Episode 246: Jade Murray talks about her new book, plus a wick watering Q&A

Jade Murray’s new book The Indoor Garden is out now. Photograph: Jade Murray.

Transcript

Episode 246

[music]

Jane: Are you ready to get compost on your carpet, foliar spray on your Friday best and pollen on your pantsuit? Great because it's time for On The Ledge podcast with me, your host, Jane Perrone! In this week's show I'm talking to the author of a new book called The Indoor Garden, that's Jade Murray, plus we hear from listener Dorian and I answer a question about wick-watering.

[music]

Jane: Thank you to JamePlants this week, who left me a lovely review for the show, giving me five stars - thank you so much, JamePlants! Here's a little anecdote! When I first moved to the States, my room-mate thought my name was Jame, rather than Jane, for a good few weeks before I realised that

she didn't have my name right, so that was a fun conversation! Shy and retiring English person as I was, it took me a while to pluck up the courage to tell her that she'd got it wrong! Oh gosh, those were the days! Thank you also to Sara and Louisa, who became Ledge-ends this week, joining my

Patreon clan. When I was doing the cards for my Patreon subscribers at the Ledge-end and Superfan level, I realised that I have an incredible spread of Patreons from around the globe - everywhere from Long Beach California, to the Falkland Islands, Hong Kong skyscrapers, to tiny English villages, to the outback of Australia! What a fascinating bunch you are! So if you want to join that Patreon gang, please do check out the show notes at janeperrone.com. You can also just give a one-off donation via the platform ko-fi.com. I never quite know how to pronounce it after all these years! If you don't want to give a regular amount, or you just fancy chucking the cost of a cup of coffee at me, then please do that! It all helps to support the show, which is, after all, free! There are almost 200 episodes freely available for you to listen to. If you want to unlock the first 50 episodes of the show, which does include some really epic episodes like the one about the Chinese Money Plant and how to grow an avocado from seed, you can become a Patreon and that unlocks that content too.

Now, if there's one thing that today's guest, Jade Murray, and I have in common, it's the fact that we both have children and indoor gardens and that's something we chat about in her interview today. Jade's new book, The Indoor Garden: Get started no matter how small your space, is out now. I'll put a link in the show notes to this title. In the US it's being published under the name Beginners' Houseplant Garden, so I'll put links for both the UK and the US edition into the show notes. I had a feeling that Jade's houseplant obsession wasn't a new thing in her life, so I wanted to find out first where this all began.

Jade: So I would start with me being a child, so I must have been about six or seven and I used to spend a lot of time at my Nan's house and she had a balcony garden. Where I lived, at home, with my mum, we didn't have a garden, no-one in my family actually had gardens, but my nan had a balcony garden, so I used to spend a lot of time, as a child, watering her plants, helping her sow seeds, repotting and all that sort of stuff. So that was really where my passion and love for plants started, as a child.

Jane: That's really lovely to hear and I think lots of people will relate to that being the start of their love of plants, with a family member. It's a really special thing to enjoy. Here we are now, you've published a book, how did you end up writing a book about houseplants?

Jade: It's such a random story. What happened was, last year, I think it was April, I was actually washing up my dishes and I was listening to a show over here in the UK called BBC The One Show, and one of the presenters said, "We're going to be seeing someone who's got 300 houseplants and we're going to be having a look." So I stopped what I was doing in the kitchen, ran to the living room, I thought, "Oh my gosh, I need to see this woman's 300 houseplants because I've got about 70, I want to see what hers look like!" So I was watching the whole segment, beautiful house, she had loads of houseplants and after that segment there was a competition, the RHS My Chelsea Garden competition, and that entailed people up and down the UK can submit a photo of either their front garden, back garden, roof terrace or an alternative garden category. So, obviously, I entered a photo of my indoor garden which fitted the category for alternative garden and I actually went on to win the competition and got an RHS Gold Award for my indoor garden! On the back of that show, my publishers had reached out and said to me, "We loved how you were on BBC The One Show, we can't believe how many houseplants you've got and the knowledge you've got, we'd love to offer you a book deal," so that was how that came about, the book!

