0:02 if I was starting out with house plants
0:05 all over again I'd use this video as the
0:07 guide on what to do and how to do it
0:09 seriously he has everything he need to
0:12 know to not only keep them alive but
0:14 help them Thrive I mean what's better
0:17 than nurturing a beautiful little green
0:20 baby all the way from wee Bubba to a
0:23 glorious majestic beast nothing my plant
0:25 friend I love it and don't worry it's
0:28 really not too taxing even an idiot like
0:31 me can keep a few live you just need to
0:33 get a few Basics right and you'll be
0:36 well on your way I'm going to buy a new
0:38 plant from the store in this video and
0:40 show you exactly what I do to set them
0:41 up for
0:45 Success so it does all start in the shop
0:47 much of the pain guilt and anguish we
0:50 experience as plant parents all stem
0:52 from the mistakes we often make when
0:54 buying the plant in the first place
0:56 first you'll want to avoid anything that
0:59 has the word calaa on the tag only
1:02 joking of course sort of if you're an
1:04 absolute beginner then you'll want to
1:05 start with something that is pretty
1:08 easygoing like a monstera a peace lily
1:11 or a snake plant and calaa is not
1:14 easygoing my plant friend trust me I
1:17 know from experience crispy brown leaves
1:19 and Calif go together like peas and
1:21 carrots it's something even the most
1:24 experienced Growers struggle with as
1:27 well as me the best advice I can offer
1:29 here is to hunt out a couple of plants
1:31 that ick all your fancy and then do a
1:33 quick Google search to see how fussy
1:35 they are I usually just type in the name
1:38 of the plant and easy care and see what
1:40 comes up if the results come back with
1:43 things like this plant needs specific
1:45 care then alarm Bell should be ringing
1:47 in your head if you like a challenge
1:49 then go for it by all means but if you
1:51 want an easy life like me then move on
1:53 to the next one I think I've chosen my
1:56 plant I'm going to choose this Mosaic
2:00 Plant £750 which I think is a fonia
2:02 I've already got one of these in my
2:03 house I think I've got one of these
2:06 already in my house and it seems to do
2:09 quite well so I know this one should do
2:12 the same I a quick look on Google to see
2:14 how easy it is to care for it's pretty
2:17 easy to care for I say the like high
2:19 humidity which not sure whether I agree
2:23 with or not cuz mine seems to do okay
2:25 not particularly high humidity but the
2:28 health of the plant is pretty good all
2:30 the leaves
2:33 look in good condition no yellowing no
2:34 Browning doesn't look like the plants on
2:36 death door or anything like that so it
2:39 looks like a good healthy plant to buy
2:42 it's in budget it's easy goinging so I
2:43 think this is the one I'm going to
2:46 purchase now that I found a green buddy
2:47 that doesn't sound like it's going to
2:49 give me too much grief and it's in my
2:51 rather limited budget I now need to do
2:55 the most important step check for pests
2:57 so before you go and pay for your plant
2:59 you want to give it a quick check over
3:02 some pests you probably won't be able to
3:04 be 100% sure that the plant hasn't got
3:06 pest but you give it a good look over
3:09 and get see any obvious damage so you
3:12 want to look for kind of speckly leaves
3:13 particularly underneath this is where
3:16 the potential insects like FPS and
3:18 spiderm and been munching away on the
3:19 leaves so if it's looking a bit speckled
3:21 underneath then you want to avoid that
3:24 plant move on to the next one doesn't
3:26 look like this has got that looking at
3:27 under the on side of leaves they all
3:30 look pretty healthy as you'd expect to
3:34 see also want to look for
3:37 webbing on the underside of the leaves
3:39 where it meets the petol particularly
3:40 very fine webbing that's an indication
3:43 of spidermites where they kind of spread
3:45 over the plant use their webbing to
3:46 munch on the leaves while that's
3:48 happening on this
3:54 plant and also any any specks of black
3:57 or red or anything like that the
4:00 indication of frips and spider ites
4:02 which didn't like is the case on these
4:03 Le are give a check
4:08 over um you can also look in the soil as
4:12 well for any fungus snats now there
4:14 probably will be fungus snats in most
4:18 plant parts cuz they are the bane of of
4:20 everyone's lives but if you give it a
