Hijacked by Dad! Shout out for small houseplant vendors

Hi, I am Simon and have hijacked my son's blog this time to do a quick shout-out for local small vendors of houseplants.

As we have spent so much of our time in lockdown at home, many of us, especially those of us front-line NHS workers, have found a new hobby in growing houseplants which not only improves our mental health, but also our physical health as many have air-purifying properties.

This has led to a proliferation of vendors of houseplants, both big and small, and new books on the subject. For gardeners like myself, we have been spoilt by the many outdoor gardening books, articles and TV shows, including the flagship BBC Gardener's World.

However, the poor houseplant has been much neglected and the pandemic has made it clear we need plants indoors as much as outdoors for our sanity and well-being. And any plant we chose to grow indoors or outdoors will ultimately benefit the planet, so for those of you who do not have a garden, join the houseplant revolution and green up inside!

But I have got carried away. I really wanted to give a shout-out to the many small growers who have started houseplant businesses from their homes and selling them online or in markets. For example, today 18th Sept 2021, there were three in the Love Southsea market https://www.lovesouthseamarkets.co.uk/about and I wanted to highlight @LittlePlantCoUK and @grounded_in_southsea who are selling amazing houseplants, including succulents and cacti, to Southsea residents. I wish them every success in making their passion a business. And the reasonable prices mean that these small vendors are a great place to start and grow your collections. Please support them!

While I am here, I wanted to highlight 2 plants that caught my eye and fall under the succulents. In the picture below are 2 fascinating succulents:

1. Fishbone cactus (Disocactus anguliger (syn. Epiphyllum anguliger)), also known as the zig zag cactus, here on the @grounded_in_southsea stall for £9. It is obvious which one of the above I am referring to from its name. From Mexico, they are famous for their fragrant nocturnal flowers in autumn and producing kiwi-like fruits. It needs a rich humus soil, moisture in summer, and is best kept in semi-shade at 16-25˚C.

2. Chinese Money Plant (Pilea peperomioides) also known as the 'pancake plant' as the round leaves can grow as big as 15cm, and could resemble a flying saucer (hence its other name, 'UFO plant'). Dead easy to grow and to propagate - snap off a leave and hand it to someone to plant and a new plant will grow - it is therefore also known as the 'pass it on' plant. And yes it is from the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of southern China. Put it in a bright place, water when soil is dry, and feed dilute feed monthly in spring and summer only.

Finally, I would like to recommend a book that combines three plant groups of this blog - it can be used as a coffee table book or for reference. You can get one second hand for as little as £5.70 on Amazon UK (originally £20, new £13.60 now) and it has been partly responsible for kicking off the craze for these plants in UK with a strong message of how looking after these plants has a positive benefit on your mental health.

House of Plants: Living with Succulents, Air Plants and Cacti by Rose Ray and Caro Langton. And I look forward to reading their new book 'Root, Nurture, Grow' on how to propagate these plants.

In the tradition of a joke to end these blogs, how about this pun on a garden centre sign:

Start your growing adventure,

Adios amigos,

Dad of Miles 👦🏻💜🌵