The Wild Interiors growing team takes great pride and effort in growing top quality houseplants for you and your home. But before the plants are ready to leave the greenhouse, there is a lot of care and knowledge that goes into growing healthy and sustainably grown plants. From starting his horticulture endeavors at a university in South Africa to growing plants in the Netherlands for four and a half years, Wayne Knijnenburg then made his way to the U.S. to join the Wild Interiors growing team with many years of plant experience under his belt. 

What is your background in horticulture?

I studied horticulture at a university in South Africa and then took an extended 4.5 year internship in the Netherlands. I started growing plants in 2003. My first crop I grew was begonia mother plants. After begonias, I moved on to tropical foliage and flowering plants like anthurium, phalaenopsis, and calla lily.

What is your favorite part about being a grower?

My favorite part is two-fold: 

1. Coming in in the morning and seeing the sunlight strike a healthy, good looking crop is inspiring. 

2. Hearing/receiving feedback from customers is another favorite.

What is the most challenging part about being a grower?

There are a number of steps involved in producing a good quality, healthy, long-lasting plant.  Keeping all those steps in a row repeatedly across all seasons is THE challenge.

Do you have a favorite Wild Interiors plant to grow? If so, why?

I have no one favorite, but I enjoy challenging myself and learning the tricks of any given genus/ variety. A few that come to mind are hedera, some of the peperomia, and the echeveria we grow here in our greenhouses.

Share a care tip for your favorite Wild Interiors plant. 

Most of our plants dislike direct, magnified sunlight, but rather enjoy a lot of indirect, dappled light.

What’s one houseplant sitting in your home right now?

I have some anthurium, peperomia raindrop, calathea, pineapple bromeliad and phalaenopsis orchids in my house.

Do you have a question you’d like our next Grower Feature to answer? Send to us @wild_interiors on Instagram.