New year rolls around, everyone’s talking about “glow ups” and “new routines”, and meanwhile your Monstera’s still in the same crusty potting mix from 2022. Relatable?
We’ve all had that moment where we look around and realise the plants have… slipped. A bit dusty, a bit droopy, a bit “I’ll fix that on the weekend” (for the tenth weekend in a row).
So this isn’t a guilt trip. It’s a reset.
A super-manageable, 30-day “New Year, New Jungle” checklist you can actually stick to.
Most houseplants don’t need a full repot every year, by the way. A bit of fresh mix, a better watering rhythm, and a regular feed will do most of the heavy lifting for you.
We’ll keep it simple: small jobs, spread over a month, that leave your plants happier and you feeling like you’ve actually got your plant-parent act together.
Along the way, we’ll chat about how we use our Soil & Microbe Booster and Indoor Plant Food to make life easier – but think of them as tools in your kit, not a hard sell.
How This 30-Day Reset Works
Here’s the game plan. We break the month into four chunks:
- Week 1 – Look, tidy, breathe
- Week 2 – Soil, roots, pots
- Week 3 – Watering & feeding reset
- Week 4 – Styling, troubleshooting & future-you hacks
You don’t have to do something every day. Aim for a couple of easy wins each week. Cup of tea (or wine), podcast on, quick plant session. Done.
Week 1: Take Stock & Tidy Up
We start with the stuff that makes an immediate visual difference. You’ll feel better, your plants will look better, and motivation magically appears.
☐ 1. Do a “plant census”
Grab your phone or notebook and do a lap of the house.
- Count how many plants you’ve actually got (it’s always more than you think).
- Note the ones that look sad: droopy, crispy, spotty, yellowing, or just… sulking.
- Pay attention to where they are: next to blasting air-con, tucked in a dark corner, or right up against a hot window.
You’re not fixing anything yet. You’re just getting your bearings. (Think of it as a stocktake, but with more leaves and less spreadsheets.)
☐ 2. Check light and air-con trouble spots
Summer can be rough on indoor plants. We change our habits, but they’re stuck where we left them.
Ask yourself:
- Is there cold air from the air-con blowing straight over that Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)?
- Is your Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata) suddenly getting harsh midday sun because the sun’s moved higher?
- Have you been keeping blinds closed all day to keep the heat out, leaving your poor plants in dim cave mode?
Move things by half a metre, not half a room, if that’s all it takes. Sometimes shifting a plant off the direct air-con path or giving it a bit more morning light is enough.
☐ 3. Prune the dead weight
Now for the haircut.
- Snip off brown, crispy leaves – they’re not coming back.
- Trim leggy stems where the plant’s stretched for light and lost its shape.
- Remove dead flower stalks and sad yellow leaves.
Use clean, sharp scissors or secateurs. It’s like giving your plants a fresh fringe – suddenly everything looks tidier and healthier.
☐ 4. Clean those leaves
Dusty leaves = less photosynthesis = plants slowly losing their mojo.
Here’s what we do:
- Mix lukewarm water in a bowl, grab a soft cloth or old T-shirt.
- Support the underside of each leaf and gently wipe front and back.
- For big-leaf divas like Fiddle Leaf Figs, Monsteras and Philodendrons, take your time – it makes a huge difference.
If you want to go next level, you can:
- Lightly spray with our Neem Oil leaf cleaner and then wipe, to lift grime and get that soft, natural sheen.
- Just avoid blasting them with harsh sun or grow lights straight afterwards – give foliage a day or so to chill.
☐ 5. Build a tiny “plant care station”
Here’s a little trick: put all your key plant bits in one place.
We’re talking:
- Watering can
- Snips / scissors
- Cloth for leaf cleaning
- Potting mix
- Plant food
- Scoop or old mug
When we designed our range, we wanted our bottles to be “leave them out” worthy – amber glass, nice labels, the whole lot – so they can sit on a shelf or sideboard and look as good as the plants they’re caring for. No need to hide them in the laundry cupboard; if your plant care actually lives where your plants do, you’re way more likely to use it.
Week 2: Refresh Soil & Roots
Week 2 is about what’s happening under the surface. Roots, mix, drainage – all the unglamorous stuff that quietly decides whether your plants thrive or throw tantrums.
☐ 6. Check roots on your “problem plants”
Pick 2–4 plants that are annoying you – constantly thirsty, always droopy, or not growing at all.
Carefully slide them out of the pot (you might need to gently squeeze the sides):
- If you see roots circling the edge and almost no potting mix, they’re rootbound and need a bigger home.
- If the roots look healthy and there’s still a decent amount of mix, you might just need to freshen the top layer.
