Plant Care Supplies
This is a continuation of the post called “How To Start A Houseplant Collection On A Budget Part One: Acquiring Plants.” In this follow-up post, I will provide some tips on where and how to source basic and affordable plant care supplies.
Pots & Containers
No plant collection can exist properly without pots or containers! Plastic nursery pots are the most common and, naturally, the cheapest. They already have drainage holes which will allow excess water to drain out, thus reducing the likelihood of root rot.
If you want to save money, you should always clean and reuse your nursery pots instead of throwing them away. If they are not already broken or fragile, they will likely last for quite a few years. Plastic nursery pots will always be useful, because when you’re repotting your plants you’ll usually want to upgrade to a bigger pot. If you keep all your nursery pots, then you can easily reuse one instead of needing to buying more.
The one drawback about nursery pots is that they’re all about function and not about aesthetics. They can be very boring, if not downright ugly. You can solve this problem by using decorative pots (cachepots). These can also be made of heavy-duty plastic, but also from resin, concrete, ceramic and other materials. They can come in a huge range of sizes, textures, colors, forms and patterns. Some may have drainage holes, and some may not.
For my indoor houseplant collection, I always have my plants in plastic nursery pots and then I place them in a decorative cachepot for aesthetics.
Where To Find Cheap Pots & Containers
You don’t have to go very far or spend very much for decorative pots and containers (even baskets!). Here is a list of places where you can find nice pots:
- Flea markets
- Garage and estate sales
- Craigslist
- Neighborhood forums
- Dollar stores and thrift stores
- Home goods stores
- Big-box stores
- Nurseries
- Craft stores
- Online
If you don’t want to use plastic pots but you want to put your plant directly into a decorative pot, you will need to drill a drainage hole. There are many tutorials on the internet and Youtube on how you can do that.
Potting Mediums
Potting soil or substrates are critical to the health of your plants. However, you don’t necessarily need to use expensive potting mixes or fancy substrates like LECA and PON.
An all-purpose potting soil like Miracle-Gro is generally sufficient, although you may have to consider adding additional perlite or orchid bark for certain plants. Potting soil is quite affordable and, depending on where you live, shouldn’t cost much more than $10USD from your local hardware store, gardening center or Amazon.com.
For aroids, I prefer to mix up my own substrate, and you can check out my personal soil recipes here.
If you want to venture into other types of substrate like LECA and PON, then you will need to shell out a bit more money. Make sure you do your research and understand how these substrates will affect your plants.
Watering
Municipal water from the tap is generally fine for plants, although some species like calatheas may get leaf burn from the minerals or added chlorine. Carnivorous plants are especially sensitive to municipal tap water and will only tolerate distilled or filtered/reverse-osmosis water or rainwater. If your plants require distilled or reverse-osmosis water, that will obviously make your plant care budget increase.
Collecting rainwater is the best option because it’s completely free and your plants will love it. Rainwater collection can be as elaborate as a system of rain barrels or as simple as setting out bins and containers during a storm.
If you have no choice but to use municipal tap water, you can mitigate the chlorine levels by using a portable water filtration unit like a Brita pitcher or letting the water sit for 24 hours. This will dissipate the chlorine, but the dissolved minerals will still be present. Dissolved minerals can only be removed via filtration or distillation.
Lighting
Natural light is free as long as you have windows and a wide view of the sky for your plants. However, if your home has insufficient natural light, you may need to consider supplementing with grow lights.
When choosing artificial lighting, I use LED white lights purchased from Amazon. LED lighting has become increasingly more affordable and accessible. A lot of my LED grow lights are used for the aquarium hobby, but they still work quite well for my terrestrial houseplants.
If you have the money to spend, you can purchase higher-end grow lights from specialty vendors like SolTech Solutions. I have not used them yet, but I have heard great things about the company and I hope to try out their products sometime in the future.
Propagation Supplies
As you delve deeper into your plant passion, you will inevitably want to propagate some plants. This is a great way to expand your plant collection for free!
