Things I wish I would have known

I recently was able to move my home office to a room with two big windows, lots of space and a view. I wanted to fill my space with lots of plants. So off I go plant shopping. I’m using ChatGPT to help as I ask what requirements this plant or that plant has, etc. I tell it that my office has a North and West facing window.

1. Bright indirect light- NOW I’m understanding that this means as close to being in direct light as possible, without being in direct light. My office does NOT have this but many of the plants I bought require this. Shoot

2. Terracotta pots- more water evaporates from these darn pots than you’d think. Now I’ve got to water these plants every 3 days. Shoot

3. Coco choir- comes in different varieties. Coco peat, chips and they all retain water. Shoot

4. Grow lights- are useless unless you get a powerful one and have it fairly close to the plant. The strength diminishes exponentially with distance. A light might have PPFD of 250 at 12 inches but only 70 at 24 inches. Shoot

5. Humidity- I live in a super dry area. My outdoor humidity is typically pretty low. Many of these plants need 40%+ to thrive. So now I’m running a humidifier in my office. Shoot

I’m just starting out so it’s still TBD how my setup will turn out. But I sure wish I would have known these things, and others when I got started with my setup and plant collection. There’s just so much to learn