The beginner plant list
12 plants I'd actually buy again (and 5 I wouldn't)
- · 38-page PDF
- · Care notes per plant
- · Shopping checklist
€15
Field guide · PDF
The water report
Tap, filtered, bottled or rain — what your water is actually doing to your plants, and the free upgrade sitting on your balcony.
€15incl. VAT
- Instant download — the PDF is yours right after payment
- 30-day money-back: one email to hello@leafjournal.app, refund follows
- Secure checkout via Stripe — card, Apple Pay, Google Pay & more
Prefer the lot? The sprout person's pack for €35 — save €10.
The one topic that lives only in a hundred contradictory blog posts, filed into a single honest report. What's really in your tap (four things), which plants genuinely care (most don't — ranked), how to read your own hardness straight off the inside of your kettle, the alternatives honestly rated, and the rain-barrel licence you cut out. From a reformed water-worrier with several smug calatheas.
- · 18-page PDF
- · Print-at-home
- · Personal licence
What's inside
- What's in your tap
- The sensitive list
- Hardness
- The kettle test
- The alternatives
- The temperature rule
- Reading your own water
- The licence + your profile
Who's behind this
I'm not a botanist, and I don't have 150 plants — I keep a windowsill's worth, and I've killed a few learning how (a Calathea in eleven days is how this whole thing started). When something goes wrong I go down the rabbit hole: the studies, the extension-horticulture pages, the 2am forum threads, and every horror story plant people send in on @leafjournal on TikTok. These guides are that mix — hands-on experience checked against the research, cleaned up and told straight. No lab, no sponsorships, no “trust me.” Just what actually keeps a plant alive, so yours isn't the one that learns it the hard way.
Best value
The sprout person's pack
Everything a first plant needs — and the red flags before you buy.
The beginner's ten · The unkillables · Plant red flags
€35€45
More guides
What's inside →
Moving with plants
Move a whole collection without a casualty list.
- · 18-page PDF
- · Print-at-home
- · Personal licence
€15
Plant myths, busted
Twenty houseplant myths, put on trial — with the true fact kept and the one thing to do instead.
- · 18-page PDF
- · Print-at-home
- · Personal licence
€15
More guides
See all →
Quick answers
How do I get the guide?
Right after payment you land on a download page, and the link also arrives in your inbox. It's a PDF — read it on your phone, tablet, or print it.
Do I need an account?
No. Your email address is all it takes — that's where the download goes.
What if it's not for me?
Email hello@leafjournal.app within 30 days and you get your money back. No forms, no questions. I'd rather refund you than have you own a guide you don't use.
If this guide doesn't help you, I'll refund it — email hello@leafjournal.app within 30 days and it's done.