My name is Saray, I was born in a very small village in Gran Canaria, where the smell of saltpetre can be felt from the doors of our homes. And since a few years ago, I live in Madrid.
I was accompanied by my 10 year old cat, and now we are two cats, a dog, and 90m full of plants.
I studied Fine Arts, but life takes as many twists and turns as sunrises. And I ended up getting into botany, combining it with my work with animals. Through nutrition and assisted activities.
can you tell us a bit about your Instagram account?
I try to project healthy habits through my Instagram, developing small tips, experience, and knowledge that I have acquired, and many others that I am currently acquiring, and I find it an incredible platform to unleash our creativity and share our concerns with the world.
My grandmother had a greenhouse where on Sundays it became one lime and another sand, putting us in the sun with the straw hat, and picking tomatoes. And when we finished - hours later - she would reward me by going into her garden. And that's where my passion for plants was born.
She taught me that they are not there to beautify but that they have hidden benefits and that they are there for a reason. This led me to become a phytotherapist and to use them for the health and well-being of both my family and animals.
how can you get a lush Monstera?
A Monstera's well-being is mainly based on light. If we forbid it the benefit of light, photosynthesis would not be possible, and thus the transformation of an inorganic substrate into energy-rich organic matter. To achieve that vivid colour, and the peculiar growth of its leaves.
Many of us tend to place this type of exotic plant in aesthetic places in the house, where it hardly gets any light, and what we will get is dark leaves, causing the edges to wrinkle, and causing stains, because the substrate would not be able to dry completely.
Okay, you have to choose between only one plant in the world. which one do you choose?
My favourite plant is the Poto. It's the plant I grew up with, the first one I inherited from my grandmother and she taught me how to take care of. It is capable of beautifying any corner no matter how rotten it is, that's wonderful.
And when its growth achieves the creeper effect, it impresses me even more. It has the ability to release toxins from the atmosphere. You can really feel its potent purifying power. Although my house is not overrun with it due to its toxicity to animals. I recommend you to keep it at high altitudes, out of reach.
what is your weekly plantil care routine?
I don't always have the same routine. Because there are weeks that I dedicate to some, which involve very different care than others.
But I am very strict with their care. It is the basis for their health to flow, and therefore ours. They are there to improve your oxygen, calmness, they transmit security, their appearance is healthy.
The first thing I do is to analyse their leaves, their colour and texture. Then I detect whether they need water in them or not. As for the substrate, I always feel it with my fingers, and check if it drains to the ground, as we tend to pour water without first analysing it, and we cause an unnecessary excess of water.
I never leave leaves with water resting on them on large-leaved plants. We would cause a disorder in their leaf epidermis, and prevent their chlorophyll from taking effect in the sun, and as a consequence we would get spots, even burns.
And finally, if I see that the leaves start to have an unusual colour (yellow) or curl together. I detect a lack of potassium, and that's when I make a homemade fertiliser based on banana peels, and once a month I add this organic fertiliser.
P.S. Follow Saray in her plant universe and learn from a great green hand on her Instagram
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About the author
Marina Delgado
I make sure that all plant lovers are informed. I don't know exactly what it is, but there is a magical peace that surrounds the world of plants that I love!