Spending a lot of money to care for your houseplants? Ever think to look elsewhere for some of your day-to-day items?
Most of us will use big box stores, plant shops or garden centers to buy our supplies for the hobby, but there are other places you can get things like coco coir, heat mats, and other gadgets to level up your houseplant hobby
I dive into the concept of getting some of these items from unexpected places and usually for a much more affordable price.
I am sure some might surprise you…
Do you have any you know that actually work? Feel free to share in the comments down below.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:34 Coco Coir
05:17 Sphagnum moss
07:04 Stratum by Fluval
09:38 Humidity meters / Thermometers
11:19 Heat Mats
14:15 Terrariums
17:20 Bubblers
20:18 Terrarium Caretakers
23:46 Houseplants
Stratum images and product
https://amzn.to/3fPy96G
Reptile Heat mat image and product
https://amzn.to/3UlzW2b
Seedling Heat Mat image and product
https://amzn.to/3DHMH04
Thermostat Heat Mat Image and product
https://amzn.to/3hr981W
Reptile Terrarium Image and product
https://amzn.to/3DOdacw
Ikea Cabinet Image
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/milsbo-glass-door-cabinet-white-00396416/
Paludarium Image and product
https://amzn.to/3NLsECB
Bubbler Image and product
https://amzn.to/3EhmiI5
Aeroponics image and product
https://amzn.to/3UFZnLG
#houseplantygoodness
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If you would like to support the channel you can buy me a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/houseplantygoodness
Check out the products I love, for my soil mix, pest control , accessories and grow lights:
Grow Lights Affordable Grow Light: https://amzn.to/3E94RGJ
My Strongest (still affordable) Grow Light: https://amzn.to/3tmI2ur
Pest Control Mealy Bug Predators: https://amzn.to/3wyHDG5
Spider Mite Predators: https://amzn.to/3um56Zu
Neem Oil: https://amzn.to/3hQSAyL
Systemic Pest Control (Chemical): https://amzn.to/34ekInk
My Soil Mix ingredients
Coco Coir: https://amzn.to/3omzIbU
Orchid Bark: https://amzn.to/3byArBJ
Perlite: https://amzn.to/2RrN2zL
Activated Charcoal: https://amzn.to/3tMZur2
Worm Castings: https://amzn.to/3eOItbM
Mycorrhizal Fungi: https://amzn.to/3olNaNn
Slow Release Fertiliser: https://amzn.to/3oorYGk
Liquid Gold Leaf Fertiliser: https://www.liquidgoldleaf.co.uk/
Growing Accessories
Heat Mat and Thermostat for fast propagation: https://amzn.to/3mAFyaC
Levoit Humidifier: https://amzn.to/3CIqTQm
Janky Support Sticks: https://amzn.to/3mDLX4F
Plant Velco: https://amzn.to/3nTHnP5
Cork Tiles for using as growing planks instead of moss poles: https://amzn.to/3bBLmKs
Plant Care Reminder App (currently only on Android I think) https://tinyurl.com/y2xju57b
Some of my Favourite UK Based Plant stores:
https://www.easterntropicals.uk/
https://growtropicals.com/
https://www.thegingerjungle.com/
21 Comments
I’m starting corms in stratum as well as seedling & rooting cuttings have had some really good results so far.
👆 – FIND LOVE ON THE BEST DATING SITE ❤💥w❤
OMG. You said HERP shops! I thought you said HEAD shops! LOL. Head shops are what smoke shops were called around me back in the day. Now, weed is basically legal and you really can get the best supplies for houseplants at weed grow shops! I was nodding and agreeing with you until you started mentioning fish and reptiles…. I was suddenly very confused for a moment
I started with a terrarium ( the palludarium type with some water in the bottom ) thinking it would be good for plants. And it is, but I now have dart frogs in them as well. Bonus 🙂 Plants and animals . And the lights are meant to be good for plants as well (same as aquarium lights) and waterproof. You have 2 types of bubblers, just air for oxygenation and water movement (water version of air flow) and a type that adds CO2 to help plant grow
Wait I can use air stone aka bubbler to water propagate? Thats amazing I have so many but you definitely need air pump n pipeline in order to use the air stone. My water propagation had taken a hit since its been so cold recently, so I moved onto perlite propagation, but will be trying out air stone method. Since water propagation takes way less space in my plant corner.