Jane: What do you think it was about your particular space that inspired the judges to give you the prize?

Jade: Do you know what, that is actually such a hard question to answer because it's my home and they're my plants and I just style them how I want! I suppose it's like I took it for granted. I suppose it's when I'd have visitors and they would come and they'd be, like, "Oh my god, Jade, this is beautiful!" But it's just because it's mine and it's what I've done, so I don't know how to answer that! I don't know why I won it but I suppose they really appreciated how I've styled my plants, how I've taken care of them and they're very carefully placed in the perfect location in the home. A lot of the shady plants that don't like direct light, they're in the perfect location. Plants that love brighter light, I have spotlights on them. So they're obviously elements that The One Show picked up on and realised the amount of thought and detail I've put into my houseplants and where I've placed them and how I've styled them.

Jane: Looking at the pictures I can tell that you've got an amazing collection. How many houseplants have you got now? Has it gone up?

Jade: No, it hasn't gone up! So, about 70.

Jane: Could you fit more in or... I know you've got children, like me, so you have to be a bit respectful of the fact that they might not want to be living in an actual jungle!?

Jade: I do have space for more. I just have to be very disciplined not to get any more because it requires a lot of time and care and attention and, at the moment, my time is very limited after the book's been released. So I've been very disciplined and not buying any more but, no, my kids actually love our indoor garden, especially because they have autism, all three of my children, so they've actually found having the indoor plants very therapeutic for them, I've definitely noticed that in them as well, the benefits of having the indoor garden.

Jane: That's really interesting. How do they interact with the plants? Do they get involved with the care, or do they just enjoy looking at them? How does that work?

Jade: For my daughter, who's 10, she's very hands-on. She reminds me of me at her age, actually, when it comes to plants. She likes to help me propagate, repotting and wiping down the leaves, keeping them dust free. She's into it, misting them, all of that sort of stuff. The boys, my seventeen-year-old son and my twelve-year-old son, they more just appreciate the visuals, the sensory appeal that it has, especially my hanging plants, they love the shadows on the walls that they create. It's very sensory for them. They all appreciate our indoor garden in their own way and I've definitely noticed how calm and tranquil it makes the house feel, which definitely has had a positive effect on them with their autism.

Jane: That's so interesting. As you say, there are so many shapes and silhouettes that plants make that can be appreciated on so many different levels. Do you think that that's something that people sometimes miss out on, the potential of houseplants to provide that sensory experience that's so valuable for children?

Jade: Yes, I do actually. I think that a lot of indoor plants have the common visual of them, so they're quite waxy leaves, plain green, but there's a lot of plants out there i.e the Cissus discolor, also known as the Rex Begonia Vine, which has very textured leaves, almost like a velvety appearance to it. If you put it at a certain angle in the light, they almost shimmer, the leaves, so there's so much other sensory elements - feel, touch, vision - that you can actually get from your plants in general. Like I said, my children really appreciate that.

Jane: That's lovely to hear. I do sympathise, though, with the struggle about time. It's tough. I have two children, you have three, and I think people assume that when they get towards the teenage years that it gets less time-involved, but actually, I don't think that's really true, for me anyway.

Jade: No, I agree.

Jane: I imagine that, like me, clearing a little bit of time for some plant maintenance is actually a bit of a treat for you?

Jade: Yes! Do you know what? I actually find it really therapeutic. There's always one day of my week where I'm, like, "That's plant day!" so even if my friends or my family's, like, "Let's go out today?" and I'm like, "No, sorry, that's plant day!" For me, literally, plant day means plant day! It's not a few hours, it's the whole day! In that time, for me, I feel like I'm meditating because my mind switches off and I'm literally just paying attention and nurturing each individual plant. Like I said, I've got about 70. Each and every one has their own unique care needs and it's just like therapy. I really enjoy it.

Jane: Do you think your children... have they got their own plants, or do you think they might take on the mantle that you've started and grow their own houseplants? Or do you think it's something that's just there while they're at home, with you, they're enjoying?

