WEBVTT - Big Dreams and Tinier Plants 0:00:01.400 --> 0:00:09.119 Yeah. Here, Yeah, he's listening up a little straw. He's 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:29.360 making cocktails. Game, he's making a teeny martini. It's so cute. 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:34.880 If you're anything like my producer Molly, who loves cooking 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:38.919 shows and also loves watching people make miniature versions of 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.440 food online, then you might be one of the six 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.760 hundred thousand plus followers of the Tiny Chef on Instagram. 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.960 The tiny Chef's account is mostly stop motion style videos 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:54.720 of a tiny, green felt character known as you Guessed 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:59.000 it Tiny Chef, and as he bakes tiny apple pies 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:04.440 and bottle cap miniature artisanal breads, tiny pizzas. He's even 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:08.959 opened up the smallest lemonade stand. Followers just can't get 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:13.200 enough of his small stature and even smaller culinary delights. 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.880 The Tiny Chef's growing fandom is just one example of 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.640 how much people love little things. We obsess over the 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.080 charm of tiny things and their overall cuteness, and there 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:28.080 might be a psychological reason for this. The anthropologist cloud 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:32.400 Levi Strauss theorized that because we can see and comprehend 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.520 tiny things in their entirety, they don't threaten us, and 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.440 that makes us feel powerful. I mean, that's one explanation. 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.080 But I also wonder if our love of all things 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.400 small might have to do with our innate nurturing abilities 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:54.880 as humans, and maybe we actually feel protective over tiny things. Oh, 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.960 this one's about meditation. This is oh my god. He's 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:03.360 surrounded with like ey, tiny miniature plants look like succulents. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.320 But they're they're his size. They're they're tiny chef's size. 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:16.040 I'm supposed to breathing with him way way. It's so cute. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.360 It would also explain why we love tiny plants. This year, 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.480 The l A Times identified tiny plants as one of 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.600 the biggest plant trends for two thousand twenty one. That's right, 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:33.079 there's an entire genre just for petite plants from teensy 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.839 weensy cacti, which I don't think are the scientific name 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.520 to dwarf fruit trees. But why is this the first 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.000 I've heard of these little bitty topi areas? And why 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:47.120 is everyone catching onto them now? And more importantly, are 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.079 tiny plants just a passing fad or a plant movement 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:56.560 with roots? I think it's time we found out. Hey. There, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.639 I'm Mongais Particular, co host of Part Time Genius, one 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.640 of the unders of mental flaws. And this is Humans 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.680 Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart Radio and your 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.800 friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make this 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.560 the most human show about plants you'll ever listen to. 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.239 Along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, tips and tricks 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.239 to nurture your plant addiction, and just enough science to 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.799 make you sound like an expert. On this episode, we 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.880 are getting small and exploring the tiny plants and miniature 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:31.040 trees that are taking the world by stem. I want 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:33.959 to learn how tiny plants have elbowed their much bigger 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.760 brothers out of the way to capture the spotlight, and 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.080 also does this tiny plant obsession overlap with our love 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:44.280 of tiny houses. Plus, we'll hear from one of our 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:48.640 favorite Green Thumb comedians, Angela Johnson Reyes, and talk to 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.360 her about how Instagram is feeding her plant passion and 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.000 I'm going to get her thoughts on the tiny plant movement. 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.000 To stick with me, this is going to be fun. 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:09.040 Chapter thirteen, Big Dreams and Tinier Plants. We spent so 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:12.200 much of the last year inside our homes, homes of 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.600 all shapes and sizes, and as we saw the resurgence 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.719 of victory gardens at the start of the pandemic, house 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.960 plants have also seen this noticeable uptick and popularity. They've 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.400 provided the millions of homebound folks people like me, with 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.760 this much needed source of comfort and therapy. And living 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.160 in a city surrounded by people who have been stuck 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.600 in their apartments, I am acutely aware of the limited 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.920 space many of us have for our plants, which might 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.159 also be why so many new plant parents have found 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:47.200 themselves attracted to tiny plants. To learn more about this 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.880 growing part of the plant community, I wanted to chat 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:54.000 with Leslie Halleck. In addition to literally writing the book 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.599 on tiny plants, Leslie is a self proclaimed plant geek, 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.680 and she's dedicated nearly thirty years of her career to 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:05.240 working with various areas of horticulture, from scientific research to 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:10.000 landscaping and green industry marketing. So of course I had 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:16.159 to call her up. Hey, Leslie, are you there? I 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.520 am here. Hi. Hi, It's so nice to be chatting 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.479 with you. I know, thanks, I'm excited. I'm so enchanted 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.360 by your story. I want to hear a little bit 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:28.360 about how you fell in love with tiny plants. You're 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.440 speaking to my heart because I'm obsessed with all things tiny, 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.760 