Have you had experience with white mold? I started my plant journey in April so this is my first cold season and I am noticing my DIY moss pole which is from B&Q and couple of my smaller plants having white mold. I can’t seem to get rid of it and frankly I dont use humidifier and I have been using my large fan for 1 hour-ish but still no luck🙃🙃
I also found those batteries operated misters that I like to use to water smaller propergations as a hair product because salons will use them to wet hair when styling. You can buy 2 of those for the price of one advertised for plants or less
My local pet shop must think I have a zoo. 😂 Aside from buying meal worms, bird food, hamster food and betta food (and all the other stuff they need), I get cork tiles to mount plants, driftwood for styling, substrates, bubblers, water conditioner, etc. yeah, they probably think I’m housing all kinds of critters.
something i will add is chicken grit (pulverized granite) for succulents. instead of high prices for pumice or fancy colorful stones. its cheaper and can be found anywhere farm animal feed is sold (tractor supply, some garden centers etc)…just a thought..
Coco coir: I think on contrary coco coir for reptiles is more salty than coco coir for plants. I almost killed a few plants with reptile grade coco coir, but since I rinced several time what was left I dont have any casualty anymore.
Turn on your video while seeding me new terrarium with springtails!!!
What a coincidence!
Fluval stratum: I dont know this brand in particular but aquarium soils have interesting properties: it's not lava rock, it's half baked clay rich soil. In the aquarium it stabilise low water hardness and low pH until it's saturated. It can also store nutrients and release them slowly. Outside of an aquarium it store moisture for a while but remain airy.
… But it's expensive, but it shouldn't because actually it's not aquarium soil, but bonsai soil. As such it can sometimes be found cheaper. I use Akadama in both my acidic aquarii and as potting soil for some cacti (pure) and other plants (in melange). Prices have fluctuaded recently since Japan stopped exporting for a while but it's supposed to be better and even cheaper than aquarium soil.
I hate both perlite and LECA so I use instead pouzzolana or pumice instead, they are used either as a cover in the garden or as an ingredient for concrete.
Great advice…thx!!
This is such a great tip!
I've bought charcoal and some substrates from pet shops too!! Definitely cheaper in general and there's a variety of them. I'm still debating on whether I should get (river) sand from a pet shop or my neighbourhood's hardware store, it's definitely cheaper from the hardware store, but I'm not sure about the quality/purity.
Have a wonderful evening!!
Stratum is more like balls of soil. Very easily crushes
Great video. Definitely getting the pet heat mat with thermostat.
I looove stratum. To offset the cost I use perlite to mix in which also lightens up the substrate. I also wait until Petco has a sale.
Love this video! Appreciate all the research you did. I’m all for saving 💵 and always think outside of the box!
One more money saving tip: there is nothing magical about grow lights, regular "cold white" LED bulbs/strips work too, they also emit "full-spectrum" light that can make plants happy.
There is of course a reason to use grow lights – they are stronger than typical lightbulbs, concentrate light in one direction to make more efficient use of electricity, have cooling to manage emitting so much light for 12h+ a day – if you need those things, then absolutely do buy a grow light, especially if you are growing something that prefers full sunlight (tomatoes, cannabis) then you need them.
However, if all you need is some supplemental light to help your shade-tolerant plants like begonias or pothos through the winter, then you do not need a growlight, all you need is a strong directional LED lightbulb or a LED lightstrip. I have my begonias under ordinary LED strips like you'd use to light a wardrobe, just the "coldest" (6500K) and strongest (10 W/m) ones they had in store, and they are perfectly happy and growing. Cost me a third of what it would cost to cover the same area with "official" grow lights, which I would have to dim anyway because at the distance I have between shelf "ceiling" and top of leaves the "real" growlights at full power would be too strong for begonias.
Great video, thanks!!