If the roots look black and mushy and smell a bit off – that’s likely root rot. You’ll need to trim and repot into fresh, free-draining mix and ease up on the water for a while.
☐ 7. Do a “top-up refresh” on tired pots
Not every plant needs a full repot. In fact, most don’t.
Quick refresh:
- Scrape off the top 2–3 cm of old potting mix (toss it in the garden or compost).
- Replace with fresh indoor potting mix or a mix suited to that plant (e.g. chunky mix for aroids like Monstera deliciosa and Philodendron species).
- Before you add the new mix, stir in some Soil & Microbe Booster – it’s packed with goodies that support beneficial microbes and help keep your potting mix “alive”.
This takes about a minute per plant and buys you months of better performance.
☐ 8. Repot your worst offenders
Choose one repotting session this week and tackle the plants that clearly need it.
- Go up just one pot size (2–4 cm wider). Going huge can backfire and keep the mix soggy.
- Use the right mix for the job:
- Aroids: chunkier, well-aerated mix.
- Succulents and cacti: gritty, free-draining mix.
- General foliage: good-quality indoor potting mix.
- Mix a handful of our microbial booster through for extra soil life and longer-lasting mix.
Yes, the plant might sulk for a bit. That’s normal. Give it a few weeks and you’ll usually see fresh growth.
☐ 9. Fix drainage dramas
A super common summer issue: plants sitting in warm, wet saucers. Root spa… not in a good way.
Run through this quick checklist:
- Does every pot have at least one drainage hole?
- Are decorative cover pots hiding a plastic nursery pot inside (ideal), or are you watering straight into a pot with no hole (less ideal)?
- Are you emptying saucers, or are plants standing in water all afternoon?
If you’ve got a serial overwaterer in the house (sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s a partner or housemate), clear drainage goes a long way to keeping roots alive.
Week 3: Reset Watering & Feeding
This is where we stop “vibes-based” watering and set up a rhythm that future-you will actually remember.
☐ 10. Re-learn how thirsty your plants are
Summer changes everything. The same pot that stayed damp for a week in winter might dry out in three days now.
Do the classic finger test:
- Stick your finger a couple of centimetres into the mix.
- Dry and crumbly? Time to water.
- Cool and slightly damp? Leave it be and check again in a couple of days.
Start a little list in your phone:
- Fast drinkers: things like Peace Lilies, Ficus elastica, some Calatheas, big Monsteras.
- Slow drinkers: Snake Plants (Dracaena trifasciata), ZZ Plants (Zamioculcas zamiifolia), some succulents.
This makes life much easier when you’re doing a quick round with the watering can.
☐ 11. Pick your “watering days”
Instead of watering whenever you remember (or whenever someone walks past and feels guilty), pick one or two regular days.
For example:
- Midweek: quick check and top-up
- Weekend: deeper water and a bit of tinkering
On those days:
- Walk around with your watering can.
- Test each plant’s soil.
- Only water the ones that actually need it.
That way you’re giving everyone regular attention without drowning the slow drinkers.
☐ 12. Start a simple feeding routine
Feeding doesn’t need to be complicated, and it definitely doesn’t need a science degree.
Here’s how we use our Indoor Plant Food at home:
- Add 1 mL per litre of water using the marked pipette (no guessing, no “yeah that looks about right”).
- Use that mix to water your plants every 3–4 weeks during the growing season.
- On in-between watering days, just use plain water if they need a drink.
Because it’s balanced for indoor plants (macros and micros), you don’t need three different products cluttering the cupboard. One bottle, clear instructions, low risk of overdoing it.
Hot tip – set a repeating reminder in your phone:
“Feed plants”
Every 2 to 4 weeks, whatever feels realistic.
Future-you will be very chuffed.
☐ 13. Do a mid-month leaf + growth check
About now, you should start noticing:
- New leaves appearing
- Old leaves looking a bit glossier
- Less of that constant “something’s wrong but I don’t know what” feeling
Have a quick look:
- Any new spots, yellowing or weird patches that weren’t there before?
- Any leaves staying droopy even though you’ve adjusted watering?
- Any plants suddenly racing ahead (looking at you, Epipremnum aureum) that might need a stake or a trim?
Tidy up anything obvious – a quick wipe, a dead leaf, maybe spin the pot for even light – then tick Week 3 off the list.
Week 4: Style, Troubleshoot & Set Future-You Up
Last stretch. This is where your jungle starts to look properly “after” rather than “in progress”.
☐ 14. Group plants by vibe (light + water)
You don’t have to go full interior stylist, but grouping plants by what they like makes care a lot easier.