4:23 little disturb on the front on the
4:25 top and if you see anything popping
4:29 about little flea like insects then they
4:31 are fungus that so you can have a quick
4:33 look at the soil of your plant I've had
4:34 a look at this one doesn't like there's
4:38 too much activity going on so I think my
4:41 checks are over and going take it to the
4:43 cashier and pay for it I'm pretty happy
4:45 with my purchase then doesn't seem like
4:47 it's going to be too much of a nightmare
4:49 the foliage looks pretty decent I can't
4:51 see anything too sinister under the
4:53 leaves and in the soil and I'm getting
4:56 reasonably good value for money I'm
4:58 excited so you'll be pretty excited
5:00 about your new purchase and you'll want
5:02 to bring him home and plunk him straight
5:05 onto the window sill to meet all his new
5:07 friends right well this can actually
5:10 land you into all sorts of B so hold
5:12 your horses it's well worth doing yet
5:15 another check for pests I know it sounds
5:17 Ott but you can never be too careful
5:20 when it comes to pasts the last thing
5:22 you want is for the little suckers to
5:24 jump ship and invade your existing
5:27 collection disaster and it's very tricky
5:29 doing a fur check when in the store with
5:31 all those eyes on you you get some funny
5:33 looks believe me and you can easily miss
5:36 the little gits you know most of them
5:38 are pretty small after all bought this
5:40 plant back from the shop I've been
5:42 having a look at it for the last 5 to 10
5:45 minutes to see if there's any naughty
5:47 pests on here and I can't see anything
5:50 so I've had a good look at the underside
5:51 of the leaves especially where the Peto
5:53 meets the leaf or the stem meets the
5:56 leaf cuz that is where they tend to hang
5:59 out es especially spidermites and it's a
6:01 it's a good idea to get a light you can
6:03 use the light off your phone and you can
6:05 shine it on the other side of what
6:07 you're looking at and it kind of shows
6:10 up the very fine wispy webbing so that's
6:11 a good little tactic to use and you can
6:13 also use it to look at all the underside
6:15 of the leaves so if you do have a
6:17 problem you want to isolate the plant
6:19 and you want to treat it with an
6:21 insecticide or something to get rid of
6:24 the bug depending on which one you have
6:25 so I'm now pretty happy that there are
6:27 no pests on this guy I can put him in
6:30 his new home right well I would actually
6:33 wait this step is optional but highly
6:36 recommend it I always isolate new plants
6:38 for at least a week I know I sound like
6:41 a mad man but I hate pests and I want to
6:42 make sure there's no risk of them
6:44 spreading who knows what eggs and
6:46 whatnot might be on the plant and have
6:48 yet to hatch and spread and Conquer we
6:50 don't want to plant ocalypse on our
6:53 hands with bugs jumping easily from ship
6:56 to ship do we like I said it's optional
6:58 but I keep them in the corner of a room
7:00 like a naughty child for week or two
7:02 checking them over every day to see if
7:05 anything rears its ugly head now that
7:07 I'm reasonably happy there are no hidden
7:09 suckers lurking under the leaves or in
7:11 the soil we can now get him ready for
7:14 his new life in his new home and for a
7:16 glorious friendship to Blossom I now
7:18 look under the Bonnet and check out the
7:21 health of the engine roots that is
7:23 plants that come fresh from the store
7:25 should be in decent soil and have
7:27 healthy Roots but sadly the world isn't
7:29 a perfect place so it's well worth
7:31 checking them out pull its trousers down
7:33 and have a look or even fondle of his
7:36 private parts he won't mind no need to
7:38 go mad and disturb all the soil and
7:40 break apart the root bow he fairly
7:41 delicate down there after all you're
7:43 just seeing if there is room for roots
7:46 to grow that they look healthy and plump
7:48 we have a very healthy plant here
7:50 because lots of soil for the roots to
7:53 grow into it's not root bound whatsoever
7:55 can see all the finer Roots have reached
7:56 to the bottom of the plant which is
8:00 quite good away from the crown
8:03 and the roots are nice and beige which
8:05 is exactly what you want you don't want
8:07 any black roots in here cuz that is an
8:10 indication of root rot and you'd want to
8:11 get rid of that going
8:15 forwards but yeah really healthy plant