tiny plants, tiny chihuahua's, tiny everything. I sort of have 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.719 a little bit of an obsession with that. And as 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.760 a professional horticulturist, you know, I've gone through many phases 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.120 of plant obsessions, but I always come back to teeny 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.840 tiny plants. My tiny plant obsession probably hit me back 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.799 in the mid nineties, back in the day when I 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:55.240 was doing field research work in Puerto Rico, in the 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.640 National Rainforest in the Kiel region of Puerto Rico. I 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.000 was living up that old research station up in the 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.920 mountains and going out every day taking data on research 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.480 that had to do with Herricane Hugo that had come 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.320 through and completely defoliated the rainforest. So I was there, 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.640 you know, geeking out taking plant data, and one day 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:17.040 I just happened out of the corner of my eye 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.159 to catch this little tiny blip of sort of a 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.279 pinkish red color, And you know, you're always on the 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.160 look for, lookout for orchids in that situation, and sure enough, 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:29.000 I discovered this itty bitty tiny species of le panthes 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.200 orchids growing on rocks, and the flowers are only a 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.920 couple of millimeters in size, and I just absolutely fell 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:39.039 in love. And after that I began building the variums 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:43.000 and terrariums and keeping poison dark frogs and all sorts 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:47.120 of others that require teeny tiny animals, teeny tiny frogs 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.880 that require you to build the habitats that include species 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.000 that are conducive to their their life and they're breeding. 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.160 So I just kind of got into all things tiny 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.560 and have sort of obsessively collected and grown teeny tiny 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.840 plants ever since. That is so great. So tell me 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.240 about your book. Why did you decide to write about 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.200 tiny plants? And please say the full title because it 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.720 is really charming. Oh yes, Tiny Plants Discover the Joys 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.360 of Growing and Collecting Any Bitty house Plants is the 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:20.920 full long name. When publishers come to you and they 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.160 want you to write about something, you want to write 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.200 about something that you're passionate about that you can inspire 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.160 other people to do. And you know, after writing Gardening 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.920 under Lights, which was a little more technical, and then 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.880 Plant Parenting, which is very technique based, I wanted to 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:40.600 do something a little more fun, and probably I convinced 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:42.680 them to let me do Tiny Plants because I just thought, 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:46.800 you know, it seemed like the right moment, with indoor 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:50.240 plants becoming so popular. I just wanted to give people 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.440 a window into a type of plant collecting they may 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:57.160 not have experienced. Yeah. Completely, And so what are some 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:59.720 of your favorite types of tiny plants? You know, plants 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.720 come go in terms of their popularity, right, and sometimes 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.440 they're they're really popular and highly available, and then they 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.760 cycle back out. So those types of availabilities come in waves. 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.720 But teeny tiny bagonia, so I grow a lot of bogonias. 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:15.360 There are some really cool micro aeroids that related to 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:17.880 a lot of the larger aeroids we grow, like philodendron. 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.600 So there's some really tiny philodendrons that are really cool. 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:25.559 I really love little micro sundews, their little, tiny, tiny 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.480 carnivorous plants. And you'll find those tiny plants which are 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.160 just fascinating. There again, the size of about the tip 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.520 of your fingertip. I'm obsessed with many different species of 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.240 tiny Have you seen the tiny plant movement grow during 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.959 this last period and what do you think the enthusiasm 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.760 for it is based in. Yeah, I have seen it grow, 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:48.920 partially because I've just been forcing it on everybody. I 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.240 love it, and I just do you give them? Did 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.400 you give tiny plants to people? I do? I do. 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.400 I do give tiny plants. And that's another great thing 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.520 about tiny plants is that they're easy to gift. You know, 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.640 they're easy. You know, they don't take a lot of space, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.040 and you can propagate them and they're easy to give. UM. 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.760 But I have seen we'll call it sort of miniature 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.080 gardening across the board, and I am not talking about 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.000 fairy gardening, so put fairy gardening aside. We're talking about 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:14.040 is scale. So what's been great is that in the 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.559 last few years there are a lot of new dwarf 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.280 vegetable and fruit varieties that have come out on the market. 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.520 Uh and and a lot of smaller plant species for 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:27.199 houseplant culture. People who live in smaller spaces, smaller apartments, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:31.600 don't have a yard. Dwarf edibles are fantastic. Also if 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:35.480 you're growing edibles inside, I think tiny plants offer up 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:40.000 a really great solution. So small scale across the board, 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.920 miniature gardening, tiny indoor plans, I think is a really 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.679 helpful way to keep indulging in your gardening habit without 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.839 running out of space and it also takes less resources too. 