Jade: I think, for my daughter, the one who's more hands-on with the plants, she's definitely getting into plants. When we do go out to the garden centre, she's, like, "Oh, mummy, can I have that plant?" She's got a few plants in her room and she's in charge of maintaining them and caring for them because I've taught her what she needs to do, so now she maintains her own plants in her bedroom, which is lovely.

Jane: Yes, that is really special. My son's started to get into plants. I probably don't realise the extent to which my children have absorbed a lot of plant knowledge, but my son in particular, who's 12, is really getting into plants. He tends them so carefully. It's really nice to see, it is really special and you can share that knowledge.

Jade: That's lovely.

Jane: Do you find that, when other people come to your home, that you end up being evangelistic about the benefits of houseplants for you and your kids and encouraging other people? Obviously, you've written a book, so I guess the answer is "Yes!", but when you have friends come around, are they, like, "Oh, I want to do this in my house!"?

Jade: Yes, I do! When people come 'round, they'll ask me, "What's that plant?" and I'll explain to them and about, "Oh, that's an air-purifying plant. If you have one, you should put that one in your bedroom, because it'll help you purify the air." So people, when they come to my house, they are very interested. I almost, sometimes, feel like they're a bit taken aback, or a bit mesmerised by the whole thing because it is unusual to have so many plants in a living room / dining room and for you to have that rainforest feel in your indoor space. People definitely are interested when they come 'round and we always end up having long, extensive plant conversations, which is lovely; my favourite subject!

Jane: Whenever I have a planty person come round, they always end up leaving with about five cuttings and some bits and pieces to take away with them!

Jade: Yes, that happens a lot here! People always leave with a few cuttings from my plants. It's lovely that people will come to mine and be, like, "Oh, it's spring, so I've given you a few cuttings," and where I live, as well, it's a really lovely, close-knit community and because I'm known as "the plant lady" because the front of my house is full of window boxes and plants and so is my back garden, sometimes I'll come home and there's a few plants left on my doorstep with a note saying it's from Susie at number 192. I'm, like, "Oh, that's so lovely! Thank you!" and lots of seeds get popped through my letterbox, so it's really, really nice -- lovely!

Jane: We're coming to the time of year, here in the UK, where things get a little bit more challenging on the houseplant front. I'm hoping you can offer listeners some tips on coping with winter in the indoor garden because this can be a bit of a stressful time.

Jade: This is the time when a lot of houseplants get overlooked, in a sense, because we're trying to bring them through spring and summer and then we think, "Oh, yes, it's winter. It's nice and warm. They'll be fine" but this is actually quite a critical time for houseplants, as a lot of losses can happen. So my main tips would be, when it comes to taking care of your indoor plants during the winter months, first thing is heating. We've got our heating and radiators on, some of us have underfloor heating, so for those of you who do have underfloor heating and you have, for example, a big plant on the floor, raise it up off the floor because you don't want to cook those roots. Also, moving our plants away from heat sources, so move them away from the radiators because that will dry them out and also moving them away from windows because draught is coming through the windows and that can be detrimental to our houseplants. I would also suggest, because the air is very dry during the winter months because we've got our heating on, is to mist plants regularly. Or you can use pebble trays, so rest your plants on pebble trays to give them the extra humidity that they need or humidifiers as well, which is also great. Also, checking for pests, because our homes are nice and cozy and warm during the winter months. That is a good time for pests to start hatching, breeding in our soil. So check soil regularly, pull your plants out of the pot and have a look at the roots, make sure there's no infestations happening, check under the leaves and wipe your leaves regularly, as well, because that will help identify if there's any pests, you can wipe them away, and keeping our leaves dust-free also during the winter months because they need to absorb as much light as they can. So having them dust-free is going to let the leaves catch as much light as they can and what else can I think of? Oh, yes: winter dormancy. A lot of our indoor plants go into a dormancy period during the winter months, where they're not growing - the growing season is spring and summer - so they will pretty much stop growing during the winter months, or drop their leaves completely. That is completely normal. What you need to do is reduce your watering schedule during the winter months because they're not in the active, growing season. Just one point to mention as well; where we are reducing our watering during the winter months, because our plants aren't actually in the growing season, we need to stop fertilising our plants because they're not taking up nutrients as fast as they would during the summer months when they're actively growing. So definitely stop fertilising plants during the winter months. That is actually one of the number one killers for houseplants, is that a lot of houseplant owners continue watering throughout the winter months, the same way they did in the summer and spring, so they end up overwatering their plants and also overfeeding during the winter. So stop feeding plants during the winter months.

