Good Earth Plant Company Tips

The horticultural experts at Good Earth Plant Company have years of experience caring for plants and creating exceptional designs to enrich peoples’ lives with plants. Our experts generously share their advice with readers who want to improve their plant care methods to be more successful in helping their plants thrive and stay healthy.

Our website contains an extensive FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions section. The most common questions asked by clients are included in each section.  If you don’t see your question answered, we invite you to contact us.

6 Ways to Revive a Dying Indoor Plant Before It’s Too Late

When it comes to home decor and trends, indoor plants are suddenly the belles of the ball.    We, needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway!) could not be happier about the massive uptick in #plantmoms and #plantdads, especially in our hometown of San Diego. For more than 40 years, it’s been our mission to encourage people to incorporate more nature (read: indoor plants) into the places they work, live, and play. Plants not only enhance indoor aesthetics, but also improve our mental health and offer therapeutic benefits. Plants sometimes have similar symptoms for very different reasons. It just takes time to learn and identify what type of care your indoor plant may need.… Read More

Sustainable Design Ideas for San Diego Stormwater

Green Roof Salesforce Park in San Francisco. Photo: Greenroofs.com
  Amid the megadrought, the worst drought to hit California in 1200+ years, we are now experiencing a Pacific storm with the terrifying name of a bomb cyclone. And while the atmospheric river it’s bringing with it sounds poetic, it’s anything but. This brutal storm is bringing heavy rains, damaging winds and subsequent flooding to parts of California. In San Diego County, we’re experiencing rains and winds that may lead to major flood events in some areas. Over the last decade, flooding has caused millions of dollars in property damage, even in times of average seasonal rainstorms. (source: San Diego Co Public Works) San Diego is a coastal desert.… Read More

Tips To Prep Your Plants For Winter Months

A sunny window feels good on a cold day for you and for your plants, too. Photo: Mary Kreuel / Creative Commons winter months
Even though we’re blessed to live and work in a temperate, plant-loving climate at Good Earth Plant Company, we still experience the change of seasons. Winter may be subtle, but it’s coming at us quickly. Meteorological winter starts December 1, and the winter equinox is less than three weeks away. Our daytime temperatures have dropped 20 degrees recently, and in some places, the nighttime lows are legitimately cold. At least they are to us! Your container plants living outside feel it too. Many need protection from the coldest winter weather. Even in a Mediterranean-style climate, it can drop below freezing at night.… Read More

Fertilizer 101 For Indoor Plant Parents

Help keep your indoor plants healthy by making sure they are well fed with the right type of plant fertilizer. Photo: Claudia Felbermayer / Pixabay
Good Earth Plant Company loves sharing our best tips on indoor plant selection and care with our plant-loving friends. Our advice on growing orchids was one of our most popular blog posts this year. The people have spoken. We’re all about giving the people what they want! The next step in developing your personal horticulture skills is learning how to feed and fertilize (the same thing) indoor plants. Yes, plants get hungry and need food. But plants can’t speak up and whine or beg when they’re hungry – which is a good thing if you have a chowhound or kitty making noise to get their treats. … Read More

Top Trends at Cultivate 22: Color and Creativity

This three dimentional "grotto wall" using moss and living plants was my favorite display at Cultivate 22. I can't wait to build one myself! Photo: Jim Mumford
We’ve just wrapped up one of my favorite workplace greenery and horticulture conferences – the annual Cultivate 22 held in Columbus, Ohio, by American Hort, our national organization supporting and promoting the horticulture industry. We were back last year post-pandemic, but we were all still feeling the many effects of what we’d all gone through. This year, the energy, collaboration, and creativity were truly back. I could tell immediately from the bright-colored plant and floral displays in downtown Columbus. They were missing last year. More than 650 exhibitors and 10,000 industry professionals like me attend this show to see all the latest products and plants and talk with colleagues to share and learn about the latest trends and solutions for our clients.… Read More

Go Green To Recruit Tech Talent

Our first moss wall project in 2022 for one of the GAMAM companies. Photo: Good Earth Plant Company sustainability must
Before the pandemic, technology employees loved their free meals, foosball, and office happy hour. Post-pandemic, it’s going to take more than booze to bring tech workers back into the office. Good Earth Plant Company has a hot tip for tech employers: Go green at work. Many of the big tech companies including the Big Five known as GAMAM (Google, Apple, Meta [Facebook], Amazon, and Microsoft) or FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) announced they would bring back their workers into the office. Their employees said, “Umm, not so fast.” Recent surveys found nearly three-quarters of tech employees plan to quit their jobs this year in part because of lack of flexibility with the post-pandemic return to the office push and toxic workplace culture.… Read More

Keep Our Trees Green and Growing in Drought

San Diego's trees add to the beauty it is known for worldwide. Photo: City of San Diego keep our trees green
Several years ago, I encouraged blog readers to plant trees for the well-being of our planet. If you followed my advice, you have some shade to sit in while enjoying your beverage of choice! Now in the midst of the worst drought Southern California has experienced in our lifetime, the most important thing you can do now is to use the precious water available to keep our trees thriving. Put trees first in line for water Southern California officials are issuing new restrictions on outdoor water use amid the worsening drought. It’s fine for lawns to go brown – and it’s even better if we replace them.… Read More

Even Black Thumbs Can Grow Orchids

Yes, you can grow orchids! Good Earth Plant Company tells you our secrets to grow orchids. Photo: Pixabayv
During the pandemic, many people learned about the benefits of adding plants to your indoor environment at home and work. This isn’t a news flash for our regular readers. Study after study confirms plants help clean your indoor air of toxins, raise the humidity to healthier levels, contribute to an increase in oxygen levels, buffer noise, calm your nerves and help you focus. We’ll stop there. Good Earth Plant Company works with many clients who like fresh cut flowers in addition to green indoor plants in their workspaces. Who isn’t impressed by a gorgeous display of flowers in a lobby or meeting room?… Read More

Need Some Energy? Count On Indoor Plants Instead of Caffeine

We love the indoor plants added to the collaborative work spaces at the American Assets Trust office in Del Mar Heights. Photo: Good Earth Plant Company
We have all been through two difficult years. The coronavirus pandemic changed our way of life, and it’s not quite over yet. You may have struggled with health challenges, job challenges, family challenges, and we lost out on a lot of fun. Some of the changes have been for the better. But learning new routines can be stressful, and it takes a lot of energy. Human nature takes over, and we do what we’ve gotta do: binging on streaming shows, baking bread, and starting happy hour at 2 pm. Now we’ve integrated our old routines with our new routines. You might be going back to the office full time or just some of the time.… Read More

New Thoughts for 2022 About The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace

Where would YOU rathr work? Our Second Edition white paper is optimistic about the future of the American office. Download your copy free! Post-pandemic workplace
The modern American office is now competing with the work from home (WFH) environment. Employees are voting with their feet for more flexibility in their lives. The days of the open office and cubicle farms are over. How should the workplace evolve? It was time for my colleagues and me with Silverado Roundtable to dig deep to offer human resources professionals, facilities managers, and the design community some tools to address the post-pandemic reality. We present The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace – Second Edition. I never thought I’d write ONE white paper. Now I’ve written two! How did we get here?… Read More