Learn a little at a time

1. Unit 1

   Welcome and basics

   What every plant needs, how to read the signals it gives you, and how to choose and keep track of your first plants.

   7 lessons

   1. What a plant needs 2 min
   2. Where houseplants come from 2 min
   3. Reading your plant 2 min
   4. Choose the plant for the place 2 min
   5. Good first plants 2 min
   6. Buying a healthy plant 2 min
   7. Keeping plant notes 2 min

2. Unit 2

   Light

   How much light your plants get, how to judge it by window, distance and shadow, and what too little or too much looks like.

   8 lessons

   1. Why light comes first 2 min
   2. Window direction 2 min
   3. Distance from the window 2 min
   4. Measuring light 3 min
   5. Hours of light and grow lights 2 min
   6. Signs of too little light 2 min
   7. Signs of too much light 2 min
   8. Moving a plant to brighter light 2 min

3. Unit 3

   Water and humidity

   Learn when and how to water, what is in your water, and what actually helps with humidity indoors and on balconies.

   8 lessons

   1. Water by need, not by calendar 2 min
   2. The finger test and the lift test 2 min
   3. Water thoroughly, then let it drain 2 min
   4. Bottom watering and bone-dry mix 2 min
   5. Too much or too little? 2 min
   6. What is in your water 3 min
   7. Understanding humidity 2 min
   8. Humidity: what helps and what does not 2 min

4. Unit 4

   Pots and media

   Choose the right pot and potting mix, understand why bigger is not better, and learn when and how to repot without harming roots.

   8 lessons

   1. Why drainage holes matter 2 min
   2. Bigger is not better 2 min
   3. Clay, plastic or glazed? 2 min
   4. Potting mix, not garden soil 2 min
   5. What is in a potting mix 2 min
   6. Signs a plant is root-bound 2 min
   7. When to repot 2 min
   8. How to repot, step by step 3 min

5. Unit 5

   Bringing plants home

   How to choose a healthy plant, get it home safely and help it settle in over its first weeks without shock or stowaway pests.

   8 lessons

   1. Choosing a healthy plant 2 min
   2. Getting it home safely 2 min
   3. Why new plants drop leaves 2 min
   4. Quarantine first 2 min
   5. Start bright, then move 2 min
   6. Hold off on repotting and feeding 2 min
   7. Watering in the first weeks 2 min
   8. Settling in, or real trouble? 2 min

6. Unit 6

   Plant health

   A calm, step-by-step way to spot pests, fungi and rots early, tell friends from foes, and choose the gentlest fix that works.

   8 lessons

   1. The weekly look-over 2 min
   2. Reading pest clues 2 min
   3. Check the care before blaming a bug 2 min
   4. Fungi and rots 2 min
   5. Harmless soil visitors 2 min
   6. Helpful hunters 2 min
   7. The IPM ladder 2 min
   8. Knowing when to let go 2 min

7. Unit 7

   Feeding, pruning and propagation

   How to feed a growing plant without harming it, trim it into better shape, and make new plants from the one you already have.

   8 lessons

   1. What fertiliser actually does 2 min
   2. Feed weak, and at the right time 2 min
   3. Flushing out salts 2 min
   4. Pinching and tidying 2 min
   5. Your first stem cutting 3 min
   6. Rooting in water, and plants from a leaf 2 min
   7. Division and layering 2 min
   8. Starting from seed 3 min

8. Unit 8

   Seasons and special plants

   How plants change through the year, and the few extra rules that carnivorous plants, orchids, succulents and aroids ask of you.

   8 lessons

   1. Plants have seasons too 2 min
   2. When a plant really needs a winter 2 min
   3. Three rules for carnivorous plants 2 min
   4. Tropical pitcher plants: highland or lowland? 2 min
   5. Most orchids live on trees 2 min
   6. Feeding and repotting orchids 2 min
   7. Succulents and cacti: sun, grit, soak and dry 2 min
   8. Aroids: climbers from the rainforest 2 min

Progress is kept on this device only; nothing is sent to your account. For deeper reading, see Plant health & growing.