Excellent thanks for that.
Thanks for that advice. I keep meaning to check out Columbia Road, I think a Sunday morning trip is in order.
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Columbia Road is great - the only tricky thing is if you want to buy a few plants you need a car and parking isn’t easy in the area so beware
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Go early… the crowds (although who knows right now) tend to arrive after their Sunday brunch as a tourist day. I took a big recycling soft tote up last time and got a box there for the bottom that I could fit 3-4 plants into and then carry reasonably easy on the Overground. The Peckham Organics shop that I mentioned looked like they bought from similar places - good selection and similar prices.
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I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that for the next few weekends LO will only be operating from New Cross Gate to Hoxton! 
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FYI, did a quick recce to Sydenham Lidl and all they have are a couple of calatheas, some cacti and not much else except outdoor grasses. No cheese plants or anything really good. Allium bulbs.
I would recommend B&Q in Bell Green - they have recently had an excellent selection of houseplants. My favourite is Forest on Frogley Rd just off Lordship Lane in ED though.
Hi all,
There are some amazing houseplants here! Lockdown has definitely been good for us indoor gardeners…
I wonder if any of you would have a couple of minutes to fill out my survey about your relationship with indoor plants?
Much appreciated 
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Hi @bektete , welcome aboard. Just curious as to the context of the survey, can you give us some more colour, thanks.
Of course, thanks for asking @clausy
I’m lucky to be a trained horticulturist and I’ve spent a lot of lockdown helping friends and families purchase and look after houseplants.
Sadly, like many people, I have been made redundant and so I am doing some research to see if my plant knowledge might be marketable.
Would love to hear your thoughts
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Thanks Clausy - maybe it’s because Sydenham is a smaller store. I prefer the larger and newer store on Lee High Road in Lewisham and usually combine it with a trip to Lewisham Market first!
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Just some feedback based on the questions, I’m not sure I’d want to pay for advice on houseplants when I could pretty much get it from YouTube or the Internets in general if I had a question. I might expect some ‘expert advice’ if I buy something interesting from the Forest place I mentioned above but that would take 2 minutes and be free with the plant purchase experience.
What I would be interested in is something like Forest but more local where I can buy some more interesting stuff rather than whatever B&Q or Ikea do. Even the garden centres tend to go with old favourites so there’s not much variety or things that make you go ooh. If you show up at the Horniman market with a load of cool plants then I’ll be there every weekend for a browse and some advice on the side.
Edit: I forgot of course there’s Yolly on Dartmouth Road!
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Agreed with @clausy. I have learned from a more or less standing start and when stuck, I use YouTube or Google to research and find out more. To me, that’s part of the fun - although perhaps that’s because none of my plants alone were particularly expensive. I haven’t bought huge plants; preferring to buy relatively small and bring them along.
Sourcing more interesting plants would potentially be interesting. I can partly see the appeal of repotting visits - particularly if you helped with providing potting mixes rather than people keeping multiple ‘ingredients’ around. Or for some people, potentially before taking cuttings from an old favourite.
I do think the Horniman Market idea is a great one. And good luck with finding something.
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Inspired by @Fran_487 but with rather less style… here’s my plant family portrait - including the herbs but excluding repeats.
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Ooh love it. And love that wall colour!!
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Oh my that is rather inspiring! I have a little problem with finding my windowsill herb plants having a few little insects about, do you get that problem with that amount of plants?
No, I get the occasional little fruit fly but they tend to loiter by the herbs at the kitchen window and then disappear again. And fortunately 
I haven’t had any pest infestations on the others.
I suspect it helps that this is the first time they’ve ever had a family gathering; they’re usually a lot more spread out across the flat.
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Thanks so much for your thoughts, really appreciate it!
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Firstly, what an amazing thread - some of these plants and collections are incredible!
@bektete, whilst this is not an ideal time for it, businesses of course do pay (in normal times) for people to come into their offices and look after plants etc - that could be an avenue. In homes this seems less likely, but who knows.
You could potentially try the youtube route etc and try to get a following with your tips and advice etc, maybe get some advertising or work that way, or commission via amazon type links for products etc. Good luck!
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In January, I picked up a tiny little tradescantia to fit into a tiny Groot plant pot that I’d got in my secret Santa - I thought the purple hair suited him.
I repotted it in July and it took off but sadly became very leggy and elongated (not quite enough light, I suspect). Three weeks ago, I took the secateurs to it - and cut it into three parts. Two have now rooted into new little pots - so Groot has his pre-lockdown hairstyle back. And the bigger established stem has sprouted lots of vivid purple offshoots in its new brighter location.
Just goes to show that sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind… and take the plunge on cutting back.
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