The Habulous Blog

Is your air plant turning brown? Do the tendrils look a little worse for wear? Well we’re here to help and give you the best advice for looking after or reviving your air plant.

We have done extensive research on air plant care and have recommended what we believe are the most common and important care tips. From our own experience with air plant care, we have found that you need to do what works for you in your environment. So, it is important to allow your plant to adjust to your own home and then refer to the advice once you get an idea of what your air plant needs.

 

FIRSTLY, YOUR AIR PLANT MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY BE DYING

Browning on the tips of air plant tendrils is actually very common and not always a sign of poor health. This tends to be common with varieties that have thinner, more delicate tendrils such as the Ionantha, Filifolia and Argentea (which you can see here in our Whale Air Plant Holders) and can sometimes be caused by the tendrils being slightly damaged (which unfortunately can’t always be avoided in the post).

Browning at the base of some air plant species is a part of their natural colouring (e.g. Juncifolia), whereas with some species (e.g. Ionantha) it is a sign of rot or drying out from lack of water. It might even be a good idea to compare photos of your plant with healthy ones online to see whether the colouring of your plant is natural or indicative of poor health.

With any singular leaves that have browned, you can gently peel these off the plant to allow the healthy ones more exposure underneath.

NUTRIENTS

If your plant’s green leaves are turning yellow or producing brown spots, this can be a sign of too many or a lack of nutrients. The best thing you can do for this is check their position to see whether they’re getting enough indirect light, or purchase special air plant fertiliser spray which contains the necessary nutrients. Even though it’s tempting to overspray the plant with this, it’s actually better to only give it a light spray, however more frequently if the plant is in need of revival.

WATER TYPE SENSITIVITY

It is recommended that your air plants are watered/soaked with natural rainwater, although, understandably, this isn’t as convenient as getting water from your tap. However, if you live in an area with hard water, this can do more harm than good to your plant. Hard water contains chemicals such as fluoride, chlorine, calcium and magnesium, which for obvious reasons aren’t ideal for your plant to consume too much of!

What you can do is simply leave the tap water out for a day or so to allow the majority of the chemicals to evaporate before watering. Or, alternatively, a water purifier can also do the job of softening the water.

UNDERWATERING

Like all plants, air plants need frequent watering, such as misting and bathing. If your plant looks or feels especially dry, then it’s likely it isn’t being watered frequently enough. A general recommendation for most air plants is a weekly misting and monthly soak, especially for plants with finer tendrils such as Juncifolia and Filifolia that can’t hold as much water.

It is also essential the water you’re soaking or misting the plant with isn’t ice cold, so it’s best to leave the water until it reaches room temperature before watering to prevent any shock.

OVERWATERING

Typically, air plants can be over-watered too! As they naturally grow in fairly dry and hot climates, they wouldn’t be used to excessive watering in the wild. Air plants with bigger and/or thicker tendrils, such as Caput and Capitata Peach, have a larger area to absorb water, so they don’t need as much as air plants with finer tendrils, such as Filifolia, Argentea, Juncifolia and Ionantha. If your air plant’s leaves are turning yellow, this can be a sign of overwatering, so it’s important to find the right balance for your plant.

POSITION

Air plants flourish best in bright areas with indirect sunlight. The browning on the leaves can be a sign of sunburn if the plant is in direct sunlight for too long. If you water your plant and dry it in the sun, this can be equally damaging for the plant, so always aim to let the plant air dry.

It is also important to consider the angle of the plant whilst you’re watering it. It’s best to dip-soak the tendrils in water and not the bulb. This is because with varieties of air plants that have hollow bulbs, such as Caput and Juncifolia, water may become trapped and cause the plant to rot from the inside.

ENVIRONMENT

As you’ve most likely received your plant in the post or have bought it from a shop, its environment may have changed suddenly which can cause stress to the plant as it tries to adjust to its new surroundings. Usually the plant will adjust within a week or two.

Temperature can really affect your plant’s health. Even a slight wind chill through a window or an AC unit can be damaging. The ideal environment for a plant is somewhere with warmth and humidity, such as a bathroom, kitchen or conservatory. Our jellyfish look especially good hanging in the bathroom!

