How to get rid of Fungas Gnats
How to choose the right plant stand.
Have you fallen in love (again)?!
Styling with Hoya with Ivy Muse Co-Founder Alana Langan
The latest instalment in our 'Plant Style At Home' series, here co-founder Alana shows you how to care for hoya plants - and three ways to style with them.
With their sculptural organic form and wide variety, hoya are a great addition to up your plant game at home and they're so easy to care for.
We've loved bringing these videos to you during lockdown and we're excited to now be able to have our doors open (hurrah!) - we love bringing the IVY MUSE experience to all supporters, especially our interstate and overseas that can't visit us in-store.
We've been loving hearing all your feedback too, keep it coming. If there's any questions/topics you'd like us to answer (product, styling or care related) let us know.
How to care for air plants - and style with them!
The latest instalment in our 'Plant Style At Home' series, here co-founder Jacqui shows you how to care for air plants - and three ways to style with them.
With their interesting form and range of sizes, air plants (tillandsia) are great to add dimension and texture to your plant gang at home and they're so easy to care for - once you know how!
We've loved bringing these videos to you during lockdown; we miss your smiling faces in-store so much but are so grateful we can connect with you all this way and bring the IVY MUSE experience to you. We've been loving hearing all your feedback too, keep it coming! If there's any questions/topics you'd like us to answer (product, styling or care related) let us know.
Happy Sunday x
Plant Style at Home | Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant Care
The latest instalment in our 'Plant Style At Home' video series, here co-founder Jacqui Vidal shares her top tips to keep your Fiddle Leaf Fig looking luscious and thriving this season!
Our goal for this series is to bring the IVY MUSE experience to you; with Melbourne still in lockdown and so many of our customers dotted Australia-wide, no doubt a lot at home too - we wanted to show you how to get more out of your IVY MUSE botanical wares.
We've been loving hearing all your feedback, keep it coming! If there's any questions/topics you'd like us to answer (product, styling or care related) let us know. Enjoy x
Spring plant care: Our top 5 tips
01 HELLO SPRING!
This beautiful warmer weather means that plants are starting to wake up and starting to stretch their roots again, ready for a season of growth after a dormant winter period. So, you'll soon be seeing all of your favourite plant species back in our Botanical Emporium, like hoya, fiddle leaf figs and luscious trailing devil's ivy. Spring also means it's time to give your plants a little TLC. Just like us, plants need a little prep after their long slumber to help them get back to their best.
02 WATER; HOW MUCH, AND WHEN?
As your plants start to grow and rejuvenate, they'll use up more water. On top of this, warmer weather means that water will evaporate from your soil at a faster rate than it did in the cooler months. Be sure to adjust your watering schedule by watering more regularly.
Be careful not to kill your plant with kindness. Overwatering is the most common affliction that plants face. A change of season doesn't mean that plants need more water day-to-day, just that your usual waters will get closer together (i.e. from about once every two weeks in winter, to every week in summer). To make sure you're on the right track, just follow the golden rule: wait until the top three centimetres of soil are dry before watering.
Of course all plants have their own 'personalities'! Notable exceptions to the '3 cm rule' include Mother in-Laws Tongue, cacti and succulents, which all like their soil kept drier for longer. On the flip side we have ferns and palms, which like their soil kept moist throughout spring and summer (no drying out between waters!).
Pictured: IVY MUSE Watering Can in Moss
03 FOOD FOR PLANTS
Plants love a boost of energy to help them grow over spring and summer. Feed your plants an organic fertiliser throughout the season and they'll thank you for it with healthy, new growth! Again, be careful not to over do it, as you can easily burn the roots of your plants if you feed it too regularly, or don't dilute the solution enough. But don't stress! A quick google of your plant's species will let you know which fertiliser to use, how much it needs and how often.
Check out our Plant Food offering HERE.
As your plant starts to grow more quickly, you'll notice it needs a little elevation to give it more room to branch out - especially when it comes to devils ivy, hoya and heart leaf philodendrons. Plant stands, shelves and plant hangers can display cascading plants to maximum effect.
Pictured: IVY MUSE 'Elevate' series plant stands
04 TO RE-POT OR TOP-UP?
If you want your plant to really do its thing, consider repotting or potting-up. Repotting means that you're using the same pot, just replacing old soil with new and giving your plant a little root trim. This is the equivalent of a spring clean for plants, making its home a better place to be!
Potting-up means popping your plant into a bigger pot, giving its roots more room so your plant can grow. Remember to only go up one pot size at a time.
Pictured: Simone Karras Medium Pot in White Raku & IVY MUSE 'Loop' stake in Stone
05 PRUNE & TIDY UP
Most indoor plants aren't huge fans of winter and it's natural that they come out the other side looking a little worse for wear. Give your plant a spring makeover by trimming any yellow and brown leaves, so it can focus its energy on lush new ones, and prune any leggy vines or branches (don't worry, they'll grow back). Dust the leaves with a damp soft cloth and try using an organic leaf shine like this one to finish off.
