Darryl Cheng Q&A

Leslie Halleck

Darryl Cheng

Creator
House Plant Journal
Session: How To Make Your Customers Successful Plant Parents

I don't think it was as much "determining" on my part as it was good timing: I actually started House Plant Journal on Tumblr in 2013. I chose Tumblr over Instagram because Instagram (at the time) could only post a single photo taken at the given moment. I moved to Instagram in 2015 just as people started creating plant-only Instagram accounts, so-called 'plantstagrams'.

The reach on Instagram is much larger than Tumblr and as more features were introduced, most notably short video clips, my account grew in part because of attention-grabbing time lapse videos of plants.

I was also sharing more thoughts on my approach to houseplant care with longer captions as the audience started turning to Instagram for more complete information (as opposed to visiting websites).

Q: What's wrong with my plant?

A1: It's too far from the window. (50% of the time)

A2: You need to use fertilizer. (25% of the time)

A3: That's just how the plant grows. Leaves don't last forever. (25% of the time)

Ways to talk about houseplant care that will instill a balance of confidence and realistic expectations, and ultimately to have a more rewarding experience with houseplants.