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.640 So how does the care for a tiny plant differ 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.040 from that of a regular plant. Some things are going 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.880 to be very much the same and other things will 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:00.920 be a little bit different. A lot of teeny tiny 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:05.280 plants maybe hemi epiphytic or semi epiphytic and may require 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:09.360 higher humidity. So growing under glass, you know, maybe something 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:11.760 that you do more often with some of the very 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.000 tiny plant species than you would like the bigger aeroids. 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:16.719 But that's easy to do because you don't need much 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.559 space and you don't need a big container to do that. Um. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.520 They can also be a little more sensitive to water 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.120 quality and over fertilizing, so you have to be a 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.959 little bit more careful. I tend to use mostly rain 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.839 water or ro o water exclusively, like on my micro 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.600 orchids and my synergis some of the more sensitive plants. 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.360 And you have to be really careful on fertilizers, so 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:41.480 I usually cut fertilizer down to maybe a quarter or 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.880 even less of the recommended application, right, because you can 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:47.920 easily burn you know, tiny plants if you're not careful 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.439 with your fertilizers. So you know, all things um in scale, right, 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.120 so pineer plants, you may go tinier, you know, tinier 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.680 with your containers, tinier with your fertilizers. So there are 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:01.080 some things that you have to be a little bit 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.920 more careful with. Conversely, when you're growing tiny plants underglass, 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.680 they can become very low maintenance. You hardly ever have 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.760 to water them. So you know, there's some things that 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.280 are a little trickier and some things that are easier. 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.560 That's amazing. So, um, do you think tiny plants are 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.760 a trend or do you think this is something that's 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.760 here to stay. So you know, things that were popular 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.319 in the sixties and seventies are popular again now and 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.440 those will fade away, and right, it's going to happen 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.280 again and again. Right, there are cycles that always happen, 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:33.000 so I expect there to be a cycle to that. However, 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:37.720 I think that the pandemic has really opened up the 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.880 world of gardening and plant keeping in sort of an 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:45.000 exponential way for people that I think as a hobby, 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:50.199 it's much more here to stay than a cyclic trend 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.679 than just a straight up trend. I think people are 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.520 going to keep gardening and plant keeping embedded in their 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.720 lifestyle much more significantly than than in the past, and 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.160 I think in terms of scale, growing small, growing tiny. 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.760 I think again part of that is a matter of 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.160 people being cooped up inside without necessarily a lot of 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.280 outdoor space. So they need to be able to fit 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.360 plants in whatever space they have, and that may not 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.360 be a yard, that may be a window sill, that 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:25.120 may be a balcony. My definition of gardening is one 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:28.640 plant in one pot. If you're doing that, you're gardening. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.360 You can be a gardener in lots of different ways, 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.360 and I want to make sure that folks that live 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.240 in small spaces or you know, just are trying to 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:41.040 bring some nature to their desk. Plants are such an 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.800 important part of our health and wellness and you know, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.600 mental happiness exactly. So we asked this question on our 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.520 show a Lot. Do you think caring for plants makes 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.680 us happier or makes us better people? Plants make me 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.679 really happy, and I think they make everybody happy, and 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.920 I think that right now we all really need to 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.760 invest in our health and wellness. This past year has 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.800 been really stressful for everybody. Gardening and plant keeping it's 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:16.280 an amazing stress reducer. I love observing the plants I 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:20.400 love observing how they change. I completely freak out when 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.839 one of my micro orchids blooms. If you hear me 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.040 yell from across my house, like it's probably because something 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:31.400 just flowered. I just get so excited. And you know, 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:33.600 I'm not a newbie. I've been doing this a long time. 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.120 That enthusiasm has never waned for me. And there is 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.800 always a new plant to discover. Here's the big secret 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.720 about horticulture and gardening. Nobody knows everything. Nobody will ever 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.520 know everything. We can call ourselves ex experts, but even 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:54.520 as an expert myself, I learn every day. And that's 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.000 a great way to keep your brain healthy, right, There's 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:02.080 always something new to learn out the natural world and plants, 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.840 And so I hope that my book Tiny Plants can 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:10.000 bring a little joy and happiness into a plant parents 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.320 world and expose them to something new that they can 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:17.320 learn today and as they move forward in their new hobby. Yeah, 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.040 we're gonna have to get your book and surround it 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:24.560 with lots of tiny plants and squee. Thank you so 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.400 much for being here, Leslie. I really really appreciate it absolutely. 