by Hortikult Digital Solutions, s.r.o. & Nurture System
Jos Vanden Abeele, Tanya Quintieri, and Kaylee Ellen are here to spill the plant communi-tea! This is a show for houseplant lovers, collectors, breeders, and hobbyists who want the gossip, the drama, the science, and the real talk about the changing plant community. Get the unpotted secrets, follow the trending drama, and join the mission to build a more sustainable, connected plant community. Email us at propculture@hortikult.com
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
11/4/2025
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June 30, 2026
<p>Derek Haynes — The Chocolate Botanist — joins us for one of our widest-ranging episodes yet: equal parts plant science, stand-up, and a conversation that genuinely mattered.</p><p>We open with the news. Tanya reports from Japan, where a 26-year-old got arrested within 24 hours for swapping the price tag on a ~$1,700 Operculicaria (a slow-growing Madagascan caudex succulent that mimics a decades-old bonsai) down to about $25 — then panicked and fled at the till. Then Jos digs into TWP Tropical, the Oklahoma seller being called out across Reddit and Facebook over allegedly importing poached Anthurium carlablackiae and papillilaminum, blocking anyone who questions them, running "blind pre-sales," and faking listings with AI-generated plants. All firmly "big alleged."</p><p>Then the interview. Derek is a trained plant biologist — a decade managing an automated greenhouse where he says he's grown and touched over a million plants, plus stints at the NCSU Phytotron, tissue culture, and hand-pollinating corn for the USDA. He walks us through how plants can be turned into protein factories, and he's refreshingly honest about where the "scientist in a lab" image ends and the guy with a hole-puncher in a 40°C cornfield begins. (There's also a small-world moment when it turns out Jos breeds the very same tobacco species Derek used to grow.)</p><p>But the core of this one is his mission. We get into the Botanical Green Book — his project spotlighting Black plant people and mapping the safe spaces our community doesn't always provide — and Derek shares hard, first-hand experiences of being ignored and unwelcome in plant shops as a 6'3" Black man. He makes the case for being "a co-conspirator, not just an ally," lays out his ethnobotany thesis that plants are food, medicine, and ancestry, and tells the story of the trusted mentor who quietly talked him out of his dreams — and what he'd tell the next young Black botanist instead. He also gives a shout to the Black women who built his brand: Erica Parker Smith, Lucretia of Soul Sister Plants, and Erica Powell.</p><p>We close with the games. Hot or Nah rates a color-shifting Dimorphorchis (hot), a "Mother and Daughter" croton (lukewarm), and a big-leaf Anthurium (Jos: smitten; Tanya: stank face). Then Rate That Weird Plant takes on a frilly snake gourd flower, a "grandma's dentures" Bulbophyllum, and Gastrodia agnicellus — officially the ugliest orchid on Earth — with the segment descending exactly where longtime listeners know it always does.</p><p>Find Derek: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thechocolatebotanist/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">@thechocolatebotanist on Instagram</a>. He also co-hosts <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/58AZBMBtQo8l58hyzBrXrZ" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">The Dirt on Gardening</a> (live Tuesdays, 7pm ET).</p><p>CONNECT</p><ul><li>Substack: <a href="https://propculture.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">propculture.substack.com</a></li><li>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/prop.culture.podcast/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">instagram.com/prop.culture.podcast</a></li><li>Website: <a href="https://hortikult.com/podcast" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">hortikult.com/podcast</a></li><li>Connect with us: <a href="mailto:propculture@hortikult.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">propculture@hortikult.com</a></li></ul>
June 16, 2026
<p>The day has finally come. We've summoned the Master of Moss Poles, none other than Jan, aka SydneyPlantGuy! But first things first:</p><p>In this episode, we discuss the latest "news" on common houseplant mistakes, and we talk about attending plant shows. </p><p>Then we interview Jan, and what an interview it was! Did you know that Jan can be spicy? </p><p>In our Hot or Nah segment, we rate:</p><ul><li>Begonia U02</li><li>Hoya multiflora 'Pandawa Lima’</li><li>Alocasia scalprum ‘Narrow'</li><li>Cycnoches The Grinch</li></ul><p>And finally we rate some really weird plants!</p><ul><li>Monsonia multifida</li><li>Andromischus marianiae f. herrei</li><li>Pilosocereus Glaucescens aka Wooly Blue Torch Cactus</li></ul><p><strong>CONNECT</strong></p><ul><li>Substack: <a href="https://propculture.substack.com/">https://propculture.substack.com/</a></li><li>Instagram: <a href="https://instagram.com/prop.culture.podcast">https://instagram.com/prop.culture.podcast</a></li><li>Website: <a href="https://hortikult.com/podcast">https://hortikult.com/podcast</a></li><li>Connect with us: <a href="mailto:propculture@hortikult.com">propculture@hortikult.com</a></li></ul><p><br></p>
June 1, 2026
<p><strong>International Children's Day</strong> is celebrated worldwide on June 1, and on the second Sunday of June in the United States. The day holds special significance for Czechs. 80 years ago, on June 10, 1942, Nazis massacred hundreds of men, women, and children in the Czechoslovakian town of Lidice.</p><p>Since Tanya lives in the Czech Republic, we decided to honor this day and 1) have her daughter (10) on the podcast, and 2) publish this episode on this Monday, rather than our usual Tuesday. </p><p>Safe to say, Tanya's kiddo is not as crazy about plants as Tanya is. Tune in for this wholesome, candid, and sometimes hilarious episode, where Tanya and Jos ask Zara about her mother's obsession with plants. </p><p>In our News segment, we cover a questionable claim that Anthuriums are making a comeback. Were they ever gone? We also look towards Scotland, where the organizers of a plant festival decided to include a sauna in the activities for visitors. </p><p>And, of course, we're rating weird plants. </p>
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Jos Vanden Abeele, Tanya Quintieri, and Kaylee Ellen are here to spill the plant communi-tea!
This is a show for houseplant lovers, collectors, breeders, and hobbyists who want the gossip, the drama, the science, and the real talk about the changing plant community. Get the unpotted secrets, follow the trending drama, and join the mission to build a more sustainable, connected plant community.
Email us at propculture@hortikult.com
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