Mystery box for plant lovers – Size Small (letterbox package)

Here's a little video showing you how.

You don’t need to repot in soil, unless you want to. With suitable nutrients, your plant can thrive in water forever (it’s called hydroponics).

Should you want to repot your plant in soil or in the ground, no problem. Just gently pull out the plant from your germination plate and spread them around in their new pot. The plant will have to adjust and create new type of roots, but should recover quickly.

Sometimes you will see some staining on your germination plate after removing the plant. An easy and gentle way to clean them is to soak in vinegar or hydrogen peroxyde for a day or so. The staining is actually clinging to calcium deposit on the surface. You can also run your Botanopiathrough the dishwasher.

If you don’t have the patience to watch your seed grow and send roots through the opening of your germination plate, go for quicker options that look instantly lush:

Cuttings, such as the spider plant, pilea offshoots, philodendron or use traditionally grown cactus or succulent and rinse out the soil. Tutorial here. For lots of ideas, check out our gallery.

   

In the beginning, the seeds themselves contain big stores of energy for the growing plant. When it runs out, or if your plant is looking a bit sad, you can add a small amount of suitable nutrients to the water. Watch out that you don’t overdo it and burn the roots. We recommend this plant food.

Fill the glass with water almost all the way to the underside of the porcelain germination plate. Don’t let the roots dry out, refresh the water, every week or so. It's also important to refresh the water, not just top it up, to make sure the water is well oxygenated.

Depends on the plant/seed you want to try. We've made lots of video tutorials for different plants to get you started.

Acorns, chestnuts, walnuts and other seeds from cold climates need to be germinated according to the cold treatment.

All other seeds like beans, avocado pits, and other warm-climate plant seeds can be germinated using the regular baggie method. 

For all seeds: once you have a long enough root, place it on your Botanopiawith the root in the water and watch it grow.

Did you follow the instructions from our how-to?

If yes, and no results, here’s some pointers.

• It takes time. Don’t give up on your acorns yet, it can take between 3 to 8 weeks to start seeing signs of germination. The acorn needs to reach the right level of humidity and temperature to wake up and start growing.
• Not all seeds are viable. That’s just how nature works, only a percentage of seeds actually germinate. The germination rate decreases the older the seeds are. Increase your success rate by starting multiple seeds at once!
• Don’t put all your eggs acorns in the same basket! While you’re waiting on one type of seed to germinate, try your hand at other sorts as well and give cuttings and cacti a try too.

There’s no shortcut to nature’s process. So sit back, relax, and watch the slow and peaceful progress your plants are making.

If you’re set on winning time, you can start by locating a germinated acorn already. In the northern hemisphere, roughly between November and April, you can search amongst the leaves at the foot of oak trees. With a bit of luck you’ll find several acorns that are already showing the first signs of sprouting, or even better, find some with a tap root already coming out. That will cut your waiting time by at least a month. If you live in a warmer climate, you might have live oak/summer oak growing around. These carry acorns far longer than their northern cousins.

So most of the time, seeds germinate in soil, where there isn’t a lot of contact with the air, so mould is not that common. When germinating seeds out of the soil, like we do we the baggie method, it happens more often. But no panic!
First thing is to make sure you wash your hands well before you handle your seeds and baggies. Warm, moist environments + bacteria and mould spores present in our houses = a perfect breeding ground for mould.

Second, you can gently wipe your seeds with a bit of diluted hydrogen peroxide, that you should cut down on the mould. Change the paper towel and bag, and keep going. Some species are more prone to mould than other, to be on the safe side, you could wrap your seeds each in their own towel to prevent cross-contamination.

In the end, mould won’t prevent the seed from germinating, but it’s just not very pretty to look at.

Here's a little video showing you how.

Here's a little video showing you how.

We've made a little "Avocado 101" video to answer your most common questions.

Sometimes you'll notice white growth on the roots of your avocado plants in water. We've also seen it on other plants, such as our little oaks.

It usually grows in clusters along the roots, and can range from bright white to beige in color. No worries though, it's pretty harmless and won't hurt the growth of your plants.

You can simply rinse it off with a strong stream of water from your tap, or scratch it off with your fingernail. Don't forget to change the water of your plant often, so the roots can stay well oxygenated.

Roots that are actively growing in water are usually white in color. If the tips of the roots are becoming brown though, it might indicate that your roots are no longer growing, or are dying off. This could be due to too much bacteria in the water, or to insufficient oxygen supply in the water, for example, if you don't refresh the water often enough. Lastly, don't forget to add nutrients in the water if you want your plants to thrive;