8:18 by the looks of things underneath in the
8:21 soil loads of room for these roots to
8:23 continue growing for probably at least
8:25 another year you might think you need to
8:28 get the plant out of the soil he came in
8:31 and pop it into a nice fresh mix but
8:33 honestly I wouldn't bother unless the
8:35 soil absolutely pongs and is a bit of a
8:37 dog's dinner I'd leave it alone he will
8:39 happily live in the soil he came in
8:41 until he outgrows the pot and is ready
8:44 for an upsize basically it's a problem
8:47 for much further down the road right if
8:49 you've isolated your plant and it's been
8:51 a week or even if you didn't bother you
8:54 need to check how dry the soil is is he
8:56 ready for a drink now don't over
8:58 complicate watering it boils down to
9:01 this water the plant when the soil is
9:04 dry that's it nothing too taxing forget
9:06 schedules and all that just check if the
9:08 soil is dry and give him a drink if he
9:10 is you can use your finger for this and
9:13 go about halfway down into the soil if
9:15 it feels wet then leave it another week
9:17 and if it feels dry then he needs a
9:19 drink but I use my trusty moisture meter
9:21 for this because I find it much more
9:23 reliable I've actually down played that
9:26 a lot this device is a plant parents
9:28 best friend and it's my favorite thing
9:30 in the whole world world because it
9:32 takes the guessing game out completely
9:34 the one I use is listed in my Amazon
9:36 store Linked In the description if
9:37 you're interested and when it does come
9:39 to watering just know that as long as
9:41 the pot he lives in has holes in the
9:44 bottom you can't give him too much water
9:47 boarding for over an hour if you want to
9:50 it'll be just fine overwatering is about
9:52 frequency rather than volume that's a
9:54 big takeaway from this video and I'll
9:56 leave a link to a video about that in
9:58 the top right corner if you want to go
10:00 further down the rabbit hole so he's
10:03 well watered what about food plants need
10:06 food right yes they absolutely do my
10:08 plant friend but not yet I'd avoid
10:10 giving any fertilizer for at least the
10:13 first month sounds harsh to starve him
10:15 like this but the reason is pretty
10:17 simple you have no idea when the grower
10:19 last fertilized him it could have been
10:21 the day you bought him so to feed him
10:23 again would soon fatten him up and
10:25 that's not good yellow leaves and
10:27 drooping are the issues you might face
10:29 or even plant death
10:32 not pretty be safe and wait at least a
10:34 month even if it has been a while since
10:37 he was last fed he isn't going to starve
10:39 he' be just fine before I go about
10:41 finding a spot for him which has some
10:43 crucial steps I'll cover in a jiffy by
10:45 the way I always add one of these to the
10:48 pot what on Earth are these ugly things
10:51 I hear you cry these are fungus Knack
10:53 catchers these are the stickiest things
10:55 you'll ever touch and sometimes
10:57 annoyingly so they always stick to my
10:59 hand whenever I brush part pass them but
11:02 needs must they're yellow because gats
11:04 are dumb enough to be attracted to
11:06 yellow and will fly into it at are
11:08 things and they can't get off so they
11:10 will die a slow death sounds pretty Grim
11:13 actually oh well fungus nuts are the
11:15 most persistent Pest and having one of
11:18 these in the pot does two things it
11:19 keeps a lid on the population by
11:22 catching the adults but it also tells
11:24 you how bad a problem you have and this
11:27 is crucial if you've caught thousands on
11:28 the card then you got a big problem that
11:31 need sorting leave it and you'll soon be
11:33 overtaken and you'll want to give up on
11:35 life let alone plants and check out the
11:37 video in the top right corner all about
11:40 how I finally conquered these Mighty
11:43 beasts we're about ready to finally pop
11:45 him in his new home and let him settle
11:47 into his new surroundings but where
11:49 should he go for this you need to
11:51 understand what light he wants this is
11:53 crucial all plants have different light
11:56 needs some need direct sun like
11:59 succulents and cacti but most in indoor
12:01 tropical plants will require bright
12:04 indirect light don't worry too much
12:06 about what that means it's just a catch
12:09 term for not allowing direct sun rays to
12:11 touch the leaves the plant basically
