Green Gaia offers unique home-grown plants, provides special care and insight

July 26, 2021 | 12:09 am

Updated July 25, 2021 | 10:31 pm

Green Gaia | Photo by Ryan Richardson

Owensboro native Jarell Gant began growing flowers and plants as a hobby in his yard during the pandemic. After some encouragement from his friends, that hobby soon translated into a business — Green Gaia — that encompasses three greenhouses and a wide array of indoor and outdoor plants. 

Green Gaia specializes in flowers and plants grown from seeds that are foreign to most box stores. Gant then sells the plants to customers who care for them at their homes, and he provides continued insight along the way. 

“It is exciting to hear from customers on how well their plants are doing and how proud they are that they have kept something alive when they couldn’t before — it makes me proud to help them,” Gant said. “Customers can ask questions and ‘not feel stupid when asking basic plant questions,’ as one said to me.”

Gant continues to challenge himself with his efforts and strives to share that knowledge with everyone that purchases a plant from him. Every plant he grows receives around-the-clock attention; he even gives them daily “pep-talks,” and he prides himself on offering them at affordable prices.

“I had read years ago that playing classical music and talking to your plants helps them grow — instead of having a loudspeaker blasting Vivaldi ‘24-7,’ I went with the latter,” he said. “My prices are a bit cheaper than big box stores because I am growing them at home, eliminating the third party. They also grow healthier because of the 24-hour care they receive.”

Green Gaia
Green Gaia | Photo by Ryan Richardson

Some of his more notable plants include Mexican Milk Weed, Chocolate Cherry Sunflowers, Double Pirouette Purple Petunias, Spotted Bee Balm, and Green with Envy Zinnias.

He also takes great joy in spreading pollinator-attracting plants across the area. 

When winter hits, Gant intends on transitioning over to house plants by bringing his most miniature greenhouse into his sunroom and using indoor growing lights. Additionally, he uses his artistic skills to create custom-made, specialty planters to accompany his plants. Some of his recent ones include the Avengers, Golden Girls, and Hello Kitty. 

“Last year, during the pandemic, I wasn’t an LLC. I achieved that in April of this year, and my next goal is to become a brick-and-mortar store,” Gant said. “Word of mouth and social media has helped, which was surprising since I was only operating out of my house.”

Gant has had customers travel from as far as two hours away because a friend or family member advised them.

He leaned on long-time friends David Newton and Zachary Eastwood to help him construct the greenhouses, but he grows the plants independently. He occasionally offers experimental sales where guests can visit his home for “one-time” deals. 

In addition to growing and selling plants, Gant also creates and sells custom artwork through his other business — Gant Grafitti Artworks. His works range from holiday-themed figurines and ornaments to paintings and T-shirts. 

Green Gaia will have a booth offering various arrangements at Evansville’s Funk in the City, a festival for artwork and plants. The festival is slated for Sept. 25 at Haynies Corner. 

For more information or to browse and purchase some of Green Gaia’s plants, visit their Facebook page here. To browse Gant’s products in-person, schedule a time to see his greenhouses through Facebook. 

July 26, 2021 | 12:09 am

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