Fought with splitting houseplant stems for years using wooden stakes, now I switched to bamboo skewers and zip ties

I used to jam thick wooden dowels into pots and tie plants with string that either rotted or cut into stems, but after a Monstera leaf snapped off last spring I started using $2 packs of bamboo skewers from the grocery store plus soft zip ties. Has anyone else found a random household item that works way better than the stuff marketed for plants?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_brown16h ago

My buddy Mark tried using those clear plastic command hooks meant for hanging decorations to train his pothos up the wall, and he said they worked way better than any plant tape he ever bought. He told me the hooks held strong for over a year and he could just unhook the vines when he needed to repot without damaging anything. Now he's got vines crawling all over his living room ceiling and swears he'll never go back to the standard plant clips.

ivan2308h ago

Honestly, the "just unhook the vines" part is the real sell. I tried those sticky plant clips once and they ripped the paint off my wall when I moved a stem. Command hooks are made to come off clean, so it makes total sense. Plus they're cheap as hell at the dollar store. Your buddy Mark might be onto something genius level simple. Ngl I'm kinda mad I didn't think of it first.