Affordable plant supplies

Something a lot of people ask when I get into conversations about gardening is ‘…but isn’t all the stuff quite expensive?’ I thought it would be useful to share my three most recent affordable finds in the realm of plant supplies, as I am perpetually hunting for cost effective ways to carry out my hobby (read: obsession?). So in answer to the question of cost… I always say, only spend what you can afford on it but in short, NO, it can be extremely affordable. Here on HPH I love to share low cost places to find gardening supplies – search under the category ‘GARDENING’ and you’ll find posts featuring places like ALDI, Wilko and Tiger, showing my ‘best picks’ from these stores.

For today’s post, I went to two stores: Poundland and Home Bargains (I’m in the UK for reference). Stock in these sort of places tends to vary extremely regularly so items might not be available long-term. Aside from the obvious seasonal element, more and more ‘bargain’ shops are expanding their gardening sections, with Home Bargains actually having a decent selection of plants too!

1. The £1 mid century inspired plant stand

I stumbled across these plant stands last week in Poundland, for, you’ve guessed it – £1 each! I love design and plant styling and mid century inspired planters are probably my biggest weakness when it comes to buying pieces for my home. To me, they sit on the cusp between home decor and pieces of furniture (particularly the wooden legged ones) that can really elevate (pun intended) the appearance of plants in your home in a fresh, modern way.

For reference the stands are 19cm diameter, which worked out great for the white pot I have my sansevieria in; I really like the contrast in colour and the sculptural elegance that is mirrored in the leaves of the snake plant. These stands would work equally well with pots/ terracotta outdoors as they are powder coated so won’t rust. You’ll be seeing these pop up on the site fairly often as I bought 5! …some for indoors, some for my balcony garden.

2. 10 litre bags of compressed coco coir

Next is something that has become vastly more popular this season, and more importantly, affordable – compressed coco coir. Incase you haven’t heard of coco before, it’s often used in soil mixes alongside compost, horticultural grit and/or perlite. It’s popular because of it’s water retention capabilities, whilst also being light enough to allow aeration for the roots. I’ll be writing a post on soil mixes in a few weeks so will go into more detail then.

Living in an apartment, I continually struggle with storing my gardening ‘stuff’, so these bags of compressed coco are ideal, I just add water to rehydrate them in the bag that the medium comes in (really handy). They make up to 10 litres which is the perfect amount if you have some potting to do. If you don’t have access to a car, then these are perfect because they are incredibly light in weight – ever tried carrying a bag of compost on a bus? (FYI It’s not fun).

3. A pressure sprayer

Lastly is something I remember having a few years ago, but in moving apartments, lost it along the way… it’s a pressure sprayer! I have been making do with a little mister for a few years, but today saw this in Home Bargains for £2.49 and snapped it up. I tested it in the greenhouse immediately and am kicking myself for not replacing mine sooner – it’s so enjoyable! It works just like a balloon pump and has two settings – a constant flow or manual, and to speed up the water flow, keep pumping! I put up some videos on my Instagram stories earlier, which I will save under the ‘greenhouse’ highlight if you want to see it in action.

Hopefully this post shows that if you do your research, plant care supplies don’t have to be costly, and it’s always great to find a good deal. If you see any brilliant gardening buys, be sure to send me a DM on Instagram – I’d love to hear.

Thanks for reading!

Laura 🌿

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