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.040 Thanks for so so much for having me. It was 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:40.720 a joy. And now for another poetry corner. This poem 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:47.040 is called little Meal for two. I carefully sliced up 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:51.040 my dwarf fig for this tiny fruit plate for two. 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.840 I plucked up all my baby corn and made this 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.720 tiny stew. I placed it all on tiny plates and 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.880 a horrible healthy brunch. But once we've hugged and said goodbyes, 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:16.120 I'm ordering food for lunch. Thank you. So I'm kind 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.000 of getting why people love tiny plants. But I've got 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.880 to say my first real fascination with tiny things probably 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.320 started with tiny houses. We started writing about them years 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:28.760 ago on a website I used to run, but it's 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.200 incredible to see they are more than just a fad. 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.920 According to the New York Times, some tiny house builders 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:40.280 saw a one hundred and seventy seven percent increase in sales. 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.520 And it makes a ton of sense when you think 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:47.120 about it. Tiny houses started as people wanting to decrease 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.040 their carbon footprint, and now with more city dwellers heading 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.000 out of town, trading those concrete buildings for the wide 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.680 open spaces of nature, the tiny home movement is alive 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:02.040 and well. And while they unrelated except for their size, 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.160 tiny plants and tiny houses have a lot more in 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.960 common than meets the eye. I wanted to learn more 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.600 about where that then diagram of tiny homes and plants overlap. 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.200 So I called up Ethan and Jesse Waldman. Ethan is 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.840 the founder and curator of the site the tiny house 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.640 dot Net, and his brother Jesse is the brand developer 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.720 at Pistols Nursery in Portland, Oregon. The two recently collaborated 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.920 on a piece for the tiny house dot Net about 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.960 the best plants for tiny houses and spoiler, the tiny 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:39.200 mounted jungle cacti is definitely a favorite. Ethan, Jesse, are 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.120 you there? Yeah? Hey, how's it going. Hey, it's so 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.360 nice to be chatting with both of you. I am 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.760 so excited to talk about tiny homes and tiny plants 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.880 and all of the tininess to come. Ethan, tell me, 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.239 I know you're an expert on tiny homes, and I'm curious, 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.880 what is it about these tiny homes that really makes 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.360 a difference for people. I mean, they have gotten so 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.800 popular and they've gone from when I was doing it. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.240 If you said the word tiny house, you know, people 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:09.840 kind of looked at you with with a blank stare, 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.399 and now it's hard to find somebody that doesn't understand 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.720 when you say tiny house. They have a very specific 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.440 picture in their head of a house on a trailer 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.080 because they've seen the various tiny house shows. You know, 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:25.520 when I did this, I'm a millennial. I was graduating 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.879 from college right around the time that two thousand eight, 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.320 two thousand nine the stock market kind of crashed and 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.119 people were losing their homes, and so I assumed that 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.040 it was going to be a lot of millennials doing it. 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.400 And now I see a huge number of people who 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.320 are retiring. Who are you know, building or buying tiny 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.200 houses as a way of actually being able to retire. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:47.959 That's really interesting. And Jesse, what about you? Do you 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.600 have a tiny house as well? I do not. I 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.320 love visiting Ethans though it's it's amazing how well designed 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.639 his is that it doesn't really feel tiny. It's quite comfortable. 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.639 That's what's so appealing about them, right like, is that 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.639 they're often so thoughtfully designed. I mean to me, the 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.360 other part of it is that it feels like, particularly 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.880 after this last year and people being quarantined and people 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.560 stuck in their homes, having a small space in somewhere 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:15.520 that's really beautiful really matters. To people. Absolutely, and that's 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.200 you know, that's something that because the house is small, 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:22.280 it really turns the outside into your living room. You 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.400 see the outside way more because you're always very close 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.800 to a window, and you also are going outside way more. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:29.879 And so do you see this as kind of a 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.960 trend or more of a cultural shift. I think it's 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.480 started as a trend and it's becoming a cultural shift. 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.440 I think that it fits in really nicely with other 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.280 things that you're seeing people really embrace, like Marie Condo 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:46.119 and the idea of minimalism and owning less things. It 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.200 fits in with the environmentalism. Living in a smaller house 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.639 and having a smaller footprint is definitely a piece of 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:54.800 that puzzle. So I do think that it's it was 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.680 a trend and now it's becoming part of the culture. Yeah, 0:18:57.720 --> 0:18:59.840 and I do think there is something too when you 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.479 hair things down, you really value the things you have 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:04.959 and take advantage of right, and and also how you're 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.560 spending your time. So Jesse, before I ask you the same, 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.840 let's take a step back. How do you define a 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.119 tiny plant and how are they different from normal plants? 