Johnsy’s Green Thumb Chronicles: The Original Plant Doctor

Meet Johnsy, the best Plant Doctor in the Inner North. You may have enjoyed his handiwork whilst sitting in the waiting room on your last appointment? We sat down with Johnsy to understand how his thumb got so green, the secrets behind why all plants at Inner North Medical Clinic always look so lush - and – most importantly – how you can best care for your houseplants!

Psst: if you came here looking for plant-based medicine for *humans, head to the Medicinal Cannabis section of our website. If you are a lover of all plants, then read on!

Hey Johnsy, what first made you interested in plants?

Back in 1982, I was without a job and a nursery in Mount Macedon came up for sale at the same time. So we bought that. We started growing indoor plants mainly. It was just before the 1982 Ash Wednesday fires. 

How did you learn how to care for the plants?

The previous nursery owner showed us how to look after the plants… He would tell us what to do and why we were doing it. Down to things like taking hardwood cuttings of roses, putting them in a hard house, and by the end of winter they would strike roots (hopefully). His main outlet was selling to Coles supermarkets. So under his guidance, we started growing plants, and I started to go to Burnley Horticulture college.

What happened to the Nursery?

When the Ash Wednesday fires happened, we had to move all the plants to our property in Woodend, and we didn’t go back to Macedon. 

We did the nursery for 6 years - we generally concentrated on outdoor shrubs and ground cutters due to the cooler climate in Woodend - rhododendrons and conifers, azaleas - we had to sell to nurseries in Melbourne and Geelong - which wasn’t the same climate as Woodend/Macedon so it was tricky…

We also couldn’t grow enough plants to meet the demand - we had to decide whether to employ people and make more plants, or give the nursery away. We ended up having an auction in 1988 and selling all the plants - and bought a wholesale nursery store in Cobram, where we didn’t sell plants anymore, but nursery wholesale supplies such as potting and potting mix. 

What is your favourite plant and why? 

It’s a very satisfying job to grow plants. I’ve got a few favourites - I like gardenias, because they’ve got a nice glossy leaf, they are reasonably hardy, and have a fragrant flower that is eye-catching. I like azaleas as a family, I like wattles.

What are some easy houseplants to care for, versus the more tricky ones?

Philodendrons are easy - big leaves, vigorous growers. Some ferns are easy - some are tough as nails and others are fragile as who knows what. Fiddle leaf figs like a lot of water but they can be good indoor plants.

Top tips on caring for plants?

I don't think people take enough trouble keeping dust off the leaves. Plants are like a factory - down the bottom you’ve got the goodies coming up the sap system, then into the leaves, then the leaves take in the sunlight and send that back down the roots and keeps the roots healthy. They all work together. It’s like a person - you’ve got the bottom feeding the top and the top feeds the bottom.

Why does my houseplant have brown leaf tips?

There can be a number of reasons. It can mean too much water. There could be a disease in the roots, but often it’s human-related.

What is the best music to play for my plants?

There used to be people that pushed talking to your plants. Plants like TLC. If you care for them, they will grow. I would say some type of soothing music without being sleepy. I never thought about it.

How often should I water? Is there a general rule?

Depends on the time of the year - in winter, you want to back it off because the plants will be sitting in a cold base. By the same token, you don’t want them to dry out where they are dying for a drink of water. You really need to repot once a year depending on the plants. Because potting mix generally doesn’t feed the plant anything. It’s usually made up of pine bark sand and coal dust. Because all it does is stand the plant up and have water holding properties. As far as when to water, you’ve really got to stick your finger in it and do it regularly. Just stick your finger in the potting mix - if it’s dry, give it some water. You’ve got to have good drainage as well. 

What’s the best position for a houseplant?

You can’t beat sunny, plenty of light but not too hot. A lot of indoor plants don’t like being indoors. It’s a matter of how long they last in air conditioning, poor light, dust, and the temperature. 

What's the best advice anyone ever gave you about plants?

To treat the plant as a self contained factory, so that what you do to the bottom will have an effect on the top and vice versa. I see documentaries where there is a type of fungus that communicates to the trees - makes me wonder if we are taking plants for granted, in terms of their intelligence. 

Thanks for giving us all your plant knowledge Johnsy! 

No worries - it’s my favourite thing to talk about. Working at the nursery was probably the best six years of my life. We have never lost the love of plants.