In general, whilst you are allowing a plant to recover, it’s a good idea to move it from the previous spot it was in to allow it to ‘rest’, but still allow it to receive enough light without being in direct sunlight. 

Check out our other blogpost Meet Your Air Plant to learn about the nature of your air plant species and its specific care.

Our air plant holders: Original Turquoise Jellyfish, Stone Jellyfish, Birds, Whales, 5 A Day

What makes a hot drink special? Is it the beverage itself? The comforting feeling of being snuggled under a blanket or tucked on the sofa? It’s certainly all those things, but the mug itself truly makes the experience.

After months of experiments with different glazes, clays and styles, we are really excited to share our new Stone Series mug with you. There’s a gorgeous matte-satin Off-White, Light Yellow, Pale Pink, Cornflower Blue and Mint Green. What we love about this mug in particular is the combination of the clay texture with the soft glaze; the glaze is thick enough to feel luxurious yet thin enough to let the speckled character of the clay show through.

Now to the most important part - what’s it like to drink from? Firstly, the carefully pulled handle is a comfortable fit for your fingers, making the mug extra huggable and the glaze is soft against your lips when you go to take a sip. The subtle flared design of the mug itself means it can hold a hearty amount of liquid (around 400ml!) so when you’re enjoying your cuppa it lasts that extra bit longer. Due to its generous volume, flared shape and the nature of ceramic and glaze, the liquid also maintains its temperature better - no one likes a tepid tea!

Drinking from something that is both functional and a piece of art makes the experience just that extra bit more special. Not only are you getting a long-lasting product for your personal enjoyment but at the same time you’re supporting a small business. So go on, treat yourself and kick back and relax with a handcrafted mug, designed with thought and made with care.

We’ve recently had our Stone Series tested and it has all successfully passed Food Safety requirements - yay! We can’t wait for you to enjoy diving in and dining with this beautiful range of ceramics.

With the cost of living at an eye-watering high, we wanted to share five tips and tricks for looking after your fruit and veg, from buying at the shop to growing your own.

But before we get into that, did you know we’re giving away ALL of our 5 A DAY air plant holders this month? Those are the little guys you can see smiling above. Each month we do a ‘Free Pots’ giveaway, and by simply being subscribed to our Habulous mailer, you could be that lucky winner.

1. HOW CAN I MAKE MY FRUIT AND VEG LAST LONGER? 

There’s nothing more annoying than finding your fruit and veg withered after a few days. Keeping your veg in a cool, dry place, such as your fridge, is the ideal environment. Some fruit and veg, however, are better kept out in a fruit bowl as this allows them to ripen, such as avocados, tomatoes, mangos, melons and pears. Others, like citrus fruit, grapes and berries, will last longer if refrigerated as they instead deteriorate if left out.

If you’re refrigerating chopped fruit or veg, cover with a reusable food cover (Click HERE to buy online - they are much better for the planet than clingfilm) as this will stop them from going ‘bad’ faster.

2. HOW CAN I SAVE MONEY ON FRUIT AND VEG?

Ever heard of ‘wonky veg’? That’s one of the many terms used to describe fruit and vegetables that don’t look perfect, typically due to an odd shape, so they’re sold at a lower price. Many supermarkets do this and it’s a great way to save money - even slightly shocking that food is being priced on how it looks although it still tastes the same!

Alternatively, you could get out those green fingers and get gardening with your own veg patch for a healthy yield of homegrown food (see tip 3).

 

3. IS GROWING MY OWN EASY?

It’s actually a lot easier than you think! If you have a greenhouse or garden plot it’s ideal, but you can still easily grow some fruit and veg in normal garden plant pots. The best for pots are: beetroot, broad and runner beans, carrots, peas, potatoes, peppers, salad leaves and tomatoes, as well as most herbs. You just have to make sure you have good compost and sunlight and then you’ll be good to grow!

 

4. DOES TALKING TO YOUR PLANTS REALLY HELP?

Although many people think this is a myth, there’s actually scientific evidence that talking to your plants really does help. It’s not so much what you say, but rather how you say it. Studies found that the female voice encouraged plant growth, supposedly due to the variation in pitch vibrations. However, the human voice in general encouraged the plants to grow more than without sound. So, although your neighbours might raise an eyebrow, why not talk to your fruit and veg every now and then?