Jane: Yes, everything's got to slow down, including our plants, I guess. You mentioned Cissus discolor and I think I've seen that in some of your photos that you've sent me of that particular plant. Is that one of your favourites?

Jade: Yes, it is. I love the Cissus discolor. It's also known as the Rex Begonia Vine, although it's not part of the Begonia family. I have a lovely spread on that in my book, on page 87, and also how to propagate it on page 88 and 89. I absolutely love Cissus discolor because it's quite versatile, it's relatively easy but I love that you can have it trained up a trellis and you can also have it in a hanging basket and the leaves are absolutely divine. They have a lovely, purpley, deep-maroon colour on them, velvety texture. We put them against the light and you can see a shimmery colour running through them, so, yes, that's definitely my favourite plant. I've propagated it so many times.

Jane: I bet that's one that people want cuttings of too?

Jade: Correct!

Jane: Any other particular favourites?

Jade: I do like the String of Dolphins, which has become really popular at the moment. They're a form of succulent and the actual succulent leaves look like little succulent dolphins, which is pretty cute, so I do love the String of Dolphins as well. To be fair, I just love all plants. I suppose my least-favourite is cactuses. I'm not really a big fan of cactuses because they don't really do much. You buy them from the shop and two years later they look exactly the same, they haven't changed, they're very slow growers. In my opinion, they just collect dust in my house, so they're my least favourite!

Jane: Well, I'm going to have to fight on that, as a very dedicated cactus and succulent grower! But this is the joy of houseplants, that, actually, there's something for everybody! And the fact that I like something you don't like is great because that means that there really is something for every aesthetic, every growing style, that's the beauty of houseplants, which is what I love. We don't all have to love the same things, which is also really true.I often get really sad when people are, like, "Oh, well, I thought I had to grow a Fiddle Leaf Fig, because that's what everyone else was growing, in my dark, tiny flat with low ceilings" You're, like, "No, please don't try and grow a Fiddle Leaf Fig in there! You'll be much better off with something else."

Jade: That's right.

Jane: It's fascinating. How has the reaction to the book been? Have you had good feedback from people? It's an absolutely beautiful book.

Jade: Thank you so much. Yes, I have had really lovely feedback on the book, which has been really great. A lot of magazines and newspapers have picked it up and listed it as one of the best Christmas gifts, or best gardening books, so, yes, it's taken its own lease of life, to be honest with you. The feedback has been lovely.

Jane: Well, it's fantastic to speak to you, Jade, and thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm delighted to hear that your children are on board with your houseplant collection and they're loving it too - that's really good to hear. As a fellow parent, I can honestly say that the time-stress is real, but we have to carve out time for our plants, for our own mental health, don't we, because it's just so important?

Jade: I always say that plant-care is self-care.

Jane: Exactly! Amen. Thanks so much, Jade!

Jade: Thank you, Jane.

[music]

Jane: Thank you so much to Jade. You can find out more about Jade and her book, The Indoor Garden, in the show notes at janeperrone.com and now it's time to tackle Question of the Week. This one comes from Mercy, and Mercy wanted to know about wick-watering. Now, this is something I've discussed here and there, in odd podcasts, but it felt like the right moment to answer a whole question about it. So Mercy wanted to know how wick-watering works for me, having tried it out and found that it hasn't altogether been successful. So, I'm just going to run through how I do wick-watering and how that pans out, from my point of view, and a few things that you might want to look out for. I'm not going to talk here about self-watering pots that you can buy and set up, ready to go, because they come with their own set of instructions. What I do, is my own methods of wick-watering, which vary according to the setting and what I have to hand.

