Here's what we'd put in each of their baskets, and the two places where we'd tell both of them to keep their wallets in their pockets.

Most "what to buy" lists are written backwards. They start with the products and find the reasons afterwards. We'd rather start with the plant. So this list follows the Plant Runner Method, light, water, mix, then feed, and at each step we've asked the same question for two very different people: the beginner with a few plants they'd like to keep alive, and the collector whose shelves are starting to look like a nursery.

Light: start with your hand, not your wallet

Beginner: nothing. Light decides everything else, and the tool for reading it is free.

The Shadow Test: hold your hand about 10cm above a leaf during the brightest part of the day for that spot, and look at the shadow. A distinct shadow means light the plant can use. A faint one means lower light. Barely any shadow means it's running close to the bottom of its range.

If the shadow's weak, move the plant before you buy anything. Don't test the window. Test the plant.

Collector: a grow light, eventually. Collections outgrow windows. There's always one plant on the shelf that wants more than the room can give, and it's usually the one you paid the most for. A grow light like the Ample Ori lets you take the light to the plant, instead of carrying the plant around looking for light. Position it for the plant you're growing, put it on a timer so the hours are the same every day, and let the next few leaves tell you whether it's enough.

Water: the most expensive mistake is free to fix

Both: nothing. More indoor plants are lost to watering than to anything else, and no product fixes that. What fixes it is reading the cycle, not the calendar.

The Pot Weight Test: water thoroughly, let it drain, then lift the pot. That's your reference weight, what "just watered" feels like. From there, the pot tells you how far the mix has dried back. Weight beats checking the surface, because the top dries first and can feel dry while the root ball underneath is still wet.

The difference between beginner and collector here isn't gear, it's range. A beginner learns one plant's rhythm. A collector is running thirty, from plants that like to dry right out to plants that don't like drying out at all. Same test, more pots to lift.

Mix: where the baskets split

Beginner: Indoor Potting Mix 7L. Most common houseplants want a mix with structure, one that holds moisture and still lets air reach the roots. Our Indoor Potting Mix is composted bark, scoria, perlite and coco coir, with no added fertiliser, so you decide when the plant gets fed. The 7L bag reseals and pots up a few plants without leaving a half-used sack in the laundry for a year.

Collector: Aroid Mix, plus something to climb. For the collector, we're assuming aroids: the monsteras, philodendrons and other climbers that tend to take over shelves. A hoya or succulent collection needs a different basket, but the thinking is the same. Those climbers evolved rooting against bark and open air, not down into dense ground, so they want a chunky mix that gives their roots air and still holds moisture. Aroid Mix uses orchid bark and perlite for air, and coco coir and composted bark to hold water. A collection goes through mix, so the 12.5L bag beats a run of small ones.

For climbing aroids, light and something to climb are two of the biggest drivers of mature growth. Give the aerial roots a Propstick filled with Tree Fern Fibre, keep the fibre damp so they'll root into it rather than just lean on it, keep the plant in good light, and the leaves that follow tend to come bigger.

Whichever mix you're in, the Finger Probe Test tells you when it's done. If your finger meets a dense mass that smears like paste and holds its shape, the mix has broken down and lost its air.

Feed: same pillar, different setup

Feed comes last for a reason. Fertiliser doesn't fix a plant. It fuels one that's already growing. Get the first three right, then feed.

Beginner: Indoor Plant Food. The fear of burning a plant is why plenty of beginners never feed at all. The marked pipette takes out the guesswork: 1ml per litre, every second watering while the plant is putting on growth. One 100ml bottle makes up to 100L, which takes a beginner's shelf a long way.

Collector: Aroid Plant Food. This choice comes down to setup, not plant. Aroid Plant Food is urea-free. Its nitrogen comes as ammonium and nitrate, both forms the roots can take up as they are, with no conversion step first. That matters most in the setups collectors tend to run (chunky bark-and-perlite mixes, leca and water), where there's little organic matter to do that conversion and you want to know exactly what the roots are getting. It also carries the extra calcium and magnesium aroids go through. In a chunky mix, use 2ml per litre, every second watering while the plant is putting on growth. In leca or water, use half that, 1ml per litre, each time you top up.

Beyond the Method

Beginner: Neem Oil Leaf Shine. Dust dulls leaves faster than most people notice. Spray a soft cloth and work leaf by leaf, skipping fuzzy-leaved plants. It keeps foliage clean and glossy, and it's the one moment in the week you're actually looking at your plant up close. If you want both bottles from day one, the Plant Care Essentials Kit pairs it with Indoor Plant Food in a gift box.

Collector: Japanese Pruning Scissors. Propagation is how collections grow, and how trades happen. A clean cut at the node with sharp Japanese steel gives a cutting its best start.

Collector: Diora. Once a collection passes a dozen plants, memory stops being a system. Diora is a free app built for collectors. You catalogue each plant with photos and notes, record where it came from, and keep propagation and breeding records, so when a cutting changes hands, its history goes with it. Its marketplace pulls in listings from rare plant stores, which is either very useful or very dangerous depending on your self-control. I use it to keep on top of new drops from my favourite sellers, and to keep a record of my own plant fam.

The short version

Our potting mixes and Tree Fern Fibre can't ship to WA, NT or Tasmania. If you're there, find a stockist near you.

• What Is an Aroid?
• The Dos and Don'ts of Watering Your Indoor Plants
• Potting Up: The When, the Why and the How