This is our most Up-to date care guide included in People & Plant Care kits (Plant care is self care)
You are a recipient of a People & Plant Care Kit!
What your kit contains:
Soul Soothing Sachets – Lavender & Rose or Mint & Cedar sachet to hold in your purse, keep in your car, or place in your pillowcase. The aromatherapy of the herbs will bring peace and calm to your spirit.
6â Terracotta clay pot – For repotting your Deerâs foot fern. We will do this together on our first virtual Plant Care is Self Care virtual session.
Deerâs Foot Fern – For physical, emotional, and spiritual support along your journey
Blank Journal & Pen – for journaling or whatever you would like
Seed Envelope – filled with wildflower seeds: Phlox and Tickseed
Tiny starter pot for seeds
Florida Wildflower Seeds
Horticulture For Healingâs Plant Care is Self Care zines
Sticker/bookmark
Whatâs the kit for?
In times of stress, anxiety, grief and relocation it may feel difficult or even impossible to carry on the duties of living your daily life. This self care kit includes tools to support your journey towards peace and wholeness. Use these tools daily to welcome calm, focus, clarity, energy, and restful sleep as you process through the layers of emotions that arise during the healing journey. Having a plant to take care of can help you get into the practice of nurturing. Taking time to water and tend to a plant can remind you to begin the process and practice of being gentle and kind to yourself,
How to care for your Deerâs Foot Fern: Note the little fuzzy âfeetâ sticking out! Keep the soil evenly moist, let the top 1 inch soil dry between watering. Make sure to never let it dry out completely. You can even give it a âplant showerâ by raining water from above, wetting the foliage, rhizomes, and soil at the same time. It is okay to let the leaves get some water on them. It can be a good idea (especially when the air is dry) to bring this plant into the bathroom with you when you take a shower. Not directly in the shower, but in the bathroom as the humidity from the shower/bath will make this fern happy. If your fern doesnât make it, thatâs okay! It is part of the practice of trying.
This plant is an epiphytic fern, which means it grows easily on trees and rocks. An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water or from debris accumulating around it.
The rhizomes of the plant tend to crawl on top of the rocks and bark as they absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil, making the plant look like it has giant tarantula legs or little paws! So we hope that the rhizomes once repotted, will take over the clay pot.
Partial sunlight for Deerâs Foot Fern : Our first virtual session will be a re-potting event. We will be potting our ferns into the large pot in your kit.On windowsill or near a window that gets a small amount of sun; 2-3 hours of MORNING partial sun preferably. An example of this would be a window where the trees block the sun so that the sun is coming through in patches mixed with shade. If kept outside DO NOT want to put them in DIRECT sun. If a shade cover is available that would be excellent! An example of this would be under a large tree where sun comes through in patches mixed with shade.
6 hours a day of sunlight at minimum for seedlings : You can keep the seedlings outside just make sure to water them everyday especially while it is still summer and fall! Seedlings need a lot of light. If you’re growing in a window, choose a window with full sun. Rotate the pot regularly to keep plants from leaning into the light. If seedlings don’t get enough light, they will be leggy and weak.
Potting the seeds: If you would like to wait to plant your seedlings we will do so on our second zoom session. There is plenty to plant some now and later if you want.
Small seeds can be sprinkled right on the soil surface. Larger seeds will need to be buried.
- It’s helpful to make a couple divots in each pot to accommodate the seeds.
- Take a tiny pinch of seeds from your envelope.
- After you’ve dropped a couple seeds in each divot, you can go back and cover the seeds.
- If more than 2 or 3 seeds germinate, snip the others so that the 2 or 3 can have room to grow!
- Moisten the newly planted seeds with a small amount of water (a tablespoon or two)
- Let the soil dry slightly between waterings, and REPEAT!
- Keep in partial sun on a windowsill or outside in a spot that receives sun for at least 6 hours.
If you would like to speed germination (sprouting of seed), cover the pots with plastic wrap or a plastic dome that fits over the pot. This helps keep the seeds moist before they germinate. When you see the first signs of green, remove the cover.
I look forward to seeing you on a virtual Plant Care is Self Care session !
Joanna (she/her) Director, Horticulture For Healing.Â
