Houseplants

serena9

I am new to plants and would like to buy a zz plant and an aspidistra or a cast iron plant, I have found some on amazon that get good reviews and are not too expensive, I'd like them to be quite large at least 60cm, but before I buy I wondered if anyone who knows better than me can suggest somewhere to buy, none of my local garden centres or shops sell these plants, they seem quite hard to find. Thanks for any advice.

Farway

The two you mention are fairly common, maybe too common & not exotic looking enough [not enough profit] to appear in garden centres.

You don't mention where you are in Uk, but have you tried the likes of B & Q, The Range, even supermarkets with garden areas, like Asda, Morrisons. Home Bargains etc

Regarding size, they will soon grow, so being MSE you can save money by being a bit patient & letting them grow from smaller plants, and smaller plants may be easier to source locally to you

Maybe try an ad on your local FB pages?

Sensible_Jess

Three suggestions: 1) the RHS website. It has a plant finder and nurseries that sell them (online and bricks) 2) a local plant share or gardening Facebook group. 3) friends may have baby plants or want to give away a houseplant.

serena9

Thank you for the suggestions. I have been looking at B&Q, etc and these particular plants aren't to be found anywhere. I know it's not very MSE, but I wanted to buy a particular size as I have a certain area for both plants and don't want to wait. I don't use Facebook, and my friends roll their eyes when I mention plants again. I'll have a look at the RHS site; great tip.

elsien

I found my aspidistras in a specialist nursery.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6679047/houseplants

ZZ plants can apparently be found in IKEA, otherwise I'd go online for a specialist nursery/providers - like Patch Plants

When you get a new plant, you should keep it separately from the rest to ensure it's pest free - I'd also ensure you have things ready to deal with pests like Isopropyl alcohol.

Where are you planning to have the plants? Light levels are really critical to plant success, so you may want to consider grow lights, Barrina or Sansi are both good brands and available on Amazon. I also have a Pianta bulb and clip from Grow Gang

https://grow-gang.com/

I recently got a Thai Con Monstera from Grow Tropicals which was delivered well packaged and in perfect condition, but it's not the big plant size (yet) that you desire.

https://growtropicals.com/products/monstera-deliciosa-thai-constellation?variant=55740059779455

serena9

Thank you for all the advice. I went to The Range yesterday, and they now sell Homebase plants. I didn’t buy any, but some looked good. I then went to B&Q, and they had a half-price sale on some plants. I bought a beautiful golden pothos that’s over a metre high, with a moss pole, and a ZZ plant, a small one, I’d say about 30 cm high. Both were in amazing condition and were great value. I have the pothos in my kitchen with indirect light at both ends, and the ZZ plant in my upstairs landing with medium indirect light. I may have to go back in the next few days and see if there’s anything else on offer. It’s not the cheapest of hobbies, is it 😀

twopenny

You're hooked 😆

The thing with keeping them healthy is to find out about watering, feeding etc . I find books more accurate and useful than the net. Patrol your local charity shops.

You mentioned a certain size but plants grow upwards and outwards so consider that

It's a fun thing to do. Some take it to extreems. There's more than one 😲

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EG5va-8MIok

Or consider making a fortune. That will teach your friends 🙂

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/uk-man-grows-plants-worth-15000-a-leaf/

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82096272#Comment_82096272

I think the pole on your pothos is likely to be a coir pole rather than a moss pole - if it's an actual moss pole, you need to water it. If it's a coir pole, you don't.

serena9

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82098308#Comment_82098308

I absolutely am hooked 😀. I'm not going to extremes, though, but thats such an interesting article the devil in me wants to do that 👀 you just never know what happens, I used to kill everything plant-wise until recently now I'm chopping and propping 😀

serena9

@Emmia Chat tells me it's coconut coir and that I should initially water it too, which I did. Do you have another suggestion?