Before becoming a plant parent, I would buy fake plant home decor to decorate my room. I enjoyed the looks of plants, but never thought I could keep them alive. I didn’t understand why people opted for having real plants when fake ones existed. 

I never saw what was so special about real plants, until I fell in love with my first live succulent. It was a small Echeveria elegans green succulent from Home Depot. Something about it brought me so much happiness. Maybe it was its cute size, vibrant green color or smooth texture. I bought other succulent friends that day, marking my first day as a plant mom. I guess you could say this day was plant-tastic.

I’ll admit that my first round of plant children didn’t go so well. Excitement got the best of me and I overwatered my succulents, thinking more water would keep them from dying. It was quite the opposite. I’ve since learned my lesson. I was discouraged when my plants died and decided to take a break from plant parenting. 

Now onto round two of trying to plant parent. I asked for succulents for Christmas a few years ago and was given a small box of them from my parents. I was ecstatic as a variety of succulent plants were now mine. I bought a dish online to plant them in and ensured it had good drainage and a saucer to catch any excess water. This time, I wasn’t going to let them die. 

I soon discovered that having more than five succulents at once was too much responsibility, and round two ended in plant funerals. I wanted to love plants so badly, but how could I love them if I couldn’t care for them? 

Several months later, I decided to give plant parenting another shot and bought a singular plant. It was a small cotyledon succulent and I did thorough research on how to take care of it. 

It’s been eight months now and even moved cities, but I can safely say it’s still alive and is even sprouting new leaves. It gets sunlight and water as needed, and of course, my love. I also recently bought three new succulents to accompany it. 

With proper care and research, I learned that it’s not that hard to keep plants alive. If plants makes me happy and bring joy to my day, it’s not worth it to neglect them. As silly as it may seem, being a plant parent is a lot of responsibility and requires thought on my part. My journey to becoming a plant parent has had more downs than ups, but it’s taught me that a little bit of research and a lot of love makes for a happy and healthy plant child.