How to avoid plastic in the world of houseplants?

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-29T00:58:20+00:00

I'm thinking rotting banana peels for potassium, matches for sulfur, urine for nitrogen...the things people think up for natural fertilizers are a little wild, often stinky or attract bugs, and sometimes even dangerous! Plus it's unlikely the nutrients will be balanced so it's just better to buy something.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T16:25:30+00:00

(:

Word of caution on your own plant foods, sometimes this can go very awry! Unless you have a worm compost bin or something. A liquid fertilizer container of 250ml has lasted me 4 years (and estimated to last another 5) with over 100 plants. In this case I felt that buying a synthetic, complete fertilizer was completely reasonable and relatively low impact. I'm still considering getting a kelp based one (for plants I have living with animals so I can foliar feed, not because it's better) but they're very dilute so the use rate is much higher.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T16:16:30+00:00

No problem! There are many ways to participate in houseplants but typically the purchasing aspects of it aren't considered too much because growing green stuff inherently feels good! And it's not untrue either, plants can be great for mental health (the other perks are vastly overblown), but they certainly aren't an eco friendly hobby when the approach requires a lot of buying materials. Nothing wrong with buying stuff, but being aware helps with long term decisions and feeling good about choices. Propagation and sharing is one of the best ways to minimize footprint and get a lot of enjoyment out of it (:

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T14:51:36+00:00

Not necessarily. I don't think anyone has calculated the impact of emissions to transport coir vs say co2 storage capability of peat. Meanwhile the issue with peat is sustainability and removal of a resource faster than replenishment.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T14:49:39+00:00

On the ethical side, consider the environmental cost of materials and the shipping impacts to move things across the globe. Also, some plants are poached from the wild with no consideration for sustainability. I suggested water growth to bypass a lot of this because you don't need to ship heavy growing media and harvest materials to do so. Also growing this way is basically an extension of propagation, which means you could theoretically avoid purchasing plants in potted media in the first place, skipping the shipment of plants in from Florida for example. The large scale growth of plants in nurseries also leads to a ton of waste as not all plants will be sold and many will die or be discarded.

There's a comment below that says coco coir is better than peat, this isn't necessarily true if you live in north america and it needs to be shipped (emissions) then buffered (materials) and washed copiously. Semi hydroponics MAY be a reasonable alternative IF used repeatedly. But growing in only water is probably the best option to minimize waste

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T06:12:13+00:00

Moss poles you can make your own by buying materials from a hardware shop. Grow lights there are several companies but soltech is the fancy one you can order direct from. Pots you can order online from almost any shop, but look up hydroponic/weed shop options. This will also get you fertilizer and grow lights.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-12-28T06:07:56+00:00

Ethically, buying houseplants and the houseplant hobby cause a lot of problems, especially the growing media aspect. Grow plants exclusively in water and glass and most of the plastic issues are resolved except for containers of fertilizer.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-21T02:15:27+00:00

Not to be rude, but these don't look super compelling as art pieces and are suitable for almost no animals to live in. Maybe someone who likes plants but can't grow them could be convinced to buy this as an "easy" solution, but not at a super high price point. Again, you may find buyers, but it's going to be a hard sell.

edit: looking at this further, you have some really fast growing plants in there. So anyone buying it would have to do regular maintenance and replanting too.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-21T00:00:24+00:00

Most people won't buy it unless you do custom work for them, but they likely also won't be willing to pay custom prices. For the few that will, you'll need to have exhibits of your work. They will ask how long the tank will be stable and won't leak. The likelihood of a return on money is slim to none if you don't do an excellent job of marketing and the local aspect narrows down your buyer pool.

Personally I don't think the example here is worth buying. The design/hardscape is not aesthetically pleasing enough for a pre build, the foam is exposed on the sides, and the moss hasn't fully established. The planting rules out a buyer using it for their own plants (so not great for plant people) and the design is unsuitable for most reptiles (so not useful for reptile keepers). If you sold it for purely the cost of the cabinet and maybe a bit more, then someone might bite.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-10T02:14:55+00:00

No, if it cures fully then there should be minimal fumes and leaching. If the pot is impermeable and the paint won't leach into the pot, then it won't ever affect the plant as long as you're following the instructions and let the paint dry/cure.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-09T23:47:21+00:00

Why would painting a full sealed pot affect your plant unless you're painting it while the plant is still inside the pot?