The most common method for multiplying houseplants is via water propagation. You can use nice propagation stations, but you really don’t need to spend any money to do this. All you need is a container that holds water. Plastic containers work fine, but I find that glass looks much better from an aesthetic point-of-view.
Most of these glass containers can be easily sourced from your own grocery purchases. Mason jars, jam and spice jars are perfect for use as propagation stations!
Many plant enthusiasts will repurpose candle votives and jars. Leftover candle wax can be removed by pouring boiling water into the jars. Not only is reusing and repurposing great for your wallet, it’s also great for the environment!
Miscellaneous Supplies: Moisture Meters
Moisture meters are great tools to determine if your plants need to be watered or not. It may be especially useful for newbie gardeners who struggle with watering.
Although moisture meters are quite affordable now, you can still get away without using one. An alternative may be to insert a toothpick, chopstick or your finger into the soil of your plant. When you pull out your toothpick/chopstick/finger, if there is soil clinging to the surface, then your substrate is still wet. You can also feel that it’s damp if you use your finger.
In time, you will be able to determine if your plant is dry by the weight of the pot when you lift it up. A well-moistened potted plant can be substantially heavier than when it’s almost dry.
If you still struggle with watering even with the aforementioned tips, you may be better off purchasing a moisture meter. In the long run, it will save you money if it helps keep your plants alive.
Humidity
If you want to care for exotic tropical houseplants, you will need ways to maintain a higher ambient humidity. However, many species of common houseplants will do fine with humidity levels of 40%-50%. If you don’t want to deal with the added effort and expense of providing humidity, I would recommend avoiding plants that require it.
Hygrometers measure the humidity level in your home and, unlike moisture meters, are something that I would definitely consider a necessity if you’re looking to keep rare tropical plants. If your plants require 70%-80% humidity, the only way you can get there is to have a device that can measure it for you.
To increase the humidity in your home, the most efficient method is to purchase a humidifier. A possible alternative would be to use small indoor fountains. Not only will the fountains help increase the humidity levels, but they will also provide a lovely ambiance in your home with the sound of trickling water.
The most affordable methods to increase humidity on a smaller, more localized scale would be to use humidity trays or to cover your plants with plastic bags. Granted, the last method is definitely NOT aesthetic, but it will be effective and cheap.
If you have the funds, purchasing a small greenhouse rack will also do the job.
Pest Control
When you’re growing plants indoors you will inevitably have to deal with pests. Mealy bugs, thrips, aphids, gnats or spider mites are some pests that you may come across. Pesticides can be expensive, so taking pre-emptive action and prevention measures will make it harder for pests to establish themselves in your plant collection.
Give your plants a good shower or spray at least every two weeks. This can be done with a shower or garden hose or spray bottle. The water pressure will wash away any pests that are crawling on your plants, like spider mites or aphids.
A good habit to establish would be to wipe down the leaves with a soft, wet cloth. This way, you’re wiping away any pests that may be crawling around. I like to dip my cloths in a solution of water and diluted neem oil when wiping down my plants. Not only will the neem oil repel pests organically, but it can also give your leaves a nice, glossy finish.
If you do find yourself battling pests, you can make your own homemade pesticides for relatively cheap. For most soft-bodied pests, you can use a mixture of water, dish soap and isopropyl alcohol sprayed on your plants. For specific measurements, check out this post.
Diluted hydrogen peroxide can also be used as a soil drench to kill fungus gnat larvae. It’s also useful for controlling fungal and bacterial infections.
Final Thoughts
In closing, I hope you found this post helpful as you build up your own plant collection. When you first start, you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money. During your first year or two, you should be spending most of your time learning and experimenting on how to keep your plants happy and thriving.
Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to maintain a plant collection on a budget? Feel free to comment below and share some of your suggestions!
Always Keep Growing,
Heather (a.k.a. The Botanical Chick)
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