00:00This is my my workout routine. Quarantine workout. Here we go.
00:10My name is Riley Gallagher, also worship underscore Riley. I'm the Grimm.
00:14And today we're going to learn all things green thumb. I have been working with plants for a good
00:19part of my life, about 10 years, and I've now worked for a florist, Foxwater Farm, that I've
00:24been working for almost two years now. Today I'm going to be teaching you three different things.
00:28We're going to start some seeds from scratch. Then we're going to learn how to
00:35propagate a plant. And lastly, where's one of my plants? We're going to repot
00:42a plant that's a little unhappy. If you're worried about killing another plant or thinking that maybe
00:48you just don't have a green thumb, you just have to listen to the plants. For a seed starting demo,
00:54we need an egg carton, pellets, some seeds, water, a pen for labeling, and these little label markers,
01:02so we know what we're growing. You don't need a rooftop necessarily. You can use a fire escape,
01:07a patio, a terrace, even a windowsill, as long as you have direct sunlight.
01:13Today, I am planting peppers and two types of lettuces. Now that we have our egg carton,
01:18our pellets, you want to soak them in water. They start out really flat. Once they're big and fluffy,
01:24you can start planting seeds. For safety, I like to put two or three in. Some people who are better
01:31gardeners than me would only do one. You're going to cover it up with your finger. Next,
01:36you're going to use your marker, and you're going to write peppers. Then you want the date,
01:40and then you're just going to put it in. Okay, so after you have everything
01:46all planted, you want to give it all fresh water. You can reuse your watering jar, if you will.
02:02And we are done. So this is what we did today. It doesn't look like much, but behind me I
02:08have
02:08a tray of microgreens right here. These are about a week old now, so you can see how quickly things
02:15can grow. So you can be a little fancier with a tray, which you could buy at any hardware store,
02:20or you can be thrifty. This is really a great option for anyone who only has a small area to
02:27grow in.
02:28Here is my plant collection. At least some of them. A great thing to have is a mister. Where's my
02:37mister?
02:40Between plant waterings, plants like humidity, just give them a nice mist. Let's stop. Turn it on first.
02:56Let's get propagating. We're going to propagate a Swiss cheese plant. To propagate a plant is to take a
03:03cutting of the parent plant and create a baby plant. You need a mother plant, you need a pair of
03:09shears,
03:11a glass of water. In order to propagate plants, you want to look for nodes, also known as aerial roots.
03:16You can see that right here, this little guy sticking out. Once you find the established aerial roots,
03:22these are what need to be underwater in order to establish real roots. So you want to make a cut
03:28behind them. But you want to leave at least two of these underwater for the best chance of rooting.
03:36And all you really need to do is cut it and then just stick it in the water.
03:40And I would say the number one mistake people make with houseplants is over watering. Some people
03:46think they need to water their plants like every week. And in reality, most plants can use a good
03:50amount of time between waterings. You never want to be moist for too long a time. This is the plant
03:55we're going to repot today. It's called a ZZ plant. This ZZ plant, it was in a pot that was
03:58a little too
03:59small. So you can see its roots are all tangled up inside each other. That's a sign that the plant
04:04needs a bigger pot. So you don't want to go up too drastically in size. That could shock the plant.
04:10And you want the plant to be happy. What we need is our sad root-bound plant, a new pot
04:17for it,
04:18some water, and of course potting soil. So technically we actually have three plants. Each one of these
04:25has its own little node. But I'm not going to separate these two because this guy's still a little
04:30small and I think it wants to still live with its parent plant. Okay, again, if you want to get
04:35the
04:35soil in, you want to make a little hole for your plant. Soil needs air, so don't pack it too
04:44tight.
04:45Don't press down. You just want enough to cover it. So this guy seems to be crooked and aesthetically
04:52I want it to be straight. So we're going to use chopsticks to stake up our plant. Voila! If you're
05:01in the Brooklyn neighborhood like I am in New York, Tula House is a really great resource for plant
05:08supplies. A lot of things that we used here today can be found there and they're also offering
05:13contactless curbside pickup and I think some delivery options as well. Why should you have plants in your
05:19home? But it brings life to a house and it really does like make the air quality better and it's
05:26easier and cheaper than a dog even though I wish I had a dog. They're great companions I think and
05:32really wonderful. They make a space a home. I hope you can walk away from this feeling more confident
05:38about having a green thumb and I hope you really try and either start your own garden, buy a plant
05:43or
05:43trade a plant with a friend now that you know how to do cuttings and really just make your space
05:47more green.
05:48Thank you so much again for joining me today. I hope you learned something and happy gardening. Stay safe out
05:54there.
