Plant Whisperers: Jackie's Green Thumb

Plant Whisperers is our blog section where, each month, we interview Pilea lovers and plant enthusiasts all over the world!

This month we met Jacqueline from @jackiesgreenthumb. She is a CA-based content manager by day and plant lover and crafty blogger on the weekends. In fact, she built the blog xoxojackie.com to inspire creativity, from craft and home DIY projects, to travel tips and curly hair hacks.

Hello Jacqueline!

How did you become a plant lover?

My mom is the original green thumb in my family! I grew up loving the outdoors and watching her care for her large outdoor garden.

It wasn’t until I grew up and moved into my own apartment that I found my love for plants.

I started out small with a few plants, and quickly realized how much joy having plants around brings me. Since then, I’ve grown my collection to more than 40 plants.

What's the best thing about living with plants?

Plants complete my space and help to bring the outdoors inside. Living in small apartments without an outdoor space is common in big cities, but, especially during these times, I’m so thankful to have my plants with me at home.

My plants help to make me feel like I’m more connected to nature and make being stuck at home more pleasant. My plants are my apartment decor, and I enjoy not only caring for them but also styling and decorating with them.

I also love crafting and I spend my weekends decorating planters, macramé-ing hangers for my plants, and writing about my projects on my blog!

How can you manage to have so many plants?

The great thing about living in a small apartment is that it’s easy for me to keep an eye on all of my plants.

This has helped me understand my plants and create a routine that works for my 40-something plants. Sunday is watering day for the majority of my plants, and I spend a few hours Sunday morning watering, pruning, and of course, dancing!

I have a few plants that require more frequent or less frequent watering, and I used to keep a notebook to remind myself when I should be watering my plants, but now it’s all in my head.

I definitely recommend keeping notes if you’re new to plant parenthood, so you don’t find yourself over or underwatering your plants. I’d keep notes on things like - how many days after being watered would each plant start to wilt and how much water I used, so I could start to understand the right routine for my plants.

What's your experience with Pilea Peperomioides?

First, I have to tell the story of where I purchased my Pilea, it’s definitely my most memorable plant purchase.

I found my Pilea while attending a comedy show at a community event space in San Francisco about a year ago. My friends were laughing at me all night because after buying it, I held onto it for the entire show and while commuting back home. It was a tiny pup of a plant when I got it - with just 5 ½ leaves.

Today, I keep it on a plant shelf that is placed in a very bright location, a couple of feet from a large West-facing window which gets bright indirect sunlight for most of the day and about an hour of direct sunlight.

My biggest tip for caring for Pilea is to underwater rather than overwater. You can always give your plant more water as you see it drooping, but overwatering is pretty hard to reverse.

What kind of relationship you have with your plants?

I love to blast oldies on watering day! I'm an old soul and love to play Stevie Wonder and the Temptations for my plant gals.

Any plants on your wishlist right now?

Anthurium vittarifolium is the one plant on my dream wishlist, but it's pretty pricey, so it will probably stay on my wishlist for a while.

My main goal for the next few months is to focus on the plants I already have and make them fuller, bigger and healthier. To expand my collection, I have started propagating quite a few of my Pothos and Philodendron!