A good start is half the battle

It's January and we can imagine that you need a fresh start. Maybe you are planning to thoroughly clean and tidy up your house or you’re planning to start cooking healthier from now on. Are you planning to do a big New Year's cleaning? Don't forget to take a look at how the plants in your PlantHome are looking. Perhaps you have had little time to maintain your plants due to the busyness of the past few months, or you’ve had an empty PlantHome for a while because you have not yet found the time to start growing. As far as we are concerned, a PlantHome full of fresh vegetables and herbs is in any case a good idea for a fresh start to the new year! To help you achieve this, in this blog we give you tips with which you can successfully start a new growing round and increase the chance of a well-stocked PlantHome even more.

A fresh start

Are you planning to start a new growing round, but your PlantHome has been in your house for a while? Then clean the PlantHome thoroughly before filling it again. You can dust the inside and outside of the PlantHome with a feather duster or duster and, if necessary, wipe it with a slightly damp cleaning cloth. You can clean the smoked glass with a glass cleaner, which makes it shiny again. Make sure that the glass cleaner you use does not contain alcohol, because the smoked glass cannot handle this well.

Clean growing bowls

Even more important than cleaning the inside and outside of your PlantHome, is cleaning the growing bowls and lids. When you use the PlantHome for the first time, you don't have to do this, all you need to do is run a cloth over it to remove some dust. If you have used the PlatHome before, it is important to thoroughly clean your containers and lids. The cultivation trays and lids can be cleaned with warm water and washing-up liquid, but you can also simply put them in the dishwasher. You can rinse the germ caps with warm water, but they are not suitable for the dishwasher. Make sure that you remove any dirt such as algae residues from the previous breeding round as well as possible, because this reduces the chance of algae and mould growth in your next breeding round.

The right plant cups and plant pads

If you want to start a new growing round with plant cups and plant pads that you have had at home for a while, it is wise to take into account the shelf life of the pads and cups. In principle, our pads and cups have a shelf life of 6 months, provided they are stored at room temperature and in a dark and dry environment. If the plant cups and plant pads that you have at home are older than 6 months, you can still use them, although the chance that seeds will not germinate is higher.

Choosing a good spot for your PlantHome

Despite the fact that our PlantHome is designed in such a way that your plants receive sufficient light and nutrients to grow well, you can promote growth even more by placing the PlantHome in a suitable place in the house. Temperature is an important factor for growing fresh herbs and vegetables. Plants do not like extreme cold or heat and will not grow well if they’re exposed to those temperatures. A temperature of between 18 and 24 degrees is an optimal temperature for growing your own herbs and vegetables. The kitchen or living room is often an excellent place to place the PlantHome. Also make sure that your PlantHome is not in a draft, because this cold air can also ensure that your plants do not grow well or even wilt. It is also smart to keep (fruit) flies away from your PlantHome. You can do this by hanging fly screens on your windows in the summer and placing fruit fly traps in the room where your PlantHome is located.

While growing: keep an eye out

Yes! It worked: you have prepared your PlantHome for use and filled it with plant cups and plant pads of your choice. There is a good chance that after a few weeks you will already have a PlantHome full of young plants! For an optimal harvest, it is important to keep an eye on things after sowing and to check whether everything in your PlantHome is still in good condition. It is especially important to check the water level in the growing bowls about every four days and to top up the tanks when they are about a third empty. Also look carefully at the supplied flyer for each species that you have sown when your plants are large enough to remove the germination caps. This flyer also states when the plant is ready for harvest. When you harvest from a plant, you can choose to cut everything off at once, but you can also always pick some loose leaves or twigs. You can also use the time of harvest to remove any wilted leaves from your plants.