Across social media, indoor house plants have become a huge trend. The tag #houseplants is on more than 10.6 million posts on Instagram and on TikTok there are more than 83.7 million posts covering all things house plant; everything from the plants that most thrive indoors to the best ways to care for them to the proud displays of the truly impressive flora collections that some people possess. And with this trend sweeping across social media, came the birth of the term ‘plant mom’.

A plant mom is a person who cares deeply for their indoor plants and can range from someone that manages to keep alive a few small succulents to someone who talks affectionately to their labyrinth of ferns and philodendrons in the belief that it helps them grow quicker. 

Since the dreaded year of 2020, when the world was quarantined to their homes as the plague of coronavirus taunted them from the other side of closed doors, people have begun to care much more about how they fill their surroundings. For a large community of people, that meant houseplants.  

The National Garden Bureau found that 63 per cent of people increased their plant collection during the pandemic, inspired to bring some nature and positivity inside during pretty troubling times.

Sitting in a light and airy bedroom, where her pothos has delicately wrapped its many tendrils along the top of a well-stacked bookshelf and an impressive looking monstera stands proudly by the door to welcome you right as you enter, Felicity Bassett, plant mom since 2020, tells me how her collection started as a gift from her family.

“I was so bored during the pandemic. I needed something to do, something to manage. And I think my parents saw that,” she tells me.

The pandemic clearly caused many people to feel the same way as Bassett. 

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, there was a reported 22.8 per cent increase in plant sales during July of 2020 compared to their sales in the year previous. In Australia alone, the Nursery Industry Statistics survey found that over 2 billion plants were sold throughout the year with a record breaking $2.6 billion being spent on them. 

Owner of The Quirky Beetle, a plant and entomology shop in Mandurah, Talia Harris says that houseplants were a much needed distraction for people at the time.

“I think, particularly during that period, it was almost like an escape from the world. It eased a lot of anxiety for people,” she says.

“Having any living thing around your home, it’s kind of like having pets. They bring so much life and joy to a space and, during Covid, people really needed that.”

“I mean we had it really easy in Australia compared to other places. But regardless, it’s a really nice way to liven up your space, which was so important for people at the time,” Bassett says.

“I think plants have been really good for my mental health. I love the look of having greenery and nature inside but, more than that, I’m caring for something, and seeing that growth is really rewarding.”

According to the World Economic Forum, “just being in the presence of indoor plants can improve mental and physical health”. Houseplants are known to improve air quality and increase oxygen flow, but they have also been proven to help reduce stress levels and symptoms of depression and anxiety. A study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that plants in your home or office can make you feel more calm and comfortable which aids in a better wellbeing and, in turn, heightens your immune system.

Which is why so many people across social media love showing their plants off to the rest of the internet. 

“When people really nurture something like a plant, and they see it growing day by day into something luscious and large, there’s so much pride to be experienced,” Harris says.

“Especially because there are a lot of species that can be quite hard for beginners and novices to grow, so seeing it thrive is very gratifying.”

Mental health is much more widely talked about than ever before, and you see a lot of discussions around the importance of it on social media. Even on #PlantTok, the platform’s users are discussing the best plants for improving mood, the ways in which they help and how they’re “like therapy”.

Unlike other more harmful trends across social media that are economically unsustainable like fast fashion or fast furniture, plants are a far more sustainable way to spend your money and fill your space. 

“It’s inspiring a better lifestyle,” Harris says.

“It’s a much healthier trend than a lot of what you see on social media. Both for your wallet and your mental health.”

Australian’s spent more than $2.3 billion on fast fashion last year and, according to the Australian Fashion Council, around 227,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill every year.

More recently, fast furniture has become the newest economical issue with over 48,000 tonnes of furniture being thrown away in Australia each year. In America the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that their contribution to landfill is over 9 million tonnes of tossed furniture every year.

These are trends that are extremely harmful to the sustainability of our planet and, unlike houseplants, are contributing significantly to climate change. 

Although many people question if houseplants actually do more harm than good when it comes to the environment, Climate Fact Checks has assured us that indoor plants help absorb CO₂ and more effectively regulate the temperature which supports the minimisation of global warming.

“If we’re looking at it through the lens of capitalism alone, I think it’s a much healthier trend than a lot of what we see online,” Bassett says.

“It’s very easy to not go out and buy plants once you’ve got a small collection.

“Me and my friends will swap and share plants by giving each other a cutting of something we’ve grown which is really nice because it’s a good way of avoiding spending money but it’s also sharing the love.”

Felicity began propagating plants (the process of growing new plants from seeds, cuttings, and other plant parts) during lockdown when “there was nothing else to do”. She says it was difficult to learn but got most of her tips and tricks from TikTok and Pinterest. 

Plant propagation, and from that the act of swapping and sharing, has become a very hobby for houseplant lovers to develop, with many people creating houseplant sharing pages and group events across social media. 

“There’s so many sharing pages and plant community pages across WA where people organise swaps and trades for different species,” Harris tells me.

“There’s something really satisfying about growing a plant from a cutting and bringing it to fruition, so I think people really enjoy sharing their houseplants with others and getting that opportunity in return.”

On TikTok, plant swaps are a newer plant-centric trend that is inspiring an even more sustainable plant mom lifestyle. In America, an app called ‘Blossm’ has been created to help locals get in touch with each other to swap specific species or cuttings and it even encourages a social aspect within the plant community, helping plant lovers alike connect with and talk to one another to meet up and trade their beloved greenery. 

These swaps are creating a great community in which you not only can share different plants with one another, but knowledge and tips as well, which is great for people getting started with their collections or wanting to know how to avoid killing even the simplest succulent (like I tend to do).

As I finish writing this, sprawled across my armchair under the wall of pothos that has crept along and delicately framed my mother’s array of family photos, I do feel a sense of serenity and airiness that I’m sure is coming from the plants and not from my impending deadlines. Maybe the bright greenery in the room is making me more focused on my work. Maybe the added oxygen in the room is helping me write better. I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to make a TikTok about it to see if the plant moms agree.