Plant Mythbusters: Debunking 5 Viral Plant Hacks with The Chocolate Botanist
Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness
4.8 • 883 Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever seen one of those viral plant hack videos where someone sprinkles banana peels in their soil or ices their orchid? If you’re wondering if they work, I hate to be the bearer of bad news because the answer is no. Sorry, plant friends.
In this episode, I will be separating fact from fiction with my dear friend, Derek Haynes aka The Chocolate Botanist. Derek is a plant biologist who’s not afraid to call out the myths, explain the real science behind plant care, and help us simplify things.
Let’s bust 5 of the biggest houseplant myths floating around online.
In this episode, we learn:
- [01:03] Meet Derek, the Chocolate Botanist
- [08:03] Fighting misinformation online
- [10:37] Does banana water work?
- [15:15] Simplify your plant care with Espoma Organic’s high quality products!
- [18:05] Which fertilizer is perfect for you?
- [20:53] Do coffee grounds work?
- [25:09] Do eggshells work?
- [28:36] Is it effective to water plants with ice cubes?
Mentioned in our conversation:
- Growing Joy Ep. 283: From Wishlist to Whoops: 2025 Houseplant Trends, Plant Care Tips & Plant Fail Confessions From the Northwest Flower & Garden Show
- Growing Joy Ep. 116: Houseplant Identification Basics from Derek from The Crazy Botanist
Get all the myth-busting goodness in one place...
Check out the full show notes and blog here!
Follow Derek The Chocolate Botanist:
Thank you to our episode sponsor:
Espoma Organic
As we welcome the season of growing and gardening, make sure you're using nontoxic products in the garden! Espoma Organic is dedicated to making safe indoor and outdoor gardening products for people, pets, and the planet. They have an amazing variety of high-quality, organic potting mixes, garden soil, fertilizers, and pest control products that are organic and eco-friendly. To top it all off, they have a huge sustainability commitment with a 100% solar-powered plant, zero waste manufacturing, and eco-friendly packaging.
Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.
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Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants)by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, plant friend, quick announcement at the top of the show. I wanted to let you know I'm offering two |
| 0:04.6 | different free online classes that are 45 minutes each that are designed to help you get the most |
| 0:11.7 | out of your spring this year. I want spring and summer 2025 to be your best house plant growth |
| 0:19.0 | seasons yet. And the way that you'll sign up for these classes, |
| 0:22.7 | which are completely free, is by going to Growingjoy with Maria.com slash class. There's two options. |
| 0:29.4 | The first up is the spring house plant boost, supercharge your plant growth in three simple steps, |
| 0:34.9 | and this is a 45-minute class all about how to utilize spring |
| 0:39.3 | to set your plants up for insane growth this year. And then the second class is called the |
| 0:44.8 | ultimate guide to moving indoor plants outside and three mistakes to avoid. A lot of people |
| 0:49.9 | move their plants outside in the spring, which is fabulous, but there are massive mistakes you |
| 0:54.1 | can do that can result in some pretty bad stuff. So this class is going to go over how to do that. |
| 0:58.7 | If you're interested in either classes or both classes, you can go register for free, completely |
| 1:04.7 | free. Each class is 45 minutes at Growingjoy with Maria.com slash class. That's Growingjoy with Maria.com slash class. |
| 1:13.1 | I cannot wait to hang out with you live and share my tips. |
| 1:23.3 | Have you ever seen one of those viral plant hack videos online or maybe a friend has sent one to you and you think, wait, does that actually work? |
| 1:31.8 | Well, usually the answer is no plant friends. I'm so sorry to report. And today we are separating fact from fiction. So buckle up. |
| 1:43.7 | Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants |
| 1:50.4 | successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more joy |
| 1:55.3 | in our lives by doing so. |
| 1:57.3 | I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady, author of Growing Joy, The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness, speaker, podcaster, and most importantly, your new best plant friend. |
| 2:07.7 | On Growing Joy with Plants, you'll find conversations about house plant care, gardening tutorials, and wellness through the lens of plants. |
| 2:14.2 | Plant care is self-care on growing joy. |
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