- All of my friends have plants
and honestly, I don't get it.
So to figure it out, I hired a plant tutor
to teach me how to be a plant parent.
Yeah.
Thank you to Blinkist for sponsoring today's video.
Plants. House plants, to be specific.
Yeah, we got some really interesting topics
coming up (laughs).
But listen, I have grown up in a house
with a bunch of plants.
I always thought that plants were kind of like,
a weird mom thing.
But then, I learned that all of my friends have plants.
(upbeat music)
Look at these nerds.
So, I see that people really care about their plants.
Like to the point they treat them like people
or pets, kind of.
And honestly, I don't get it,
just a little hard for me to wrap my mind around.
In this video, we're gonna figure out
just why people seem to treat their plants like pets.
I think it's time to hit the books.
(gentle upbeat music)
So, I did a bit of reading to figure out
why we've created this interesting relationship with plants.
And I stumbled across some peculiar books, to say the least.
But I also found some fascinating insights
into this plant phenomena.
And on top of reading about plants,
I wanted to create this relationship for myself.
So, I have found someone to tutor me in owning a plant
so I don't kill it.
- My name's Anita.
I love plants.
I'm also a plant shop owner.
My plant shop's called Sienna flora.
- If this was plant expertise,
- Uhmmm. - this is an expert
and this is not an expert, I am right here. (laughs)
- Right, right.
- Do you have like a couple of plants
that you would recommend?
- Oh my God. - Like, what would you-
- Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure.
I would say, that's easier,
more, you know, tolerant to neglect plants
would be the cacti and succulents,
but there's beautiful, big plants too, right?
Which are so architectural and just so beautiful
and surely won't fit everybody's, you know, interior design,
but there's a bird of paradise.
One of my absolute favorite plants
and you can get tiny little ones
and then you can get ones that are like eight feet tall.
So, - Okay.
- whatever fits your space.
- I've got my plants. I'm back home.
Show you, I got three plants.
I got this plant.
I can not have ruined this already, I just got this plant.
And I got this plant.
I just want to say thank you to Anita,
for helping me start my plant journey.
And also David, the owner of Promise Supply
who helped me navigate the shop.
The shop is really beautiful.
It's in Toronto, if you want to check it out.
Also, Anita is opening a plant store very soon.
It's called Sienna Flora.
Both of these plant shops are in Toronto
and both of these people are so, so lovely.
Thank you to the both of you
for helping me start my plant parenthood journey.
But actually, hold up, I have a plant back here, right?
This is a fake plant, purely for decoration.
It still has a tag on it.
It's a plastic plant and I've got this real plant here.
Don't get me wrong.
I think these plants are really beautiful but honestly,
I don't see them as anything more than just plants.
So, I think I'm going to need
to rely on research to understand how
and why people treat their house plants like pets.
Humanity has a long history of cultivating plants.
For food, for medicine and for the plant itself.
Now, the reasons behind the practice
have shifted across time and culture.
Ancient Romans used them as a status symbol.
The birth of the bonsai in China
was an expression of cultural values.
And now, we're seeing an indoor house plant boom,
that's comparable to a familiar relationship, pets.
The psychologist, Dr. Boris Levinson was an advocate
for animal assisted therapy.
He believed that pets served
to reconnect humanity with nature.
He saw the relationship as a two-way street.
Human supply the pet's material needs,
while pet satisfy the human psychological needs,
for stability, comfort, and relief without fear of judgment.
Obviously, house plants rely on humans to survive
but can a potted plant really meet our psychological needs?
Surprisingly, yes.
There's a big body of research that's found
that greenery improves moods and mental health.
But why are plants becoming the new pet?
Cats and dogs still exist.
Well, it might be the result of the changing lifestyles
in younger generations.
From intentionally opposing historical norms
to the unavoidable consequences of our modern society,
where responsible pet ownership
can be financially inaccessible.
And green spaces aren't as available
in an increasingly urban world.
Naturally, houseplants become an appealing
and accessible alternative.
So, that's why it happens.
You know, I still don't really get it personally,
but I think it's time for me
to start my plant parenthood journey, if you will.
And like all parents,
I want to document my plants' very first steps.
So, I'm going to make a scrapbook for my plants.
Yup.
Got a snake plant, a bird of paradise,
and oh man, I forget the name of the other plant.
I'm gonna have to Google it and just hope that I can
find the care instructions for it.
So, let's just make sure we keep them alive.
That's the goal here. That's the real goal.
(playful music) This is my little scrapbook
for my plants.
