Plant Folks Stories is a series about the people living with plants and how they have brought greenery
into their homes to create beautiful green spaces.
Starring: Amy Toi, Felix the cat
Plant count: 80
First in our series is this shy plant lady that has such a beautiful collection of plants in her balcony, you feel her cat must be the luckiest one in the block. He gets to admire this beautiful jungle everyday but Felix doesn’t look like he is jumping for joy as he takes it in his stride and does his usual elegant feline strut through Amy’s forest. I bet he is really happy with the plants and even more so when he sees the mulberry plant. I had a chat with Amy to find out more about her plants and their relationship with Felix. Read on.
How did you get started on plants? Tell us about your plant journey.
I started my plant journey in 2010 in my old apartment. It all started with a promise to my cats. It sounds silly but I imagined a garden with them running in it. A garden… I couldn’t afford thus the balcony was filled with plants to fulfil my promise to them.
What has been your highlight over the last year?
Getting to work from home and being able to be with Felix and my plants every single day. The plants in my balcony are flourishing and Felix has more affection for me too.
Tell us about your most treasured/favourite plant at home? How do you take care of it?
It would be my Anthurium Clarinervium. I place it in my balcony away from direct sunlight. It’s also placed close to other plants.
Where do you grow your plants at home? Tell us about your green space at home.
I grow most of my plants in my tiny balcony. I’d like to call it my tiny sanctuary. My first plant here was my Aloe Vera. It has grown into quite a monster. I then added some orchids and placed them onto the vertical shelf. It has been 5 years and the orchids are still there and has rooted themselves on the shelf and also onto the wall. It’s crazy how strong the roots are as I’m not able to remove them at all. The plant collection has increased year after year but there was an increase in my plant acquisition in 2020 specifically at the end of Q1 😂
What will be your advice to new plant owners growing plants indoors?
Start small and not get too many plants at one go. Pothos will be great for a start as they are non-fussy plants and you can propagate it easily.
What do you use on your plants?
NPK, rice water, coffee grounds, dry eggshells which I grind finely and also Plantonic.
Why coffee grounds, dry eggshells?
Coffee ground just releases some potassium and minerals ‘machiam’ (similar to) slow release fertiliser. As for the eggshell, that was advice from my parents.
What do you look for in a planter?
Handmade ceramic pottery and any aesthetically pleasing looking one with a drainage hole.
Share a plant tip with us
NEVER OVERWATER!
What’s on your wishlist?
Thai Constellation
Tell us about a plant project you have in mind?
I’d like to fix a longer and better looking rod in my balcony so that I can accommodate more plants to hang from above. The floor space in the tiny balcony is on max capacity for anymore plants.
Tell us about your cat Felix and his relationship with your plants
Felix enjoys sitting in the balcony amongst the plants. My fur son lacks discipline but somehow he knows what I love and respect them. He only chose to bite and eat the leaves of the mulberry plant. I used to have strawberry plants but one night I found him in the plant bed eating the leaves and digging the soil. I stopped growing strawberries as they just die due to the lack of leaves. Felix loves eating vegetables too.
Here are pictures of other green spaces we spotted in her instagram (@amy_toi).
All pictures with permission from Amy.
