Collection Management & Organization

🎯 What You'll Learn

• Naming strategies - Make plants easy to find
• Location systems - Organize by room/zone
• Tagging system - Group plants logically
• Bulk operations - Manage many plants at once
• Data cleanup - Keep PlantKeeper organized

⚡ Quick Start

Essential Organization:

1. Consistent naming - "Location + Species" (e.g., "Kitchen Pothos")
2. Specific locations - "Living Room - West Window" not "Home"
3. Use 2-3 tags - Care level, status, special needs
4. Monthly cleanup - Delete duplicates, update outdated info
5. Bulk operations - Update similar plants together

📚 Complete Guide

Naming Strategies

Make Plants Easy to Find

Naming Conventions

Choose ONE System and Stick to It:

System 1: Location + Species (Recommended)

Format: [Room] [Species Common Name]

Examples:

• ✅ "Kitchen Pothos"
• ✅ "Bedroom Snake Plant"
• ✅ "Living Room Monstera"
• ✅ "Bathroom Fern"

Benefits:

• Know where plant is immediately
• Easy to find when you're in that room
• Natural grouping by location

When You Have Multiples:

• "Kitchen Pothos 1", "Kitchen Pothos 2"
• "Large Monstera", "Small Monstera"

System 2: Personality Names

Format: Human/Character Names

Examples:

• ✅ "Frank" (Fiddle Leaf Fig)
• ✅ "Bertha" (Big Monstera)
• ✅ "Greg" (Pothos)
• ✅ "Spike" (Cactus)

Benefits:

• Memorable and personal
• Fun to reference
• Shows in notifications ("Time to water Greg!")

Drawback: Harder to remember which is which with large collections.

Best For: Small collections (< 10 plants) or favorites.

System 3: Species + Nickname

Format: [Scientific Name] "[Nickname]"

Examples:

• ✅ Monstera deliciosa "Big Bertha"
• ✅ Epipremnum aureum "Gregory"
• ✅ Ficus lyrata "Frank the Tank"

Benefits:

• Scientific accuracy + personality
• Clear species identification
• Memorable nicknames

Best For: Plant enthusiasts with botanical knowledge.

Naming Best Practices

Do:

• ✅ Be consistent (pick one system)
• ✅ Be descriptive (easy to identify)
• ✅ Be specific (avoid generic "Plant 1")
• ✅ Include numbers if needed ("Pothos 1", "Pothos 2")

Don't:

• ❌ Use random codes ("MNSTR-001-KT")
• ❌ Be too vague ("Green plant")
• ❌ Mix naming styles inconsistently
• ❌ Make names too long (>50 chars)

Location System

Organize by Physical Space

Hierarchical Locations

Use Detailed Location Structure:

Level 1: Room

"Living Room", "Bedroom", "Kitchen", "Bathroom", "Office"

Level 2: Specific Spot

Add detail after room name:

Format: [Room] - [Specific Location]

Examples:

• ✅ "Living Room - West Window"
• ✅ "Living Room - Bookshelf"
• ✅ "Living Room - Corner by Couch"
• ✅ "Bedroom - Nightstand"
• ✅ "Bedroom - Dresser Top"
• ✅ "Kitchen - Counter by Sink"
• ✅ "Kitchen - Window Sill"
• ✅ "Bathroom - Shower Shelf"

Benefits of Specific Locations

Room-by-Room Care

Filter by Location:

1. My Plants → Filter → "Living Room"
2. See only living room plants
3. Water all at once (efficient route)

Light Tracking

Correlate Location with Health:

• "West Window" plants thriving? → Good light spot
• "Bookshelf" plants declining? → Need more light

Organization

Know Exactly Where Each Plant Is:

• No searching ("Where did I put that pothos?")
• Easy to find for care
• Visitors can find specific plant

Location Best Practices

Do:

• ✅ Be specific ("Living Room - West Window")
• ✅ Include light exposure if relevant ("South-facing window")
• ✅ Update when you move plants
• ✅ Use consistent room names

Don't:

• ❌ Be vague ("Home", "House")
• ❌ Forget to update after moves
• ❌ Use inconsistent names ("Living Room" vs "LR" vs "Lounge")

Tagging System

Group Plants Logically

Useful Tag Categories

Care Level Tags

How Much Attention Needed:

• "Low Maintenance" (succulents, snake plants)
• "Moderate Care" (most houseplants)
• "High Maintenance" (fiddle leaf figs, calatheas)
• "Finicky" (very demanding plants)

Use For: Filter when you're busy (water low-maintenance only).

