This App Is My Secret to Finally Keeping Houseplants Alive

Although I don’t have hundreds of plants in my home, I do have dozens. And it sucks to watch them die one by one. However, with the Planta app, I feel like I have a better shot at being a good plant parent. Let me explain why.

1

Planta Remembers Which Plants I Have (and Where They Are)

The first step in taking care of plants is knowing which plants you have and where they are. Sounds basic, I know, but plants aren’t like kids or pets. They don’t cry for attention, and it’s easy to neglect the snake plant sitting on a bookshelf in the back corner of an office.

Planta has me enter each plant one at a time, which can feel tedious if you’re starting with a house already filled with plants. For each plant, you have the option to enter a name and upload a photo. I’ve uploaded photos but haven’t taken the time to name my plants just yet. “Hanging pothos plant in the bedroom” works well enough for me. I hope the plant doesn’t mind.

Planta tasks me with organizing my plants by room. I have some in the living room, master bedroom, and even the bathroom. Then we get to the more tedious, but more important questions.

Planta wants to know how far each plant is from the window and whether it’s getting any direct light. These details impact how often a plant needs to be watered, and Planta doesn’t want to inadvertently tell you to give a plant more water than it can absorb.

2

Planta Identifies Plants and Gives Me Details

A few weeks ago, I bought over a dozen plants at once. They had tags, so entering them into an app like Planta was easy. Those are favorable circumstances. Sometimes, I have plants whose names I don’t remember. In those cases, Planta lets me snap a photo of a plant and find out what it is.

This isn’t a particularly unique feature. I’ve tried out several plant identifier apps for Android. PictureThis is my personal go-to since it provides me with what feels like the best results, but you can try your hand at identifying plants without an app if you’re so inclined.

PictureThis and Planta provide different types of information about each specific species. Planta is focused on (primarily indoor) plant care and uses the information in its database to help determine what kind of care and attention each plant needs. PictureThis isn’t useless indoors, but I think of it more as an app that can help you with your outdoor vegetable garden.

3

I Get Reminders and Instructions to Water Plants

Once the setup process was done, my relationship with Planta became far more passive. For the most part, I ignore the app until it pops up a notification telling me it’s time to water a plant. Then I choose whether or not to ignore it some more (more often than I’d like, I do).

Here’s the thing. When you first set up Planta, the app asks how much attention you want to give to your plants. It then lets you know in advance if a plant you’re about to add will require more attention than you expect.

Some plants will do just fine with the occasional watering. Others will require more regular watering and misting from a spray bottle. I’ve had a busy few weeks, and the notifications have pilled up from being ignored. One thing I’ve found is that if you make a habit of swiping away the notifications, you will be surprised just how much the tasks pile up.

Honestly, the notifications are helpful, but they’re not the reason I value Planta most. Rather, I appreciate how much detail the app provides to absolute beginners. Many websites will tell you to water your plants but won’t explicitly tell you how. Planta gives you those vital details, showing me three different ways to water a plant and how to tell when a plant has had enough. This experience taught me that I’ve been overly frugal with water over the years (sorry, plants).

4

Planta Teaches Me How to Apply Fertilizers

In around half a decade of having houseplants, I’ve never once given any of them fertilizers. I can hear some of you now gasping in horror. I will readily admit that I don’t know what I’m doing.

Anyway, besides watering notifications, I get reminders that it’s time to fertilize certain plants. An alert alone wouldn’t be all that helpful, but fortunately, Planta is as helpful with fertilizing as it is with watering.

The app tells you what type of fertilizer to apply and what ratio of ingredients to look for. It also guides you through the step-by-step process of applying a fertilizer. So, after getting one of these notifications, I purchased indoor plant food for the first time.

5

It Helps Me Repot Plants

Repotting plants is another one of those things that I haven’t gotten around to doing. I know it’s a miracle my four pothos plants have held on all this time. I’ve killed my share of houseplants, but these have held on.

I haven’t yet received a notification to repot any of my plants, but I can check the schedule to get an idea of when I can expect that message to come. The app explains what signs to look for as an indication that it’s time to repot, provides advice on when and whether to use a larger pot, and gives tips on swapping out the soil. Then, you get step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process.

As is the case in other areas, what makes Planta helpful isn’t exclusive repotting tips that you can’t get anywhere else. Rather, it’s the benefit of having all of this information in one place, presented in such a clear and easy-to-follow way. I’ve spent years looking for advice from blogs, only to walk away confused by conflicting information and feeling clueless about what to search for.

It’s also worth pointing out that Planta is its own social network for plant lovers. I didn’t touch that part since I deleted my social media accounts a decade ago, but you may find it an excellent source of inspiration. You can also check out other online communities aimed at gardeners. Turns out Planta is in good company.

I can’t promise that Planta will save your plants. I can’t say with certainty that I won’t lose any of mine, either. Life doesn’t offer such promises. However, I now feel I have some knowledge about plant care and a helpful digital assistant to assist me when needed, which makes a huge difference.