Care Card Sticker

Our Care Card Sticker guides you through essentials to keep your plant alive and thriving. Knowing your plant is a must for setting you up for success!

To learn more about these topics check out our Plant Care section. (It doesn't have much at the moment, but we'll be building it out.)

 

Name Your Plant

Give your plant a name that feels right! We personally always love a good alliterative name with the plant species.

 

Species

What kind of plant are you placing in your Thrive Planter? If you're not sure, use an image identifier, for example Google Lens, to help you out.

 

Light

Lighting, aka food for your plant, is often misunderstood. Light intensity differs depending on window direction, the time of year, and your latitude. A simple way to think about it is to use compass directions:

SWEN - South, West, East, North

Light is strongest from a South facing window, followed by West, then East, then North. Yes, there really is a difference!

Be mindful of buildings or trees which can cause your plant to get less light.

Don't fret if you don’t have the "right" window direction or unobstructed view because a lot of the time you can do workarounds. For example, placing a plant a few feet further away from a window if there’s too much light or using a grow light if there's not enough.

However, it is important to make sure to pick plants for which you can provide the correct amount of light.

For more light precision, you can use a light meter to measure lux or for even more precision, PPFD. To get these measurements you'll need a light meter or phone app.

Water

Another critical factor is knowing when to water your plant. Not all plants want water at the same time and a plant's watering needs will change throughout the year. This isn't an issue with your Thrive Planter because you have visibility to confidently know when to water.

Soil dries from the top down. As it dries, the color becomes lighter. You'll see a moisture color gradient appear in the soil and it moves down as the soil continues to dry.

Tropical plants tend to need water when the top 25% to 50% of the soil is dry. In a 4 inch pot, this means the top 1 to 2 inches. Succulents on the other hand prefer the soil to be completely, 100% dry before you water them.

You don't want to water prior because overwatering leads to root rot which will kill your plant. When in doubt, it's better to air on the side of underwatering then overwatering.

How to water? Don't water the leaves, just the soil. You'll want to saturate the soil so it becomes completely wet. Water around the plant to evenly wet the soil.

Humidity
Some plants are very sensitive to humidity so you'll want to check if yours is.

Certain areas of your house have different humidity levels. Kitchens and bathrooms have higher humidity.  Living rooms and bedrooms usually have average humidity.

If you need to increase the humidity level around a plant you can put it over a pebble tray or get a humidifier.

 

Temperature
Plants are sensitive to temperature and each species has a range they can tolerate. They tend to be ok with the same range that you use in your house, but look up the range for your plant so you don't accidentally harm it.

 

OK With Drafts
Most houseplants don't love air drafts, but some handle them better than others. Air drafts happen when you open exterior doors and windows, have cracks that let in air, or have air blowing from a vent. If your plant is sensitive to air drafts be mindful not to place it in a draft path.

Soil
The type of soil is important to get right for your type of plant. If you have the wrong soil, it can hold too much moisture and cause root rot or not hold enough water and dry out too quickly causing plant dehydration.

If you're looking for a good soil company, we suggest using Rosy Soil. You can enter code THRIVE at checkout for a discount.