(playful music)
Watering my plants.
- You don't need to constantly watch the water
and you can go a couple of weeks and It'll be fine.
Or sometimes the, I need water,
and you've given me too much water.
Sometimes it could look almost the same.
- I think I over watered it. Oooh.
That's not supposed to happen. Oh, she's dripping.
Oh, okay. She's dripping. Okay, okay.
(playful music)
This one got a little tear.
No, can you see that?
Now, that I've watered it.
Now, what?
- I think it's really important to also,
like, watch the soil.
- Is it like a touch thing that you got to do?
- Exactly. Yeah.
There's all kinds of meters and gadgets
that you can purchase for that.
I personally, I just check it with my finger.
- I feel like as a plant beginner,
I should have just got one plant to take care of.
Instead, we got triplets.
Triplets, three plants.
- If you don't have it in the right light,
if you're not watering it correctly, it could die.
And that's a huge loss.
- As a proud plant parent, it's pretty natural to want to,
you know, share things on social media
and show your friends.
So, I'm gonna call Sabrina and show her my plants.
Pick up the phone. (laughs) - What?
- I'll give you a little plant tour.
Are you ready?
I think I over watered this one.
Okay. And I got this one.
I think, you know this one, I think we have matching plants.
Just smile. (both laughs)
I don't know what happened. I found like a hole.
Do you see this little hole here?
I don't know how to fix it.
I just sprayed it with water.
And like, I'm hoping for the best. (laughs)
I honestly didn't think
that I would want to take care of them.
I just feel like a moral obligation
to make sure that they don't die.
I'll talk to you soon.
- Okay. - Bye.
Dang. I looked like my friends at the beginning
of the video. (laughs)
It's late. I just finished making my plant scrapbook.
My plants' first days in my home.
Yeah. Some little plant memories.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
So, I started out this journey just trying to understand
what are people's perspectives
and try to figure out why some people
may have this really close relationship with their plants
to the point where they name them,
and baby them, and all that stuff.
Well personally, I don't see that with my plants.
I mean, it's only been five days.
I do feel this moral obligation to make sure
that they don't die and that I just take care of them.
I don't know. They're kind of beautiful.
And I do want to see them grow and everything.
Maybe, I'm getting a little attached to my plants.
I don't know. I think it's a little too early to say.
But, you know what plants do bring,
get that plant serotonin.
That's not a real thing.
I'm going to need a scientist to fact check me on that.
The gist here, plant serotonin,
boy I know, they are bringing some joy.
I will admit that.
Make sure you water your plants.
Don't let them get dry.
Check the soil.
Don't be scared, buy plants that you can take care of.
I think that's it.
I need to go to sleep.
Thank you for watching this far.
Keep watching though,
because I'm still not done with my nonsense.
Aah.
Oh, hello there.
I hope you enjoyed that video.
And if you did, stick around,
cause we're thanking Blinkist for sponsoring today's video.
I was actually just listening to an audio book
while I was on my afternoon walk.
Honestly, I love Blinkist and I've actually been using it
for research on all of my videos for the past year.
Basically, what Blinkist does
is they take top non-fiction books
and condense them into 15-minute text and audio explainers.
So, you can basically understand the key insights
from whole books in little to no time.
And you know why I love it? I am not Sabrina. Okay?
I don't have time to read a 400-page book
on olive oil for a video.
There are thousands of books on Blinkist
in 27 different categories.
You can learn about things in philosophy,
politics, personal growth.
When I first started researching for this video,
I skimmed this book called,
"The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan.
And it's about human's relationship with plants.
It was very interesting, to say the least.
But also there's the things on the bestsellers list,
like "Sapiens", oh my goodness.
I've been wanting to read this book for a very long time
but that book is very thick.
And so, I can just get the key insights from the book.
Great stuff.
There's this new feature called Shortcasts.
So, Blinkist has teamed up with some podcast creators.
So basically, you can get to the heart
of a podcast in minutes.
Blinkist is all about trying
to get you the information fast, you know.
In one ear, not out the other,
but just in your ear, in your head.
The first 100 people to click the link
to go to blinkist.com/answerinprogress,
will get a full week for free,
plus 25% off your annual membership.
And also you can cancel at any time
during that one week free trial.
Great stuff, get reading and get Blinkist staying.
And the sun is disappearing on me now.
So, I should probably be going back home.
Thank you for watching.
See you soon.
Yeah, I really need some after bite.
Aah, it's so itchy! (laughs)
Okay, bye.
(gentle upbeat music)