Calling all plant parents — we've got an ingenious hack for making your house plants less messy, and it's super simple.
TikToker Melissa (@plants4love) often shares videos of her plant shop alongside tips and hacks for being the best plant parent. One of her most popular hacks uses one common kitchen item to stop soil from spilling out the bottom of your plant pot when you water or move the pots.
In the video, Melissa shows users how she re-pots her plants, starting with removing the plant from its pot and gently removing the old soil from the roots. She explains that the large drain hole in the bottom of the pot caused the soil to spill out when she watered her plant.
Her solution? Coffee filter paper. Yes, it's as simple as that.
@plants4love Repot with me!! #plantmomsoftiktok #repottingplants #zzplantcare #plants4love #repotwithme ♬ Flowers - OZZIE
Before adding the soil back into the pot, Melissa lines the bottom with coffee filter paper. The paper allows water to drain through, and it also keeps the soil from leaking out — the same way filter paper holds coffee grounds while the actual coffee flows through. Genius.
Why is this hack so great?
We all know that plants need water to stay happy and healthy, but without covering the holes in the bottom, the soil eventually washes out of the pot, leaving the plant unsettled and making your furniture messy. It also means you'll have to replace the soil more frequently, which will cost you extra money.
This hack provides a quick, easy, cheap solution to the problem.
It's no secret that many of us are coffee lovers and rely on our daily cup to get us up and moving in the morning. But this is causing a bigger problem than you might think.
More than 4 billion unbleached coffee filters are thrown away in the U.S. every year, with most taking up valuable space and resources in landfills. Finding unique ways to reuse these filters will help to reduce the number ending up as waste.
Most coffee filter papers can be reused about four or five times before they stop working effectively. After this, they might not be up to producing the perfect cup of coffee, but they'll still work well as a drainage solution for your house plants.
According to Roasty Coffee, coffee filters are also a great substitute for single-use disposable paper products and can be used for other household tasks, such as:
using them as makeshift bowls to hold food at snack time
using the paper to clean surfaces
straining cooking oil to remove any burnt bits
filling the paper with potpourri to make homemade air fresheners.
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