So, wick-watering, traditionally in the world of Gesnariads, often involves having plants sat atop a clear plastic container filled with water with some holes in the top through which a wick is threaded. Then that wick goes up into the bottom of the nursery pot that's sat on top and makes contact with the soil in the pot. As the plant needs more water, because the substrate is drying out, water is then sucked up through that wick and supplied to the plant. Now, I don't do a lot of this method, mainly because it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing thing to see a plastic container with a nursery pot on the top and I don't have room for that massive plant room where really that wouldn't make a difference: all my plants are on display, so I want them to look as good as they can. That said, I'd love, at some point, to have my own, dedicated plant room, with loads of racks full of Gesneriads, wick-watered in exactly that way, but right now, I tend to try to do a version of wick-watering that allows me to use an outer cache pot and an inner nursery pot, so that the cache pot hides what's going on with the wick watering. So what does that look like? It's pretty simple. I should say also here that I'm talking about soil-based growing. If you've listened to the show for any length of time you'll know that I don't really do hydroponic or semi-hydroponic to any great extent, so I'm talking here about soil-based wick-watering.

So, I have my plants still in their plastic nursery pot and that is nestled within a larger cache pot. Now, oftentimes this cache pot will have to be considerably larger than the pot to make this system work and that's because you're going to have a layer of Leca or gravel or some kind of material that will soak up water without deteriorating, some kind of mineral layer at the bottom of the pot. I usually use Leca because it's easy to clean and reuse over and over again, so that's expanded clay pebbles, very lightweight too. So that layer will be probably taking up about a third of the height of the pot, so that's worth bearing in mind. Then the nursery pot will sit on top of that pile of Leca. Coming out the bottom of that nursery pot is a wick. Now, people get worried about this. I just use a piece of nylon cord. So this might be something I've recycled from an old gift bag handle, that cord's great. It might be paracord, if you're in the scouting or guiding movement, that's usually called paracord. It might be something you get in a haberdashery shop. You can use cotton wick as well. In fact, I recently got gifted some wick-watering pots which come flat packed and then you build them and they do have a wick-watering system. They claim to have tested different wicks and found that cotton wicks are better, so just use what you can find: experiment and see which one works best for you. Those pots, by the way, if you want to check them out, they are called POTRpots.com they kindly gifted me a few pots to try. They come as a flat pack made of, I think, recycled plastic, which you can then build and they have a reservoir in the bottom and they come with a wick, so quite an interesting idea and I'll link to those in the show notes, if you want to look at them. Anyway, on with my own DIY system.

So you've got your nylon wick. It needs to be roughly... well, it depends on the size of the pots, but let's say on average about 10 cm long and depending on how much water the plant likes, I will change the number of wicks that I place in each pot. So, for example, if it was a fern or something that likes to stay really quite damp, I would probably have two or three wicks going up into the bottom of that pot. If it was something that likes to be on the dryer side, for example a Rhipsalis of some kind, a succulent forest epiphytic cactus, I probably only put one wick up there. So if you're re-potting the plant, that is a great moment to add your wick and the main thing is that you make sure that a good section of the wick comes into close contact with the compost. So, again, you might have to experiment here about how much contact is happening between the substrate and the wick and that will affect how much water is drawn up. You can have the wick push right into the centre of the rootball or you can have it just curled at the bottom of the pot, you're going to have to experiment to see what works best for your plant. So those wicks will be pushed up through the bottom of the pot, particularly if I'm not just re-potting. I'll just get a kebab stick and I will shove those wicks up inside into the substrate, leaving a good length dangling down so that the length of wick dangling is about the same as the depth of the Leca at the bottom. Then I will just cover the Leca with water and put the pot on the top and make sure the wicks are dangling into that wet Leca mix, but the pot is standing on top of the Leca so it's not standing in water. That's how I get started.

The great thing about this particular way of doing things is it doesn't really matter if you're putting the watering can down the side of the nursery pot and watering into the Leca or, as I do, just generally watering the top of the pot, any excess water will run through into the Leca and be held there for the plant. Unless you massively overwater, the plant won't be sitting in water in terms of its root ball but it will have easy access to more moisture. This cuts down the amount of times you need to water and cuts out the pressure in terms of, "Oh, gosh, I've got to remember to go back and check that cache pot doesn't have sitting water in it!" When you use wick watering it's worth looking at the substrate you're using, you may want to use something a bit more free-draining than you are used to because, bear in mind there's going to be more water around, it's a case of trial and error for a lot of plants, but generally make that mix a bit more free-draining and you will find that you can water quite generously and the plant will just soak it up.

