How To Save A Plant

I’M THE TYPE of person who has always had trouble keeping plants alive. And that’s a big problem, because I’m also the type of person who likes to have a lot of plant life around my house. I’ve never been able to walk through a garden store without bringing home at least one new addition to my windowsill.

Unfortunately, I never inherited my mom’s green thumb. She has a sixth sense for knowing exactly what any plant needs, while I can somehow find a way to under-water a cactus.

So, a few years ago, I started looking for professional help, and it turned out there were some products on the market for horticulture-challenged people like me. I found moisture meters that could tell me exactly how dry the soil was. I found terracotta spikes that disperse water gradually; some people pair these spikes with an upturned wine bottle.

But around this point, I started imagining and hoping to find a very specific product: A beautiful glass globe (not cheap plastic) that would disperse water through a terracotta spike. If that glass globe happened to be colorful or iridescent, even better. And if possible, the globe should have an opening at the top for easy refill. Home gardening is a $22 billion industry in America, so this particular device must exist for sale somewhere, right?

Lo and behold, it didn’t exist—at least, not to my specifications. The options that I found were either ineffective, generic or unattractive. I got very frustrated, because all I wanted was to keep my plants alive. At that point, I realized that there was a hole in the market.

DESIGNING A DREAM

About three years ago, I began reaching out to local glassblowers to see if they were interested in designing the product that I had in mind.

As you can probably imagine, I learned that commissioning a small order of custom glass-blown devices based on my own whimsical preferences would have been crazy expensive.

But it was also an opportunity. I became convinced that other people would love the product that I was imagining. And the best way to bring that product to life was to design and manufacture it myself in bulk.

That’s how Sip Squad was born. Two years ago, I began working with a glassblowing factory whose artists turn molten glass into unique and beautiful watering globes. Each glass globe is set in a terracotta spike to create a device that systematically and efficiently waters the soil around a plant. The beauty of this design is that the porous terracotta releases only as much water as the soil needs; the globe disperses water based on exactly how thirsty the plant is. In the case of most plants, the roots even stretch out and intertwine around the spike over time. Nature and science: perfect together!

One of the biggest dilemmas was deciding what to name my product. I knew from the beginning that Sip Squad would be the name of my company. But many long nights were spent brainstorming with friends, as to what to name the product itself. Ultimately, we christened them “Sippers.” As in, each Sipper provides exactly as many sips as your little plant requires.

GROWING PAINS

Like any new business, there were challenges and setbacks I never could have anticipated until I dove in with both feet. I had to learn about manufacturing from the top down. I spent untold hours researching factories, shipping and packaging costs.

After many months of research, design and delays, the first shipment of Sippers arrived at my driveway. They were beautiful. They were hand-crafted. And they didn’t even work.

You heard that right. To my indescribable horror, the first Sippers leaked as soon as they were filled. Even with a precisely designed seal between the globes and the spikes, which I had calculated down to the millimeter, they didn’t hold water. I had improved upon the upturned wine bottle system in terms of pure aesthetics. But I had completely botched the airtight design.

It took many more hours of painstaking work to correct this problem, but it also led to a new discovery. I realized that there were two ways to keep each Sipper watertight. Top-filled Sippers (which come with a glass stopper on top for easy refill) are now silicone-sealed at the base, while bottom-filled Sippers work more like the upturned wine bottle. And I’m proud to say that Sippers are now wonderfully effective, in addition to being as beautiful as I first imagined. My plants have never been happier.

BUSINESS IS BLOOMING

I never had any outside investors; all of the overhead goes onto my credit card. And it was definitely a little overwhelming and scary to stockpile thousands of units in my basement, with nobody to hustle them except myself. But I got them into the marketplace— both literally and online—after many more hours of building a website and taking product photos.

Sippers are now keeping plants happy across the country. There are even a few on the other side of the world, in places like Australia and Europe. I feel gratified every time new units are purchased, and I get an extra special thrill when somebody as far away as France or Germany seeks out my site and buys a few Sippers. Somebody in New Hampshire recently purchased 20 in one order! After a few years of hard work, my initial hunch has finally come true: There really are plenty of other people who want the product I imagined.

So, what have I learned? Depends on what day of the week you ask me. When you’re running your own business, no matter how big or small, there are literally new challenges and new headaches to be solved every week. You just don’t know what you don’t know until it becomes a problem.

But one of the biggest takeaways is definitely the power of the digital age. The internet is an empowering tool for anybody who has something to share with the world. For those who don’t have the time or money to go to business school, YouTube is an incredible equalizer. I knew hiring somebody to build my website could get costly, so I went down YouTube rabbit holes and learned a few basics about writing code.

Then there’s social media, i.e., Instagram and TikTok. Personally, I was never a big social media person before. But professionally, I have to be. And I have to admit, the glowing Etsy reviews from happy customers always power me through the next set of challenges.

If you happen to be one of those people who has already purchased a Sipper, I can’t thank you enough for believing in this quirky little endeavor and for supporting local business. I hope you’re happy with your product. And I’m pretty sure your plants are.

Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Visit sipsquad.co and shop locally, online! Manasquan + Brielle readers use the code LOCALLOVE to receive 20% off, all spring and summer!

BY CLARA SEIGLER