Status Tags

Current Plant State:

• "Thriving" (healthy, growing well)
• "Stable" (healthy but not actively growing)
• "Recovering" (treatment in progress)
• "New Addition" (< 1 month in collection)
• "Propagating" (cutting in water/soil)

Use For: Quick health overview, monitor recovering plants.

Special Needs Tags

Specific Requirements:

• "Needs Humidity" (ferns, calatheas)
• "Drought Tolerant" (succulents, cacti)
• "Direct Sun" (cacti, some succulents)
• "Low Light Tolerant" (pothos, snake plants)
• "Pet Safe" (safe for cats/dogs)
• "Toxic to Pets" (warning!)

Use For: Filter by care needs, bulk adjustments.

Collection Tags

Group Similar Plants:

• "Aroids" (Monstera, Philodendron, Pothos)
• "Succulents" (all succulent species)
• "Ferns" (all fern species)
• "Tropicals" (tropical houseplants)
• "Cacti" (all cacti species)

Use For: Apply similar care to all in group.

Project Tags

Temporary Status:

• "For Sale" (planning to sell)
• "Gift Candidate" (give away soon)
• "Needs Repotting" (action needed)
• "Winter Experiment" (testing care method)

Use For: Track plants with specific plans.

Tagging Best Practices

Do:

• ✅ Use 2-3 tags per plant (not 10!)
• ✅ Create tags as needed (not all at once)
• ✅ Be consistent ("Low Maintenance", not "Low-Maintenance" and "low_maintenance")
• ✅ Update tags as status changes ("New Addition" → "Thriving" after 3 months)

Don't:

• ❌ Over-tag (too many = useless)
• ❌ Create one-off tags ("watered_2024_10_15" - use diary instead!)
• ❌ Forget to update outdated tags
• ❌ Use tags for temporary notes (use diary)

Bulk Operations

Manage Many Plants Efficiently

When to Use Bulk Operations

Scenarios:

Seasonal Changes

• All plants: Adjust watering frequency (+/- 20%)
• All tropicals: Increase humidity reminders (winter)
• All succulents: Reduce watering (winter)

Location Changes

• All "Bedroom" plants → Move to "Living Room" (summer: more light)
• Update locations in one action

Care Adjustments

• All "High Maintenance" plants → Add weekly check reminder
• All "New Addition" plants → Remove tag after 1 month

Tagging

• All ferns → Add "Needs Humidity" tag
• All succulents → Add "Drought Tolerant" tag

How to Use Bulk Operations

Step-by-Step:

1. Select Plants

From My Plants:

1. Click "Select" button (top right)
2. Checkboxes appear on plant cards
3. Select individual plants OR
4. Filter first, then "Select All Visible"

Example: Filter by "Low Maintenance" → Select All → 15 plants selected

2. Choose Action

Bulk Actions Bar (appears at bottom):

• 💧 Water all selected
• 🌱 Fertilize all selected
• 📝 Add diary entry to all
• 🏷️ Add/remove tags
• 📍 Change location
• ⚙️ Edit reminders
• 🗑️ Delete all (careful!)

3. Apply Changes

Example: Adjust Watering Frequency:

1. Select 20 tropical plants
2. Bulk Actions → Edit Reminders
3. Watering frequency: Change from "Every 7 days" to "Every 5 days"
4. Apply to all selected
5. Done! All 20 updated in 30 seconds

vs Manual: Would take 10 minutes to edit individually!

Bulk Operation Tips

Safety First:

• ⚠️ Review Selection: Before applying, verify correct plants selected
• ⚠️ Start Small: Test on 2-3 plants first
• ⚠️ Can't Undo Bulk Delete: Be VERY careful with delete all
• ✅ Use Filters: Narrow down before selecting

Efficiency:

• Combine filters + bulk actions (powerful!)
• Save common filter combinations
• Do bulk adjustments monthly

Data Management

Keep PlantKeeper Clean

Monthly Cleanup (10 Minutes)

First Sunday of Month:

1. Remove Duplicates (2 min)

Check For:

• Same plant entered twice
• Similar names (confusion)

How:

1. Search for plant name
2. Found duplicate? Open both
3. Copy any unique data from duplicate to keeper
4. Delete duplicate

2. Update Locations (2 min)

Review:

• Plants moved recently? Update locations
• Seasonal moves? (summer outdoors, etc.)
• Consistent location names? Standardize

How:

1. Filter by old location
2. Bulk select → Change to new location

3. Clean Up Tags (2 min)

Review:

