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This 20-year-old Garden Center Worker Keeps 400 Houseplants In His 1-bedroom Home

This 20-year-old Garden Center Worker Keeps 400 Houseplants In His 1-bedroom Home
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Just when I thought I’d seen the peak of the millennial plant-parents craze, the next generation comes along and gets up in the middle of the night to water orchids.

A 20-year-old man in Loughborough, England, who works at a garden center has amassed an impressive collection of tropicals, cactuses and succulents. He has so many plants he’s had to create space for people to walk through the doorways of his converted coach house.

Joe Bagley has more than 400 plants in his one-bedroom home, according to many posts on his popular Instagram, @UKhouseplants. He spends several hours every day watering and feeding them, Unilad reported, and he told the outlet he’s even gotten up at 1 a.m. after having a feeling that one of his orchids needed an extra drink.

If you follow him on Instagram, though, you can see how all of that tireless work is paying off in gorgeous greenery:

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This is me!! For the last year, I’ve hidden behind the camera, capturing plant pics and educating people with experienced advice. But I think the time has come to show the world who I actually am!! 🤣 ~ So who am I? My names Joe, and I’ve grown indoor plants for the last 7 years, with the first being the Asparagus fern in the top right! I have over 400 plants around the Coach House (like an apartment) with the oldest plant being 50 years old! I’ve worked with the local BBC radio station hosting my own houseplant-based show, feature on ‘Garden Question Time’ in front of audiences who ask questions. I’ve developed a website (BIO-LINK) which has over 130 plants, all in a systematic and comprehensive manner. As usual, if you ever have any planty questions, or just someone to talk to, I’m always here to have a conversation. Have a great day!!😄🌿 ~ #houseplant #houseplants #houseplantsofinstagram ~

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Bagley shares advice for maintaining healthy house plants, and if you scroll through his Instagram account, you’ll see he’s covered a wide variety of flora.

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How To Get A Cactus To Flower 🌿 ~ Over the last few years, I’ve learnt that cactus/succulent flowers can be really, really beautiful. I’ve come up with an acronym ‘SHOT’ to help you get yours to also produce these magnificent buds! ~ •Sunlight – Make sure your cactus gets around 4hrs of direct sunlight per day. Darker locations won’t help, as this will only decrease the chances of a bloom. ~ •Hydration – Keep your cactus just ‘ticking’ over; a little drench once every 21-28 days is all it needs. ~ •Overwintering – This is the vital part. As your cactus should be in its dormancy period, you mustn’t fertilise or over-water. As I said before, let the plant slowly ‘tick’ over until springtime. ~ •Temperature – Just like an orchid, reducing the surrounding temperature really, really helps with a bloom. A cold windowsill that is around 5 – 10°c (41 – 50°F) is perfect, as well as a cold conservatory or a porch. Remember, once your cactus is used to the cooler room, try not to move it around too much. If you follow these tips, a bloom is highly likely – if you need any help with any of these tips, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you 😁 ~ ~ If you would like to learn about how to get an Orchid or Peace Lily to reflower, have a look on my Instagram or website! 🌿 ~ #ukhouseplants #cactus #flowers #flower ~

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Though his home is small, Bagley makes the most of the space and has plants in every nook and cranny, including in the bathtub, which you can see in this post.

Monsteras and umbrella plants dominate one room, ZZ plants and palms crowd in another corner, while fiddle-leaf figs, pilea and Christmas cacti pop up elsewhere in snapshots of his home, which he calls the Coach House.

As you can see from this video he posted in February, it’s basically a jungle in there!

Bagley told Unilad his houseplant obsession began when his grandmother gave him cuttings from a spider plant when he was 13. (You could say she created a monstera!) Now, she thinks he has too many plants. So he now has to sneak plants into his house because he doesn’t want his grandmother, who lives nearby, to see him bringing more rooted roommates home.

As someone who is feeding a small plant obsession myself, I say to keep smuggling those plants in, Joe!

Here’s the best part, though: If your own thumb is far from green, Bagley will happily dish out advice on caring for your own houseplants. He answers plant-care questions on social media and through his website, which is also a repository of information on caring for various houseplants.

As you can see from this post, he welcomes all questions, no matter how “lame” they may be.

You can also find many houseplant tips on his website, ukhouseplants.com.

 

This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.