Plant Grow Create came to life when I started wanting a hub for all the plant information I researched to make my own indoor and outdoor plants successful.
When I first started collecting plants I thought all you needed to give them was some light and water, boy was I wrong! I have killed many a plant in my day and would never refer to myself a someone with a natural green thumb. I have had to do a lot of research with trial and error to figure out what works best for my plants. Gardening and houseplants have become a passion of mine and I made this site to share my store my research and knowledge with others.
My first “plant encounter” was in college when I bought my first lucky bamboo. This guy made me feel like a plant master. I was confident that I had a green thumb and plants were my thing. Anyone who has had lucky bamboo knows they are one of the easiest plants to keep alive! I will note, from experience, not impossible to kill one but truly very hard to do so.
Since I was doing amazing at caring for my first plant I started getting more plants! However these plants did not always do well. Some grew for a few weeks and then slowly died, all the while I gave them more water, moved them and essentially stressed them out to the max with my complete lack of knowledge on plant care.
I ended up finding a a line of plants called plants of steel, and stuck to those for indoor plants for many years. These are low maintenance, super hardy plants that can take an experienced plant lover and make them semi-successful with keeping plants alive.
We moved to our first house soon after college and I was so excited to start my first vegetable garden. We had a beautiful yard but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself so I started with an 8×8 garden and used the square foot gardening method for my first few years. As with many new gardeners, with again very little knowledge of what I was actually doing, some things did great and others slowly withered and died in the Texas heat. Through this method I learned a lot about companion planting, soil health and growing zones.
This is the same time that I started acquiring some fruit trees and learning about their needs. Our house came with a beautiful fully developed Orange tree that produced no matter what we did thankfully! It also had a fig tree which did really well too. We bought a pomegranate bush, apple trees and lemon trees to try out for the first time. I again researched a lot to see what exactly fruit trees needed to grow.
I ended up venturing into flower gardens after learning how important it was to support the local bee community because they are essential for growing food. I love all kinds of flowers but my favorites are snapdragon, lilies and hydrangeas.
My gardening level was increasing steadily and we even had a few small apples our first year but unfortunately we were hit with a bad hurricane that flooded our home with 5 feet of water, took our my garden bed and left our home unlivable for 10 months while being repaired. We moved to far away to check on things daily so needless to say most my beautiful new plant babies did not survive.
After repairing our home we decided to sell because even just a tiny rainstorm made me freak out a little bit in that home. We moved to a non-flood area with a smaller yard but still enough to have a garden. Building two garden beds was one of our first projects in our new home! I chose the wrong materials and the beds only lasted 3 years, another learning experience that I can share here but in that time I also picked up hydroponic gardening!
Hydroponic gardening is when you grow plants in water instead of soil. It is similar and very different from traditional gardening at the same time! I personally love my AeroGardens but am looking to expand to some homemade methods just for fun in the future. I have 3 different models that I love to grow herbs, tomatoes, peppers and strawberries in.
Currently I am growing a few fruit trees, my outdoor garden, a few container gardens, my hydroponic gardens and adding to my ever growing houseplant collection. I go through stages where I get super into one specific thing, do tons of research, learn a lot and then rotate onto focusing on another plant growing aspect.
I’m excited to share my knowledge, mistakes and experiences with you in hopes it helps you to grow beautiful, healthy plants with a little more ease than I had when I was first starting out. I love to hear from readers and other plant growing enthusiast so be sure to comment, or visit my contact page to connect!
I organized my website to be super easy to find the information you’re looking for. You can start by checking out my houseplant guides to hone your indoor gardening skills. Also be sure to check out my products page for reviews of the best indoor and outdoor gardening gear to make your life easier!
Courtney
Founder of Plant Grow Create