• Outdated tags? ("New Addition" on 6-month-old plant)
• Inconsistent tags? (merge "Low-Maint" and "Low Maintenance")
• Unused tags? (delete)

How:

1. Review tag list (Settings → Tags)
2. Merge similar tags
3. Delete unused tags
4. Update plant tag assignments

4. Remove Bad Photos (2 min)

Delete:

• Blurry photos
• Duplicate photos
• Photos from wrong plant
• Very old photos (if many recent)

Keep:

• First photo (baseline)
• Monthly progress photos
• Problem documentation
• Best photos of each plant

5. Archive Dead/Gone Plants (2 min)

Don't Leave in Active List:

• Plant died → Archive (keep history)
• Gave away plant → Archive
• Sold plant → Archive

How:

1. Open plant details
2. Settings → Archive Plant
3. Hidden from active view, data preserved

Quarterly Cleanup (30 Minutes)

Every 3 Months:

Deep Data Review

• Review all plant data accuracy
• Update care schedules based on learning
• Verify species names (any wrong?)
• Clean up diary entries (delete test entries)

Export Backup

• Settings → Export Data
• Download CSV (plants)
• Download PDF (diary)
• Save to cloud storage

Optimize Reminders

• Review reminder completion rates
• Delete reminders consistently ignored
• Add reminders for recurring manual tasks
• Adjust frequencies based on 3 months data

💡 Tips & Tricks

Create Smart Collections

Use Filters + Save:

1. My Plants → Filter by multiple criteria
2. Example: "High Maintenance" + "Living Room" + "Needs Humidity"
3. Bookmark URL (direct link to filtered view)
4. Quick access to specific groups

Numbering System for Duplicates

When You Have Many of Same Species:

• "Pothos #1", "Pothos #2", "Pothos #3"
• Or: "Large Pothos", "Medium Pothos", "Small Pothos"
• Or: "Pothos (Kitchen)", "Pothos (Bedroom)", "Pothos (Office)"

Avoid Confusion: Clear which is which.

Use Location for Care Routes

Efficient Daily Care:

1. Morning: "Bedroom" plants (while getting ready)
2. Breakfast: "Kitchen" plants (while eating)
3. Evening: "Living Room" plants (while relaxing)

Filter by Location: Water room-by-room route.

Track Collection Value

For Insurance/Tracking:

• Add "Purchase Price" to all plants
• Tag expensive plants: "High Value"
• Export data quarterly (proof of ownership)
• Take photos of expensive plants (insurance)

Helpful If: Theft, fire, moving.

Separate Personal vs Business

If Selling Plants:

• Tag: "For Sale", "Sold", "Personal"
• Or: Use separate account (business)
• Filter easily: Personal collection vs inventory

❓ Common Questions

Q: How do I organize a large collection (50+ plants)?

A: Multi-level system:

Locations: Very specific (room + exact spot) Tags: Multiple dimensions (care level + needs + collection) Filters: Combine to narrow down quickly

Example Workflow:

• Filter: "Thriving" + "Low Maintenance" + "Living Room"
• Result: 8 plants to water today
• Efficient route, skip others

Q: Should I use scientific or common names?

A: Both! PlantKeeper stores both:

• Primary Name: Your preference (common or scientific)
• Species Field: Scientific name (auto-filled)
• Common Name Field: Common name (auto-filled)

Recommendation: Use common name for primary (easier to remember), scientific auto-populated.

Q: How many tags per plant is too many?

A: More than 3-4 is excessive:

Good (3 tags):

• "Thriving", "Low Maintenance", "Pet Safe"

Too Much (8 tags):

• "Thriving", "Low Maintenance", "Pet Safe", "Green", "Tropical", "Needs Light", "Water Weekly", "Beginner Friendly"

Rule: If you can't remember all tags without looking, too many!

Q: What's the best way to track plant expenses?

A: Multiple strategies:

In PlantKeeper

• Add "Purchase Price" per plant
• Tag expensive plants: "High Value"
• Export data → sum prices in spreadsheet

Separate Spreadsheet

• Track purchases over time
• Calculate monthly spending
• Budget for future purchases

Photo Receipts

• Take photo of receipt
• Attach to plant diary entry
• Reference later for warranty/return

🔗 Related Topics

Essential Reading

• Beginner Tips - Start organized from Day 1
• Common Mistakes - Avoid organization mistakes

Related Features

• Bulk Operations - Detailed bulk guide
• Organizing Plants - Advanced organization

Keep Clean

• Data Privacy - Export and backup data
• Settings Overview - Configure preferences

Last Updated: October 24, 2025
Document Version: 2.0 (Modular Structure)