Pictured: Papaya Pedra Pot Medium with IVY MUSE 'The Base' plant stand with marble top.
Happy Planting,
Team IVY MUSE x
WINTER PLANT CARE | OUR TOP FIVE TIPS
The third instalment in our brand new video series 'Plant Style At Home', here co-founder Alana Langan shares her Top Five Tips to keep your plants healthy and happy through the final few weeks of the winter season; often the most trying time for our plants!
Our aim for this series is to bring the IVY MUSE experience to you; now that Victoria is in lockdown 2.0 and so many of our customers are dotted Australia-wide - no doubt a lot at home too. We've been loving hearing all your feedback, keep it coming. If there's any questions/topics you'd like us to answer (product, styling or care related) let us know. Enjoy x
How To Stake A Monstera Deliciosa With 'Dot' | With Co-Founder Jacqui Vidal
The second instalment of our 'Plant Style At Home' video series, here IVY MUSE co-founder, Jacqui Vidal, shows how to stake a monstera deliciosa using the 'Dot' plant stake.
Designed and made in Melbourne by IVY MUSE, 'Dot' was created for those customers who needed a stake solution for larger plants; and has since become one of our most popular designs.
Let us know what you think! We love to hear your feedback and if there's any plant styling or care questions you want us to answer let us know and we'll do our best to cover them in this video series.
Keep safe and enjoy! The IVY MUSE Team.
How To Stake A Plant With 'Loop' | With Co-Founder Alana Langan
The first in our brand new video series 'Plant Style At Home', here our co-founder Alana Langan shows you step-by-step how to get the most out of your 'Loop' plant stake.
Our goal for this series is to help our customers get more out of their IVY MUSE wares; now that Victoria is once again in lockdown we miss so many of your smiling faces in-store plus we are so thankful to have so many new customers Australia-wide so we thought we'd bring the IVY MUSE experience to you instead!
With that being said, we'd really love to hear your feedback; and what would you love to see from us? If there's any questions/topics you'd like us to answer, whether it be plant styling or plant care related let us know and we'll do our best to cover it! Keep an eye out for the rest of the series coming soon. Enjoy x
How To Bio-hack Your WFH Space For Wellbeing
1 ADD PLANTS
Working from home can get the best of us - and for us Victorian, just when the thought things were looking good, we're back in a 6-week lockdown (!) BUT, we like so many others are taking this in our stride and looking at this time as an opportunity to hunker down, ramp up our health and wellbeing and enjoy the slower pace with our families.
Our WFH space must support our wellbeing while we juggle our family life - (and potential home-schooling?!) There's a few easy steps we can all take to do this, with adding plants our GO-TO at the top of the list.
We all know the benefits of having plants in our home; increased creativity and a sense of wellbeing, decreased stress levels, cleaner air etc etc, you know the drill. Studies have also shown having a plant on your desk increases productivity by 15%, so there, you have no excuses now!
2 BE NEAR NATURAL LIGHT
The best position for your WFH desk is right near good natural light. As the Winter days are shorter and darker, we can struggle to get our daily dose of Vitamin D (in the form of sunlight). Even if you can't manage a little direct sunlight, a well-lit position will help your body to naturally regulate your circadian rhythm and contributes to better health overall.
3 TAKE BREAKS OUTSIDE
WFH can often mean hours in front of the computer, or other devices. Blue light emitted from these devices can take its toll on our circadian rhythms - our bodies can get confused as to what time day it is, and when to secrete the appropriate hormones (anyone had trouble falling asleep after watching too much Netflix)?
The other reason it's a great idea to take breaks outside is so our body can experience sunlight; see No.2 above!
4 OPEN A DOOR OR WINDOW
Biophilia is the theory we all have an innate connection to nature. By opening a window or door, you're literally increasing your connection to nature; you might feel the breeze blowing indoors, or smell the grass outside or even hear the birds; these are all elements of biophilia in action.
5 SURROUND YOURSELF WITH NATURE
A key element of Biophilic design is the process of incorporating natural materials within your home that speak to, or directly connect with nature.
'See' Nature (Eg; artworks, paintings, photos etc)
'Smell' Nature (E.g; burn candles or diffusers with essential plant oils, or Palo Santo, incense or smudge sticks)
'Hear' Nature; (E.g; Open the doors and windows, listen to the birds, hear the breeze blowing your curtains etc)
'Touch' Nature; (E.g; use natural materials like stone, timber, linen, wool, leather etc)
'Taste It'; (E.g.; Drink plant-based teas and elixirs, eat plant-based meals etc)
Given the current climate and the fact that so many of us are WFH, we all could do with increasing our health and wellbeing. Nature is an undisputed gateway to increasing this.
Keep safe and well,
Alana & Jacqui