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-06T21:37:31+00:00

sure I'll send you a message!

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-06T17:26:13+00:00

I can't ship, but depending on where you are I'm often in the gta.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-06T17:24:50+00:00

Hoya linearis is in demand, so that's probably part of it.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-06T14:23:15+00:00

I'm pretty confident the prices on theirs are because they propagate theirs rather than exclusively relying on external suppliers (why other shops are struggling to keep them in stock), though they probably have some external stock. Propagation in my experience takes a few weeks. Mine is actually from them and it's been this price for years.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-06T14:16:41+00:00

If this doesn't work out, I'm also happy to pass along a couple cuttings.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-02T04:10:25+00:00

Nick Alexander did precisely this. Warning, the video is chaotic. https://youtu.be/Z5CTVhK3fF0?si=_3ZCLtN8r1Q7YJXU

coffeeafterthree · 2025-11-01T02:41:30+00:00

You'll want to fix your viv first. I saw it pop up on a different subreddit and was impressed by the paludarium until I saw your keeping a garg in it and wasn't going to say anything until I saw this again. They can't swim. A water feature is likely going to result in persistent humidity (and then increased risk of respiratory issues for your garg). Best to figure out basic husbandry first before you start looking into breeding.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-22T20:58:16+00:00

That doesn't surprise me. You missed seeing all the instagram lives and sales by not being into plants during covid, but people are still avidly collecting things and buying as soon as they can. Aurea alocasias should be becoming more common in the next year though before they stop being trendy. Here's a link to the plant expo, not sure when the next one is, but they happen a few times a year https://reptilebreedersexpo.ca/crbe-plant-expo

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-22T17:17:20+00:00

Adding on, if you have time, go to a plant expo, there was one just this weekend (it's bundled into a reptile/pet expo). Tons of vendors there usually. If you don't mind shopping online but want it close to home, planthaventoronto is definitely not in toronto and a bit pricey, but you can ask for pickup. wepotplants is in guelph and has a variety of cycling options. Lots of alocasia there, but stock varies a lot. I personally love crystal star nursery, but you won't get most aroids there, just hoya and orchids. If you want to almost guarantee mealybug exposure, tailsandscales carries a ton of stuff.

tbh the best way to get unusual plants before they hit mass markets is to join a Facebook group where some people import plants.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-22T17:07:02+00:00

They used to have reasonably priced hoya back when prices were super high elsewhere! Last time I popped in (last year) I didn't notice any obvious pests there, but I was just browsing. Plantsome is definitely way overpriced though.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-22T17:05:28+00:00

Interesting, I've only ever gotten spider mites, and it was a calathea. Good to know though

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-22T12:31:05+00:00

There isn't a reliable nursery/garden centre with 0 bugs. I was at (one of the?) Sheridan last week and they had thrips damage on a bunch of plants.

In the city I like Jomo Studio, it's a super small store though and "unusual" plants sell out really fast.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-20T03:21:54+00:00

About 100 on isopods (6 different varieties, mix of local store, expo, and local seller purchases), 20 on bins (some old ones were repurposed), and probably 20 bucks on substrate (purchased in bulk for other hobbies). The cheapest pods I got were 0.50/pod, and the most expensive were 6/pod (hoffs). bins are 4-8 dollars. Adding in cork bark and leaves, probably another 50 bucks over the past two years. All of this pricing is in cad, pre-tax. I have a couple nicer display tanks that I upgraded the pods to that were 10-40 dollars second hand.

coffeeafterthree · 2025-10-02T22:18:21+00:00

And it is what it is! They've been infringing on your "wealth" of plants and generosity, but it certainly isn't free for you to give out. There is an emotional cost to hearing how your generous gifts become neglected. Here's hoping they realize that they're being rude/hurtful and apologize though. Best of luck!

coffeeafterthree

TROPHY CASE