Plant-sit your way to a better grow.

How plant-sitting goes beyond the ability to leave the grow to inform, inspire, and motivate.

Dear Friend & Reader-

What is your experience with plant-sitting? 

I’ve recently had the chance to step out of my own garden and into those of others, and it’s shed some light on untapped possibilities as well as motivated me to tidy up and organize things a bit more.

Plant-sitting, like babysitting or house-sitting, is the act of taking care of someone else’s plants while they are away.

Pretty simple stuff, but the benefits are far more interesting than the act itself. In general, you’re just watering, feeding or otherwise making sure that the plants don’t die. Ideally, you’re also keeping an eye out for potential problems that could develop before the owner returns.

Aside from the ability to leave, plant-sitting encourages both parties to level-up in the grow.

Unless you’ve automated everything, you’re likely spending time watering and taking care of your plants every day or two. This creates a dilemma if you want to go out of town for the weekend or longer, especially if your substrate does not retain moisture well. The grow can quickly feel like a “ball & chain” that you’re tethered to.

Plant-sitting is a two-way street. 

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. You get your plants taken care of in exchange for taking care of someone else’s. Sometimes, there’s a group of people all taking turns plant-sitting.

Plant-sitting depends upon and creates a mutual trust that is the backbone of strong friendships and working relationships.

You have to be able to trust that the person you are allowing into your grow is going to take care of it the way you would. You have to trust that they have the knowledge to take care of the plants and interpret your instructions based on the real-time situation they’re observing. You have to trust that they can be discrete with the location and details of your grow, especially if you’re in a place with less friendly laws.

White Tahoe Cookies rounding out Week 7 of Flower.

The Benefits of Plant-Sitting for Someone Else

Once you’ve earned a grower’s trust, the benefits of seeing other grows cannot be understated.

Whether you’re plant-sitting or simply offered a tour, seeing other grows in person is a great way to get a better understanding of what can be done with a space. Not only the possibilities, but other ways of growing and accomplishing similar goals. It’s also an opportunity to recognize areas for improvement in your own grow and the one you’re visiting. 

More than just seeing the grow, when you are entrusted with the responsibility of the grow, you get to walk a mile in a fellow grower’s shoes.

You get to relinquish control and design of the situation and follow someone else’s steps. You take care of their plants the way they take care of them. You get a peek behind the curtain at how the magic really happens. (Or you get a refresher in the importance of cleanliness, order, etc.)

Most importantly, plant-sitting can give you the motivation and inspiration to continue to evolved and upgrade your own efforts.

Each time I plant-sit, I take some sort of lesson or inspiration home. Maybe it’s using a PVC pipe to create a trellis that can be raised and lowered. Maybe it’s seeing how to put old grow gear to use and maximize your space. 

And sometimes, it’s just seeing how clean and orderly a grow can be that motivates you to go home and clean your own grow.

The Benefits of Someone Plant-Sitting for You

To continue with that train of thought, when you’ve gotten to peek behind someone else’s magical grow curtain, you’re that much more aware of what’s behind your own.

If the person you plant-sit for is cleaner than you, you may be more aware of your lack of cleanliness.

If the person you plant-sit for is more organized than you, you may be more aware of your lack of order.

If the person you plant-sit for is more experienced than you, you may be more aware of areas where you have room for improvement.

When you have someone else who will be traipsing through your grow while you’re away, getting a little self-conscious can help you get your shit together faster than a to-do list item or post-it note that keeps getting overlooked.

All of a sudden, organization–which doesn’t matter to you because you know where everything is–matters. 

Not just for appearances, but because you have to be able to tell someone else where your tools are or how to bring water from one area to another. 

All of a sudden, things like cleanliness matter so much more. 

Let’s be honest: it always matters. But sometimes we overlook it when we are short on time and want to dedicate as much to the plants as possible. But, just like your home, when you’ve got company coming over, you don’t want them arriving to a mess.

Periodic cleansing and organizing of your grow space in anticipation of a plant-sitter permits you to return to a clean slate.

Until next week,

Ben “Your Friendly Neighborhood Plant-Sitter” Owens

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