PARIS, April 27 — Self-proclaimed "plant moms” are flourishing on TikTok. Behind this quirky name and its accompanying hashtag lies a community of people who care for their plants as if they were their children. It’s a trend that seems to be especially popular among Millennials and Gen Z.

The #PlantMoms hashtag totals some 889.2 million views on TikTok. Some of the posts with this buzzing keyword come with amazing titles, like "How to grow a pet out of chia?” or "Plants for neglectful parents,” and so on.

These personified terms illustrate a trend for treating plants as real-life companions, just like a pet or even a child. This is precisely the spirit of the "plant moms,” who view this activity as a real way of life.

The trend is mainly driven by Millennials and Gen Z, categories of population overrepresented on the famous Chinese social network. Enthusiasm for adopting plants increased during the Covid-19 lockdowns, periods during which many people in need of nature decided to bring more greenery into their homes.

So much so that internet users have divided plants into sub-categories, according to the lifestyle or personality of their "plant parents.” For example, it is not uncommon to come across terms like "traveling plant parents” or "first-time plant parents.”

While lovingly caring for plants is far from new, this trend reflects the enthusiasm for gardening-related activities among these younger generations.

And contrary to what the term "moms” may lead you to believe, these plant enthusiasts are not only women. This is why some people prefer to define themselves as "plant parents.” 

Anyway, these TikTok accounts are real gold mines for anyone who wants to learn about gardening or hone their green thumb. There are all kinds of tutorials out there, about how to make surprising support structures for plants, for example, or to maintain a vegetable garden, to water seedlings or to make your own terrarium. — ETX Studio