12:13 wants to be in the shade from the Sun
12:15 otherwise the leaves will burn I.E don't
12:18 leave him to roast on a south facing
12:20 window all day if you're in the northern
12:22 hemisphere a quick Google search will
12:24 tell you what the ideal light for your
12:27 plant is so it's well worth doing this
12:29 so the tag of this guy came with the
12:31 plant says that it needs a bright spot
12:34 out of direct sunlight so I don't always
12:36 trust these tags because quite often
12:37 they don't even give you the name of the
12:40 plant but this one does Mosaic Plant
12:42 fonia so I have done a little bit of
12:45 research on it online it tends to back
12:47 that up so it does need a bright spot
12:50 which I think is about 800t candles
12:53 minimum more than that a little bit it
12:55 doesn't want the direct sunlight to
12:57 touch the leaves cuz it will turn them
13:00 crispy Brown not a massive issue but if
13:01 you keep doing it if you keep it on
13:04 there on a south facing window in the
13:06 northern hemisphere for example then you
13:08 will get lots of crispy brown leaves and
13:10 you'll end up with nothing so I need to
13:12 find a spot that is nice and bright
13:14 where direct sun doesn't touch the
13:16 leaves which is a little bit tricky so
13:18 now it's all about finding the right
13:20 spot in your home but how on Earth do
13:23 you know if your home gets low medium or
13:26 bright light well for this I have this
13:29 trusty light meter don't be too alarm
13:30 it's pretty cheap and there are even
13:32 apps on your phone you can use that do
13:34 the same thing although a little less
13:36 accurately I bought this fella a year
13:39 ago and I love it so this guy my light
13:42 meter has saved my bacon because I now
13:43 know exactly how much light is coming
13:46 into my home and it turns out not a lot
13:48 because I measure my the light coming
13:50 into my house in various spots and it's
13:53 always quite low so this measures in Lux
13:55 and foot candles I use foot candles I
13:56 think they're more or less the same
13:59 measurement really anything below low
14:02 500t candles is considered low light so
14:04 that's not great for your plants and
14:06 anything 500 to 1,000 is medium light
14:08 which is good for your plants above
14:11 1,000 is highlight which is probably
14:13 quite unlikely in most spots in your
14:14 home unless you're right next to a
14:17 window which is this spot here so I'm
14:20 going to put this plant on this window
14:24 shelf right here next to this window
14:27 this is an east facing window and during
14:30 a bright day or clear day during the
14:32 spring and summer I know that it gets
14:35 about a, foot candles which is great so
14:37 all these plants love that but on an
14:40 overcast day like today it is
14:43 getting about 300t candles which is
14:46 lower light so not great but that's
14:48 pretty much the best I can do in this
14:50 house unless I was to put it under a
14:53 grow light so this spot it will get
14:56 direct sun but it should be able to
14:58 tolerate it because I live in Sheffield
15:00 in in the northly UK and we don't get
15:02 much direct sun if you're struggling to
15:05 find the perfect spot for your new guide
15:07 then don't worry too much if it's not
15:10 got bright enough light most of the time
15:11 it just means it won't grow as
15:13 vigorously as it could it will still
15:15 most likely be perfectly happy in your
15:17 home and if you really want to get the
15:19 best out of your plant then consider
15:21 adding a grow light I've got four sansy
15:24 grow lights in my home which allows me
15:26 to have plants in dark spots in my house
15:28 and you can use my code for a 15%
15:30 discount in the description to this
15:32 video every week you should be checking
15:35 the soil with your finger or your probe
15:36 if I've managed to convince you to get
15:38 one and only watering when the soil is
15:41 dry this is the biggest takeaway from
15:43 this video most problems come about
15:45 because new plant parents are far too
15:47 generous with the watering can and drown
15:49 their new baby wait for the soil to dry
15:51 out and everything else becomes much
15:54 easier enjoying new green friends you've
15:56 earned it there are tons more tips and
15:58 tricks to learn to get the best out of
16:00 your Le Pals so check out the video on
16:03 the screen now for more fun and subscribe
