“What made you want to create a potting mix company?”

I’ve been asked this question a lot and let’s face it, potting mix is not glamourous. It’s pretty dirty work.

Like many of you have experienced, I bought some beautiful plants from the nursery which started looking a bit average after a couple of months at home.

I’d heard that repotting could cure plant problems, so I went to Bunnings to get some soil.

I smelt the soil aisle before I got there, it was stinky.

On the shelf, I saw tired looking bags of potting mix that had holes and featured “peat moss” and “blood and bone” (well that explained the smell!).

There were also some annoying bugs flying around in the aisle and I suspect they had made their home in the mixes.

Why was the experience of buying potting mix so bad? And why didn’t the concept of sustainability and ethics exist in the soil aisle?

I knew I could create something better.

I started researching like crazy and experimenting with potting mixes. I called every single wholesale plant nursery which sold indoor plants that I could find on Google Maps in Australia to ask whether they used slaughterhouse products. (See The Study)

After a year of testing formulas, we finally had a successful batch of flourishing, happy plants. It wasn’t easy. In our early days we killed a bunch of plants (sorry, R.I.P.). We failed before we succeeded and learnt a heap on the way.

Like an idea which was meant to be, Planthood was born with the desire to offer bespoke soils that are ethical, nutrient rich and completely cruelty-free.

When we launched, so few people knew blood, bone and peat moss were so widely used in potting mix. So, we needed to educate. That’s when we decided to run the Houseplant Festival, with a focus on educating the plant parent community. It's been a long time in the planning and I'm keen to meet all of you there.

Fast forward to today, I feel more connected and passionate about what I do than ever before.

I’m grateful to every one of you who have raved about our potting mix and are passionate about choosing conscious products.

I really hope you give our potting mix a go. Your plants will love it, I promise. And it doesn't stink.

Thanks for being here for the ride.

xx Lila Rebecca