A Hong Kong Professional’s Green Diary | Two Years of Growing With Office Plants

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June 1, 2026

On April 25, 2024

I never thought of myself as a plant person. I work in finance. My desk is the kind that accumulates things — documents, notebooks, three different charging cables, a coffee mug that hasn’t been empty before 11am for years. The idea of adding a plant to that managed chaos seemed, at best, aspirational.

Then our company moved offices. New space, clean slate. Someone from HR asked if anyone wanted to request a desk plant as part of the “wellbeing initiative.” I said yes, largely because it was the kind of yes that costs nothing.

They brought a Snake Plant. About 30cm tall in a plain white ceramic pot. I put it in the far corner of my desk, where it wouldn’t be in the way. That was two years ago.

The First Month

I watered it when I remembered, which was infrequently. The Snake Plant, true to its reputation, didn’t care. It sat there, green and upright, as I came and went. The first time I looked at it properly was about three weeks in, when I noticed a new leaf emerging from the centre — pale green, tightly furled, pushing up from the base.

I had done nothing to cause that. The plant had simply grown. There’s something unexpectedly affecting about that, the first time you notice it. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t plan it. A living thing quietly got on with being alive.

Six Months In

By this point I’d started paying attention. The leaf that had been furled was now fully grown. Another was coming. I found myself glancing at it when calls were difficult — not staring, just looking. A few seconds of green. It became a reliable small reset in the day.

I started learning. Snake Plants absorb CO₂ at night rather than releasing it — unusual among common houseplants. The NASA air purification study referenced them. I found myself explaining this to a colleague who’d asked about my plant, which was an interaction I wouldn’t have predicted.

The Expansion

At six months I bought a second plant — a ZZ Plant in a darker pot — for the corner opposite. By the end of the year I’d noticed that the windowsill in the meeting room our team uses most often was bare and somewhat bleak, and arranged for a Madagascar Dragon Tree to be placed there. Nobody objected. Several people mentioned the meeting room felt different.

At this point I’m aware I’m describing the development of something that could fairly be called a hobby. But it doesn’t feel like a hobby. It feels like paying attention. Plants reward attention. They give you something to notice every day that isn’t a spreadsheet or a Slack notification.

What I’ve Learned

Light matters more than anything else. The right plant in the wrong light is just a slow decline. The wrong plant in perfect light is still a problem. Matching species to actual conditions is the one thing I’d press on anyone beginning.

You’ll water too much at first. Everyone does. The finger test corrects this — it seems self-evident in retrospect.

One plant leads to another. This is predictable and probably ought to be mentioned upfront. Successfully keeping a Snake Plant alive for two months creates a genuine curiosity about what else might be possible. This is not a warning. It’s just useful to know.

And finally: it’s worth it. The cost of a Snake Plant and a considered pot is less than most work lunches in Central. The accumulated effect of two years of something green and alive at my desk is harder to quantify but unmistakably real. My desk is still exactly as cluttered as it has always been. The plant sits in its corner and grows. That’s enough.

PlantShop has a range of office and desk plants. Every plant comes with a care card. WhatsApp us for help choosing something that fits your actual desk and light conditions — we promise not to oversell you.