hen I first started growing plants inside I was living in a trailer and had a metal shelf with lights and grew a number of house plants. The plants loved the warmth of the kitchen they were in and the west facing shaded window proved to be the ideal place for them. While I was low-budget at the time I did not have any nice accessories, such as a watering can or even a spray bottle to water the plants. It was just the old soak them in the sink routine! It seemed that my major accessories were an old beat up cardboard box and newspapers that I used whenever I had to repot any of the plants. Didn't even have labels or a thermometer! Definitely low-budget!

While the plants that I now grow center more around orchids, I have found that it is necessary to have a spot where I can keep different soil mixes, pots, assorted tools, containers, and gadgets that I have grown used to having around to make it easier for me as I divide and repot plants. The focus of this work station is a very basic desk and accompanying large stackable Rubbermaid totes.

The desk offers a surface area where I can place shallow trays or plastic dishpans that I use to repot a plant in or to make up a new batch of mix. The three drawers serve to hold both my reference books and small supplies and gadgets in a very convenient location to my potting surface. In the foot-well of the desk rests small bags of the ingredients I use in my mixes, as well as small plastic storage boxes with mounting bark, wire, and bits and pieces of stuff that seemed to fit nowhere else!

In looking over the stuff of caring for my plants I consider the following to be the most important apart from the ingredients that make up the mixes:

1. Containers

"Rubbermaid is the name, and storage is the game!"

No I do not work for Rubbermaid! But for durability and what you will most likely find, Rubbermaid containers offer a great range in size and pricing that should be affordable to most budgets. I like a couple of the large totes to store a variety of smaller items as well as to store a large amount of mix.

2. Potting accessories

Pots and labels are not the only potting accessories that should be a part of the stuff found in your work area. Two important tools that I use all the time is a scoop and a tamper. The scoop makes pouring mix into a pot much easier than using your hands. Tampers are needed to help poke down the mix into the pot and for these I use different lengths and different sizes of wood dowels or something comparable, even an old wooden screwdriver handle.

Another potting accessory I find of great use are disposable gloves.

3. Instruments

I would be lost without my label maker!! While a bit pricey these great devices allow for a permanent identification that is readable! Everything else pales in comparison!

Another instrument that is really useful in helping place your plant in the right exposure is a light meter. Not those overpriced photographers meters but a very inexpensive meter suitable for gardeners!

4. References and logs

Perhaps as important as the plants themselves reference materials on your plants are indispensable in helping you grow them well. While there are many books published on orchids, there are many web sites that offer guidance that can be easily printed out and stored in a binder with side insert sheet protectors. Whenever I decide on buying a particular orchid I will check out the net and print out whatever info I can find on it and save it in my binder(s) so I can reference it when I have it or later when I need to check on my culture and on what the recommendations are.

A log that is keyed to each plant purchased is very important and provides an opportunity to make notes on the condition of the plant received, your subsequent potting and culture of the plant and its success or failure in growing or flowering well for you. My log is generally divided into a chronological log and an acquisition list of the plants by genera with cross referencing to the chronological log. This log can include images of your plants as a visible record of their response to your culture.

While your plants are the focus of your attention, it is the work station that can serve as the hub of all of your plant activity, providing not only for a place to interact with your plants on a flesh to flesh basis but provides a convenient spot where you can keep all the relevant materials that will aid you in your culture.

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Below are some links to sources of the items discussed above:

(Notes prices shown are what I paid for mine-may not be the same)

Light meter ($22.95 USD)

https://www.planetnatural.com/

Net pots (various)

http://www.usorchidsupplies.com

Regular pots

http://homeharvest.com/containergardenpotsplastic.htm

Rubbermaid totes available at many home improvement centers and WalMart

Scoops available at WalMart and 99c stores: plastic and/or metal

Label makers, binders, and page protectors available at WalMart and office supply stores

Labels:

http://homeharvest.com/propagationplantlabels.htm