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:17.000 I think that for me, a tiny plant probably would 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:19.080 be one that you're not really going to have to 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.639 worry about graduating past like a four inch pot. There 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.760 are plants that maybe have shallow roots systems. So you know, 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.359 you might buy a little plant that's in a small 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.240 pot that has like little leaves that are like two 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.879 inches long. But if you actually give it the growth, 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:36.000 the growth kind of environmental conditions that it it once, 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.280 For example, you might have it climb up a they're 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.560 called moss poles um They kind of mimic plants that 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.640 climb up trees, and in nature, when they start climbing, 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:48.120 there's actually like a physiological shift that happens when they 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.399 can sense that they're climbing, and if they're getting that 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:52.600 right light and they're getting that support, like boom, that 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.679 two inch leaf. Like the next leaf that comes out 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.000 might be six inches and then twelve inches, and then 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.240 like all of a sudden, you have this massive tropical blind. 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:01.199 You know, the plants that we're talking about, like the 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.760 pepper roma as the rhizomatos Pagonia is a little alo howorthia, 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:10.480 some some ferns um or chids. These are plants that 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:12.479 are are not going to do that. They're not going 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.800 to have any sort of like major physiological change between 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.960 their juvenile form, like when their first propagated or they're 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.439 first growing from seed and their mature forms. So I 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.000 think that that's kind of the The main difference is 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:26.880 just like what does the plant look like when it's 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:29.760 a baby versus when it's an adult. So you two 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:33.040 collaborated on this blog post helping tiny homeowners with the 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.360 ideal tiny plants that can fit within their designs. Can 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.400 you talk us through some of those tiny plants? Yeah, 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.040 absolutely so. I think that there are kind of a 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.119 couple of different approaches when thinking about fitting plants into, 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.680 you know, a small space. Certainly a very reasonable one 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.000 is to look for plants that are just small by nature. 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:53.760 And another one thing to note is, you know, sometimes 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.400 and you probably won't know this when you go into 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.359 the nursery, but some plants are actually sprayed with growth 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:03.280 inhibitors that that kind of keep them small. That is 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.159 something that is not going to you know, say that 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:07.040 on the label. But if you do your research into 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:09.800 the plant um and you know, look at the what 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.240 it looks like when it becomes a mature plant versus 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:13.960 what you're seeing in the nursery, you might you might 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.280 be able to get a little que as to whether 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:19.320 or not that's happened. But yeah, so a couple of 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.400 great small plants. There's a couple of different genuses that 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:24.199 the plants just kind of stay small by nature. One 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:26.840 is the pepper Roma genus. I really love these plants. 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:31.439 They kind of have like fleshy, semi succulent sorts of leaves. 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:33.679 A lot of them kind of have a creeping growth habit, 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.439 or if they're growing upright, they're just like form like 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:39.920 a very kind of a small little bush. Almost. One 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.960 that I really love is called pepperromea prostrata. It's i 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.600 would say, one of the trendiest plants right now. Sometimes 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.359 called string of turtles. Little leaves they look like just 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.440 like little tiny little beads, and they kind of have 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:52.840 like a little striping pattern on them, makes them look 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.000 like little turtles. There's a lot of string us right 0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:58.400 now in the plants where others string of hearts during bananas, 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.800 during a fishhooks during of dolphins, string of pearls. Another 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:06.240 genus that is really cool is the Tolanzia genus. Tolanxia 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:09.280 are often referred to as air plants. They're called air 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.280 plants because they actually don't grow in soil. These plants 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.280 are super unique. To water them, you actually soak them 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:17.800 in a bowl of water because their roots system is 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:20.760 literally just exist to hold them onto whatever they're growing on. 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:23.800 In nature, they're just entirely free floating. So you can 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:25.639 just like set them on a shelf, put them in 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:28.360 a bowl, uh, stick them on a window sill. They're 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:30.600 really unique. They're great in terrariums, and they come in 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:34.000 all different sizes and colors, and they flower eventually. They're 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.119 they're quite cool. I think air plants are so incredible. 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:39.640 How hard are they to maintain? You know, they kind 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:41.840 of have a reputation for being really easy. You know, 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:43.359 we hear a lot of people come into the nursery 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:44.879 and say, oh, those air plants, they just all they 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:48.080 need is air. That is not true. Um, they definitely 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:51.360 need water. I always kill mine, by the way. They're 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.400