The Houseplant Masterclass

The Houseplant Masterclass was borne out of the desire to create a comprehensive audiovisual course on indoor gardening for houseplant enthusiasts looking to sharpen their skills and deepen their appreciation and understanding of plants. Though you can find online courses on everything from garden design to permaculture, there was nothing online that provided both a broad overview and deep dive into houseplant care. And though you can find an assortment of answers to specific houseplant questions online and in books, the information is often scattered across the web and various tomes, making it challenging as a learning experience. Additionally, I had ample requests from people outside my city to put my houseplant workshops online. All of these elements gave a good indication that there was a need for a Masterclass like this. In early 2018, I released both a Kickstarter and Indiegogo InDemand campaign, for which helped jumpstart the creation of the Masterclass you see today.

The Course is divided into 5 sections: The Introduction, The Houseplant Master Mindset, The Ten Commandments of Plant Care, Living with Plants, and the Appendices. The Introduction sets up the course with both a broad and deep overview of how plants developed here on earth, the inner-workings of plants, and how houseplants came to be. Then we transition into the second section, which helps the Masterclass participant learn the skills of observation. This helps set the participant up to intuit caring for plants, as houseplant care is not all about memorization of botanical names and houseplant tips. The longest section is on The Ten Commandments of Plant Care, which dives deeply into aspects of lighting, watering, fertilizing and more. Then the penultimate section, Living with Plants, covers more specific considerations when you bring plants into the home, like how to handle insect pests to propagation. From there, the Appendices go deep into everything from botanical Latin to a Care & Fertilizer Spreadsheet for 300+ Houseplants. Lastly, you’ll find product and book recommendations throughout the Masterclass and in the Bonus sections.

The information in this course was sourced through a multitude of ways. Firstly, I pulled not only from my own personal experience of growing around 550 plant species and over 200 varieties in my home for the past 10 years, but also from my background and 15+ years of work as an environmental scientist, entomologist and environmental communicator. I am not alone in my contributions to this course, however; many other professionals—many whom are leading specialists in their field—have contributed to the robust information you’ll see in the Houseplant Masterclass. Over the past years, I have interviewed and conversed with nearly 50 experts, including botanists, horticulturalists, ecologists, plant taxonomists, horticulture professors, botanical curators, growers, botanical garden employees, plant sellers, and more. Though scientific literature as far as indoor gardening goes is sparse, you’ll still find throughout the course copious information that was cited from a selection of peer-reviewed science journals, articles, and books. Overall I believe you’ll find the Houseplant Masterclass to be well researched, well cited, and one of the most comprehensive (and engaging) courses on plant care for the home!

That’s still to be determined! Though I think books can be restricted due to limitations of the printed page, I do believe books have their place, and I can see some of the information here in the Masterclass existing in book form. In the meantime, I’ll be coming out with the book, How to Make a Plant Love You (Optimism Press, July 2019), which serves as a companion book to the Houseplant Masterclass.

The course starts as soon as you purchase the package. Sections of the Houseplant Masterclass will be disseminated daily over the course of a month, as it’s designed to help you learn a little every day without overwhelming you. Please note that once you start the program, there is no way to pause it and no way to speed it up, but you’ll be able to return to it whenever you’re able.

You have access to the course for as long as the course remains up, which we imagine will be forever.

The entire course is written out in text, but there are also audio and visual components to the course. Almost everything that has been written out, with the exception of certain tables, charts and photos, has an audio component, so you can choose to listen and read along, or just listen, or just read. Additionally, certain sections of the Houseplant Masterclass have video components, particularly in places where someone would benefit from seeing a visual, like a propagation demonstration, for instance. In total sum, there is around 8 hours of audio and visual components to the Masterclass.

You’ll get a good sense of what the course will be like within the first three days. If the Masterclass is not what you expected it to be, then you can ask for your money back within the first 72 hours (3 days) of purchase. Once your refund is initiated, your access to the course will be revoked.

Not at all. The Houseplant Masterclass will teach you certain techniques and show different tools throughout the course, specifically ones that have worked well for me, but you are in no way obliged to purchase anything you see within the Masterclass. If you want to purchase any of the tools or products that you see in the course, I do provide links, some affiliate-based, as to where you can purchase the products, especially since everyone always asks, “Where did you get that?”

Yes! The Houseplant Masterclass is optimized for all devices, including a tablet or a mobile phone, so you can do the course even while you’re in transit on a train, plane, or waiting at the airport or at the doctor’s office, for instance—provided that you have an internet connection.

Absolutely! The Houseplant Masterclass was particularly designed for people who are not able to attend my in-person workshops and who have a desire to learn more about their plants. The Houseplant Masterclass is done entirely online, so you can purchase the program online from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a valid credit card. The course, however, is only offered in the English language at this time.

At the end of the course, you’ll find a short survey that we encourage you to do so that we can get your thoughts on what you liked about the course and how you’d improve it.

Absolutely! If you genuinely enjoyed the Houseplant Masterclass and are a blogger, Instagrammer, podcaster, YouTuber, or just an all around houseplant fanatic and want to share your experience of the Houseplant Masterclass, then we encourage it and believe you should be rewarded. If you’re keen on sharing the course and would like to join our Affiliate Program, there is information at the end of the course on how you can apply.

If you haven't yet, check out "Plant One On Me", my YouTube series nad "365 Days of Plants", where I highlight plant care daily; our sister channel, Flock Finger Lakes @flockfingerlakes.com on YouTube where we highlight outdoor gardening; follow on Instagram @homesteadbrooklyn, read the blog at homesteadbrooklyn.com, and come to a workshop or event, which you can find online at homesteadbrooklyn.com as well.