Some ideas:
- Put all your “thirsty” plants together in one or two spots, so you know those areas need checking more often.
- Keep your low-light toughies (ZZs, Snake Plants, some Aglaonemas) where they’ll actually tolerate the gloom.
- Cluster humidity lovers (ferns, Calatheas, some aroids) in bathrooms, near kitchens, or together with a tray of pebbles and water.
It also looks rad when you’ve got little plant zones instead of random pots everywhere.
☐ 15. Make a one-page “care menu”
This is where we go from “New Year resolution” to “ongoing habit”.
Write a one-page cheat sheet and stick it inside a cupboard, on the fridge, or next to your plant station. For example:
- Every week: Quick soil check + water as needed, remove dead leaves, fast dust wipe.
- Every 3–4 weeks: Feed with your plant food in the watering can.
- Every 2–3 months: Refresh top layer of mix and add a bit of microbe booster.
- Twice a year: Repot anything rootbound, check roots of problem plants.
For your own setup, line your favourite bottles up somewhere visible – that’s half the battle. If your plant care looks good and lives near the greenery, using it becomes a habit rather than a chore.
☐ 16. Deal with the drama queens
There’s always one plant that refuses to get with the program.
For any stragglers, ask:
- Light: Is this actually the right spot? A Calathea shoved behind the TV is going to complain.
- Pot size: Did you go way too big and now the mix stays wet for ages?
- Recent changes: Did you just repot? Move house? Shift it to a totally different light level? Some plants just need time to adjust.
You’ve got three options, all valid:
- Adjust and persist (tweak light, water, or mix).
- Rehome to a friend with a better spot – sharing plants is very on-brand behaviour.
- Accept that not every plant suits your space or style and let it go without guilt.
We all kill plants sometimes. Anyone who says otherwise is absolutely fibbing.
☐ 17. Admire your new jungle
Before you started this reset, there were probably dusty leaves, crusty soil, and a general sense of chaos.
Now:
- Leaves are cleaner and glossier.
- Potting mix is fresher.
- Watering and feeding actually have a pattern.
- Your plants look like a cohesive jungle, not a random plant op-shop.
Take some “after” photos and compare them to older ones. It’s genuinely motivating to see how far things have come in just a month of small tweaks.
The Whole 30-Day Reset Checklist
Here it is in one hit, so you can screenshot, print, or scribble on it.
Week 1 – Look & Tidy
- ☐ Do a full plant walk-through and list your plants
- ☐ Note sad / stressed plants and dodgy locations
- ☐ Prune dead, damaged or leggy growth
- ☐ Clean leaves (water + cloth, optional Neem Oil leaf cleaner)
- ☐ Set up a plant care station with your day-to-day essentials
Week 2 – Soil & Roots
- ☐ Check roots on your worst offenders
- ☐ Refresh top 2–3 cm of potting mix
- ☐ Mix soil microbe booster through refreshed or new mix
- ☐ Repot 2–4 rootbound plants into suitable mix
- ☐ Fix drainage: holes, saucers, cover pots
Week 3 – Watering & Feeding
- ☐ Re-learn which plants are fast vs slow drinkers
- ☐ Pick 1–2 regular watering days
- ☐ Start feeding with a balanced indoor plant food (1 mL per litre, every 3–4 weeks if you’re using ours)
- ☐ Set a phone reminder for feeding
- ☐ Do a mid-month growth and leaf check
Week 4 – Style & Future-You
- ☐ Group plants by light and water needs
- ☐ Create a one-page care menu
- ☐ Troubleshoot drama queens (adjust, rehome, or release)
- ☐ Take “after” photos and enjoy your new jungle
New Year, Same You… Just with Healthier Plants
You don’t have to become a totally different person to take better care of your plants. You just need a plan that fits around real life, not a fantasy weekend where you repot 25 plants and reorganise the whole house.
This 30-day reset is about stacking small wins:
- A wiped leaf here.
- A refreshed pot there.
- A regular feed with a good indoor plant food.
- A bit of microbial magic from a soil booster.
- Beautiful bottles you’re happy to leave out on the shelf, right next to the greenery.
Give it a month, and your indoor jungle will thank you with new growth, fewer dramas, and that smug little feeling every time you walk past and think, “Yeah… that looks pretty good actually.”
And hey, if some prediction we’ve made about your plants “absolutely thriving” turns out wrong? We’ll cop that. Plants like to keep us humble. 🌿
P.S. If you want to drag a mate into the whole “New Year, New Jungle” thing with you, that’s where our Essential Kit comes in – a tidy little duo that’s made to be gifted, unwrapped and left on the shelf looking sharp next to their plants.
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