5. HOW CAN I BE ECO-FRIENDLY?

As well as growing your own, shopping at any local farm shops or small grocery stores is a great way of supporting your local economy and avoiding fruit and veg that have come from abroad.

Using eco-friendly, reusable or recyclable food packaging to avoid using plastic bags or clingfilm and recycling your food waste into compost for your plants is a great way to reduce waste in general.

For many small businesses, it’s a long process to build and grow enough to ultimately provide a living wage for those employed - and we all know how difficult it’s been since covid! At Habulous we’ve been working non-stop to keep our current and new product ranges flowing out of our little studio. If you’ve been following us since the summer of 2021, you’ll know that the Habulous team has grown; with the additions of Ellie, Gregory, and our newest member Cara, with help from the government’s kickstart scheme. And, because of you lovely people who have supported Habulous or bought our products, this has meant permanent jobs have been created - so lots of happy dancing in the studio!

How awesome is that? There’s nothing better than supporting a local team who practice traditional making methods. You’re encouraging the growth of more individual, independent and unique companies, as well as helping to create jobs for young people. And this isn’t just from purchasing our products - this can be as simple as referring our business to a friend or family member.

Here are a few simple ways you can continue to help Habulous or any other small business.

• Mention us to your friends and family. 
• Engage with our social media posts - likes, comments and shares (most Instagram users will know how non supporting the algorithms can be for small businesses!).
• Simply tagging a friend in the comments on Instagram or Facebook helps with our engagement and at the same time you’re also sharing something you love with someone you love.
• Check out our handmade pieces in our shop and see if anything takes your fancy.
• If you do buy anything, why not snap a quick picture and tag us on social media?
• Write a good review - on some sites, such as Etsy and Not On The High Street, this is really helpful as it gives the business a good ‘rank’. Not to mention how great it makes us feel when reading a nice review.
• Sign up to the mailers - this’ll keep you up-to-date with the work and any new collections. With our mailer, we avoid any annoying spam and also offer FREE pots each month. You can sign up here.
• Be mindful that when you might be about to buy from a big business that a small business might have something similar, and ultimately needs your support a lot more.

Pretty easy, right? We are truly grateful for your support (as it means we can keep on with the happy dancing in the studio!).

Here's a quick snippet of our little Dartmoor studio. 

Behind every piece is a story, and this is ours.

At Habulous, everything we sell is handmade in our little studio on the edge of Dartmoor. Although our studio isn’t the biggest space it is a cosy place that feels like home for a bunch of creatives like us! The surrounding countryside and vast moorland are a constant source of inspiration and motivation.

'Handmade' means exactly that - everything is made in our studio by one of our team, and for many of our pieces we have all played a part in its crafting. Take a mug for example; Nicky throws the body on the wheel, ready for Ellie to then make and attach the handle. After it’s first firing, Greg will sand and glaze the piece, ready for it’s final firing.

The nature of our ceramic work being handmade means each piece comes with its own unique quirks that separate it from the sometimes characterless uniformity of mass-produced products. Having something you know took time and skill to make, and, that there is nothing else completely identical, is pretty special. Wouldn’t you agree?

The hand-making process is very evident in pieces such as our jellyfish air plant shells and whale vases. In the clay body you will often see marks left from fingers, palms and the tools we use. We love the individual character brought out by this as it makes every piece unique.

On the other hand, some things aren’t always in our control which add to the overall character of a piece. This is most evident in our glazes. Due to the natural variation in colourants or the varying temperatures in the kiln, colours may be softer or more vibrant. When quality checking, if these differences are too extreme, a piece may be marked as a second (read about seconds here).

In ceramics, there are many things that make the hard work especially rewarding. There’s nothing more exciting (and occasionally nerve-wracking!) than opening the kiln to see how the finished pieces look. As a small team, seeing shelves stocked with our work is incredibly satisfying and makes us proud of our efforts. When an order comes in, it is a particularly special moment as we know our hard work has paid off and that someone loves our product as much as we did making it.

So please keep supporting small businesses like us, because it means we can keep doing what we love and coming up with new products that are handcrafted, and, most importantly, unique.