting them, know that if they come from a hybrid tomato, your seedlings will have more randomized genetics and who knows what you’ll get!

To learn how to grow one or a few micro tomato plants indoors read 10 Steps to Grow Tiny Tomatoes Indoors from Seed to Harvest

To learn a bit more on how to stagger and stage grow lighting for your tomato plant indoors read Grow Lighting: Tiny Tomatoes Indoors

Plant dormancy is a complicated and nuanced biological function. While the word gets thrown around a lot to describe many plants or stages of plant development, you might be surprised that tiny many cases there is no true dormancy, but rather quiescence, or a resting period where growth can still occur much more slowly. I get into this in my Indoor Plants and Botany courses (and I have a whole class on plant dormancy that I may put online if you’re interested).