The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family

I have over 100 plants in my apartment, but I don't consider myself a plant expert. I have been given a few different plant books as gifts from friends (who know I'm a crazy plant lady) and each has its own strengths. Some are well-designed and pleasing to flip through, others look more like catalogues but are packed with useful information, and still others are written more like novels, expressing a deep appreciation for plants. I would hands down recommend "The New Plant Parent" as a first indoor plant book over the other ones (that isn't to discourage you from buying other ones - this just hits plant basics more explicitly than other books I have). This is a really great book for anyone that wants to learn more about keeping indoor plants or anyone that is looking for a friend who has a seemingly unhealthy addiction to plants. I've been following Daryl Cheng's instagram (@houseplantjournal) for a while - his book is just as aesthetically pleasing and packed with helpful tips and explanations (e.g. "three practical watering methods") as his Instagram. The added benefit is that his voice carries over in the book so that it feels like you're sitting in a plant-filled room watching him show you what to do for your plants. The book starts with plant basics (lighting, watering, soil, pruning, dealing with different types of pests) and then describes how to care for some of the most popular indoor plants... and it's packed with photos that actually show you what he describes in the text. EXCELLENT gift for a friend, but also a wonderful way to treat yourself! :) You won't regret it!

This is easily one of my top two favorite plant care books. As a plant collector with well over 100 houseplants, I am always looking for more ways to learn about them and how to care for them and keep them happy. Cheng is obviously very well experienced in the houseplant world, and does an incredible job sharing his wealth of information with us. This book covers a very broad range of topics, from watering how-tos, determining what type of lighting you have, soil and soil amendments, necessary and helpful plant-care tools, propagation methods, etc. Cheng does a wonderful job of giving great detail and scientific information about everything he writes, without making it challenging or confusing. He gives great examples of different plant care situations that help demonstrate the information he provides, and help us to apply the information to our own plants. If you’re wanting to learn how to better care for your plants, you absolutely must read this book!

I started following Darryl on Instagram under @houseplantjournal by recommendation when I was discussing my plant woes. It had useful tips, but also just a refreshing framework to discuss plants and their care--especially his perspective on light and how we should generally be using that as the lens to evaluate all other factors, like soil and watering. After a few weeks with a cat palm that started failing, I knew I wanted to figure this whole plant thing out once or for all, and I needed to just dive in and get the full lesson. I ordered his book and a light meter immediately, and read through it in about an hour. Somehow this book made the case for a very simplistic, easy to understand conceptual framework that I hadn't heard before about plant care, while helping you to understand how all the individual factors fit together. It's not just black/white directives like "don't overwater!" He talks about how to understand light, plants optimal growth, survival mode, a plants satisfactory lifespan, etc. I gave this to two people already--one who is an experienced plant owner and one who is not. Highly recommend!

I know each book is different, but the text in this is very light and small, it makes it hard to read. The content that I have read so far has been very helpful, I just have to be in bright light to read it.

I’ve read a lot of regurgitated info that left me more confused than before I read them. I was struggling with lighting and blaming myself for things that happened naturally to my plants. This book gave me in-depth yet simple to understand rules to being a new plant parent. I’ve already started implementing some of the strategies. I highly recommend this book!

This is very informative with LOTS of pictures, which I appreciate. It’s easy to understand without being super basic. He also included progress pictures of his plants over time, really shows how much time and effort he put into this book. 100% recommend

This book was made with such careful detail that it stands out from other plant books I’ve read. Other plant books that I’ve checked out, IMHO, read more like an encyclopedia: they would state something along the lines of “xx plant needs such light and only thrive in these conditions”. But this book is much more comprehensive than that. It made me think of what the different light levels (e.g. bright light, low light) meant; it made me realize that I was actually starving some of my plants of their food source. I’ve also learned about holistic plant care and what it means to apply that towards my plants. This book doesn’t contain unnecessary information like how to build a terrarium or other tutorials that I won’t use. Its point is how to guide an individual to take optimal care of their plants. Overall, this book is practical, focused, and concise. I would highly recommend this book to new plant parents.

Bought this for myself and a copy for my mother who is new to caring for houseplants. I appreciate the content is easy to read, engaging, and does not take very long to get through. It covers a lot of topics essential to new houseplant owners succinctly. There are pictures to explain each topic that help you to understand lighting situations, how to water properly, pests, soil requirements, and more! The last third of the book goes over some common houseplants and how to ensure they do well in your home. Highly recommend for beginners and even for those that aren't necessarily new to houseplants but would like to have a good reference book.

Bien utile pour garder les plantes en bonne santé.

This is a wonderfully helpful book with lots of pictures, tips and useful information. As someone who previously relied on blindly searching the Internet for advice, this book has taken so much of the guesswork away. A fantastic book for beginners, an equally fantastic book for anyone with basic houseplant knowledge. Sadly I can't speak for experts, as I am not one. The book did arrive with a dirty mark and slight bend on the cover, which has remained after a clean. But it hasn't had an impact on the content so I'm not phased at all. I'll properly end up getting soil on it anyway.

Practical and helpful guidance. Daryl goes into detail about the basics of plant care that are often brushed over (light, water, soil etc), explaining how they work and why they're important, and builds on that knowledge to show you how to create an ideal environment for plants. Great tips on how to recognise their individual needs. How to measure light and how to aerate the soil. Jam packed with beautiful photos of his plants and lots of examples, including his mistakes to learn from.

Good book for plant parent.

El libro es genial, no vengo a hablar del contenido. Sin embargo, el almacén de amazon podría haberse tomado la molestia de limpiar bien las cubiertas y deshacerse de toda la goma que recorría el lomo del mismo y que hacía que quedase enganchado a cualquier cosa. Imposible incorporarlo a la librería si no quería que los libros de al lado quedasen pegados a él y, luego, sufrieran desgarros. Me he pasado un buen rato frotando con un trapo con un poco de aceite para hacer saltar el adhesivo.