The other way you can do wick-watering, is having multiple pots in one large container with Leca at the bottom. I use that a lot for Begonias and it works really, really well. As I say, it saves me so much time, wick-watering, it really does! Then all I need to do, when I want to check the plant, is lift that nursery pot up and have a look at what's going on. The other slight wrinkle is that you will find that some plants produce roots and go into that Leca and colonise the Leca with roots. Actually, that's a good thing because it means the plant's pulling up water itself. It just does mean, when you repot, you have this moment of trying to figure out if you can get the roots out of that pot without damaging them. Sometimes you have to cut the pot away to make that possible and potted up to a new size of pot but I find it's a brilliant system. I would recommend it and I hope that gives a bit of an explanation about how to do a very, very simple wick-watering system.

One other tiny caveat: if you are going to have those cache pots on wooden furniture, do stick a little cork mat or coaster underneath the pot because your pot is going to be constantly full of water. Unless it's completely watertight, you might find yourself with damp patches on your wooden furniture, so just be aware of that one. I hope that helps, Mercy, and if you've got a question for On The Ledge, do drop me a line ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com is the address.

[music]

Jane: Now let's hear from this week's listener. It's been a while, hasn't it, since we've heard one of these, but let's hand over to the delightful Dorian, to finish the show!?

[music]

Dorian: My name is Dorian Jones, I'm a motivational speaker and fellow podcaster as well. I'm into the personal development space. Obviously I love plants because I'm here and I'm also into wine as well! That's just a brief overview about me, without going too deep.

Jane: When did you get into houseplants and why?

Dorian: I'd say I got into houseplants around the time of the pandemic because I needed something to do. I had already collected a few houseplants and I killed them, but I did like the growth that I had gotten before they died off, so that was something that really helped me dive into it and I kind of found my niche of the houseplants that I did like.

Jane: What's the latest addition to your houseplant collection?

Dorian: The latest addition to my houseplant collection is, actually a few of them: I have a couple of Philodendron, I have a Philodendron splendid that I actually just put onto a moss pole. I have a Philodendron varicosum, as well as a Monstera - I can never pronounce this -- esquelito? I believe I'm saying it right! I actually have a cutting of that, that someone at the nursery gave me, so I'm letting that propagate at the moment, as we speak. It's in a vase with the water, letting grow the roots and all that good stuff.

Jane: Complete the sentence: "I love my houseplants because..."

Dorian: I love my houseplants because they keep me at peace, they help me relax and they also keep me from going out to spend more money, so it keeps me busy, to say the least!

Jane: Who is your houseplant hero?

Dorian: My houseplant hero at the moment is actually... who can I say? Who's someone I've been paying attention to? Actually, I believe he's called the Sydney Plant Guy on YouTube. I came across him. He talks about the moss poles and he grows these Aroids and there's just a very tropical feel in his household. I say he'd be someone that I call a hero at the moment and that's just because of the phase that I'm in, with all my tropicals.

Jane: Name your 'plantagonist'; the plant you simply cannot get along with!

Dorian: A plant that I simply can't get along with? I'd say it's actually two: I have my Monstera deliciosa, that one, I've killed maybe two or three of those. I always overwater them, I overcare for them, but I actually have one now that's doing really well, so I haven't killed it yet! We're crossing our fingers on that one! Then I also have an issue with the money trees; I've always killed those! I've killed maybe four of them, but I actually have a large one now that's doing well. One of the branches is kind of dying off, but overall it still has a lot of good growth. So those are my two: the Monstera deliciosa and the money tree. I'm crossing my fingers that these last for me.

