LazyGardener is on a mission to create 1 million new gardeners by 2022
Gardening as a hobby has been in existence for long, however, the concept has evolved over time. Indians today are slowly drifting towards home gardening by growing plants for various reasons. From beautifying their homes to growing their own vegetables & microgreens or just having greener surroundings.
Urban Gardening
Though are constraints like space and time, innovations have provided new ways to overcome these. Gardening is now becoming one of the popular hobbies amongst the urban population. It is no longer a tough task to have a garden of your own with the introduction of various products and techniques. This hobby for the new breed of the population is being termed as ‘Urban Gardening’.
The urban farming startup ecosystem could be worth $1 billion in India in the next 2-4 years. More importantly, it will become essential due to environmental concerns. The opportunity in this niche segment is immense, which has opened the doors for a few Indian startups like LazyGardener. “In a few years, India will see progressive state governments ensuring that homeowners use their roofs for contributing to increasing greenery and urban farming,” says Vinayak Garg, Founder of LazyGardener.
How it all started
Vinayak, an IIT graduate started off small out of the passion for gardening. Today, it is helping thousands of Indians turn into efficient home gardeners with its innovative products. Born into a family full of avid gardeners, Vinayak cherished memories of gardening as a kid.
He shares, how with his parents aging and him being caught up with daily hustles, his gardens seemed to miss the care and nurturing. The idea, thus was born to provide a simple solution for his parents. After thorough experimentation lasting approximately two years, Vinayak launched ‘The Plant Food Sticks’, the first product for LazyGardener in June 2019.
Vision to create new gardeners in India
LazyGardener is a unique combination of e-commerce and environment-saving attempts. It has a broad vision of creating greener and cleaner surroundings. The company is on a mission to make urban gardening simple and are committed to creating 1 million new gardeners by 2022.
To make this a reality, the team launched a drive #MillionGardener in late 2019. “We started this initiative to inspire new people to take up planting. We want to inspire and create as many green change makers as possible, and this is the least for the environment,” says Vinayak.
Fast Paced Growth
In a span of one year, LazyGardener has gone from 0 to over 27,000 customers across India. “The climate plays a big role in what people are buying from us,” informs Vinayak. He further explains, “We see people in the hilly region buying the bloomstix from us since the climate there is ideal for flowering plants. From October to March, people in Delhi and northern regions buy more of bloomstix than greenstix since it’s the flowering time in the North.”
Covid-19 created an opportunity for LazyGardener
While Covid-19 may have impacted several industries drastically, it has somewhere created a green patch for LazyGardener. With increasing work pressure and the lack of social life, people have been looking for ways to divert their minds from the negative news.
Vinayak says, “People are turning to gardening as a soothing, family and kid-friendly hobby that also helps ease the concern over food security, as sometimes getting access to basic vegetables were difficult. Gardening could be a rare but positive trend to emerge from this pandemic, but hopefully, people will eat better and grow more.”
Getting the basic of Gardening right
Gardening is often touted as a stress reliever, however, it can be stressful when the plant does not grow as you may want. Lazy Gardener’s Plant Food Sticks is the solution to this concern. It is an innovative approach to feed plants where the correct nutrition, using natural minerals, is packed as a stick.
This takes away the guesswork and the mess of ensuring that the plants have the right nutrition. Packed as a stick, which when inserted in pots feeds the plant, gradually, over two months. A hassle-free solution for both amateur and experienced urban gardeners.
Vinayak also shares a few tips for the beginners
The best plants for the Indian Climate
Quiz him on the plants best suited for the Indian climate and he shares his favourites. The Curry Leaf plant, Money Plant, Marigold are the easiest to grow in your balconies. And others that make your balconies or living rooms look great are Philodendron and Syngonium that can grow with medium to little light.
While the monsoon and winters are known to aggravate dust allergies and pollen allergies, Vinayak suggests to keep Aloe Vera, Areca Palm Plant, Snake Plant, Peace Lily Plant and Golden Pothos at home, as they act as natural air purifiers.
Finding the right Pots makes a difference
Vinayak further talks about how pots and sizes make a difference while growing plants. He says, “If the plant is placed in a larger pot, the soil tends to dry slowly, in turn making the plant more susceptible to root rot and if the plant is too big for its pot, there is a chance of it to tip over.”
He further adds, “If the pot size is too small, the soil could dry up quickly and you will need to water the plant frequently and the plant could become root bound and show stunted growth. Ideally, the plant should be placed into a pot that’s almost the same size it’s growing in.”
Natural vs Organic
Going organic is the new fad. Isn’t it more about going back to our ancient techniques of farming that our ancestors used? Research also says that everything in nature present in solid form is made up of chemicals. “Everything around us is chemicals. Natural does not mean it is organic, rather its a subset of chemicals we see around us,” informs Vinayak.
LazyGardener’s Food Stix are 100% natural and minerals based, which are bound into its shape with an organic binder. “This product is the most convenient way to provide essential nutrients for your potted plants. These sticks have all three macronutrients (Nitrogen,Phosporus,Potassium) and six micro-nutrients (Boron, Copper, Magnesium, Iron, Molybdenum, Zinc) glued together by a special organic binder. This allows nutrients to be gradually released into the soil, depending on the amount of watering,” adds Vinayak.
Expansion Plan
While LazyGardener has created a good customer base in India that is fast growing, Vinayak is looking to expand his reach in at least 6 more countries. What’s better is that the company has 10 new innovative products for the gardening industry in the pipeline. “Our aim is to make LazyGardener a one-stop company for everything gardening,” concludes Vinayak.