[music]

Jane: Thank you, Dorian, and if you'd like to be featured on Meet The Listener, do let me know, put on your brave pants and drop me an email because I know it can be very scary to have to record your own voice and hear yourself, but, honestly, it's a delight! I love receiving these Meet The Listener entries. If you email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com my lovely assistant, Kelly, will talk you through the process and it's really simple. We'd love to hear you on the show, so do consider dropping us a line!

[music]

Jane: That is all for this week's show. I will be back next Friday with more planty pontifications and I do hope you'll join me then. Bye!

[music]

Jane: The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll, by The Joy Drops, The Road We Used To Travel When We Were Kids, by Komiku and Overthrown, by Josh Woodward. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

Subscribe to On The Ledge via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player FM, Stitcher, Overcast, RadioPublic and YouTube.

---

Become a Patron!

Support Me on Ko-fi

I interview British houseplant enthusiast Jade Murray about her new book The Indoor Garden, I answer a question about wick watering and we meet listener Dorian.

This week’s guest

Jade Murray is the author of new houseplant book The Indoor Garden, published by Pimpernel Press: in the US it’s available under the title Beginner’s Houseplant Garden. Jade won the RHS My Virtual Chelsea Garden competition in 2021 in partnership with BBC’s The One Show. She lives in London with her three children and around 70 houseplants. You’ll find Jade on Instagram as @plantavenuew10.

---

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

I get into detail about how I create a very simple wick watering system in answer to a question from Mercy.

Here’s how I do it:

• You can buy self watering pots - I am not going to cover these in this answer as I am specifically talking about my own DIY wick watering method. I was recently gifted a couple of pots by POTRpots.com and these are an interesting development - ‘flatpack’ pots that you assemble at home - they feature a reservoir at the base and come with a cotton wick to set up a simple wick watering system.

• My system is super simple - all you need is a waterproof drainage free cachepot that is significantly larger than the nursery pot of the plant, some leca and a wick.

• The wicks I usually get from old gift bags - the nylon cord of the handles is ideal. If you have paracord this is also ideal, or you can buy nylon cord from habadashery shops. Some people prefer cotton wicks - I use nylon as they won’t rot and last forever (you can wash and reuse).

• Place a layer of leca (expanded clay pebbles) in the base of the cache pot so that the nursery pot can sit on top and still be completely hidden by the cachepot.

• Cut the wick so that about a third of its length sits inside the pot. For plants that like to be moist, use two or even three wicks. You can experiment with how far into the rootball the wicks are positioned, as this will affect water uptake too.

• Push the wick into the rootball and lower the pot onto the leca so the exposed wick is submerged completely into the leca. Water from above as normal, making sure that the leca is wet but the water level is just below where the pot sits.

• You may need to make your substrate more free draining when you wick water: add perlite or grit or other drainage material.

Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue.

---

---

HOW TO SUPPORT ON THE LEDGE

Contributions from On The Ledge listeners help to pay for all the things that have made the show possible over the last few years: equipment, travel expenses, editing, admin support and transcription.

Want to make a one-off donation? You can do that through my ko-fi.com page, or via Paypal.

Want to make a regular donation? Join the On The Ledge community on Patreon! Whether you can only spare a dollar or a pound, or want to make a bigger commitment, there’s something for you: see all the tiers and sign up for Patreon here.

• The Crazy Plant Person tier just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling of supporting the show you love.

• The Ledge End tier gives you access to two extra episodes a month, known as An Extra Leaf, as well as ad-free versions of the main podcast on weeks where there’s a paid advertising spot, and access to occasional patron-only Zoom sessions.

• My Superfan tier earns you a personal greeting from me in the mail including a limited edition postcard, as well as ad-free episodes.

If you like the idea of supporting On The Ledge on a regular basis but don't know what Patreon's all about, check out the FAQ here: if you still have questions, leave a comment or email me - ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. If you're already supporting others via Patreon, just click here to set up your rewards!

If you prefer to support the show in other ways, please do go and rate and review On The Ledge on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen. It's lovely to read your kind comments, and it really helps new listeners to find the show. You can also tweet or post about the show on social media - use #OnTheLedgePodcast so I’ll pick up on it!

CREDITS

This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Overthrown by Josh Woodward.