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house plants everyone should have The New Complete Guide to Houseplants: Expert Houseplant Growing Advic – Costa FarmsReady to grow with confidence? The New Complete Guide to Houseplants, written by Costa Farms horticulturist Justin Hancock, delivers practical, real world advice to help you grow healthier plants at home. Instead of relying on strict rules that dont always fit your home, this guide shows you how to understand what your plants needand how to adjust based on your space, light, and environment. Whether youre caring for your first pothos or expanding a
Ready to grow with confidence? The New Complete Guide to Houseplants, written by Costa Farms horticulturist Justin Hancock, delivers practical, real-world advice to help you grow healthier plants at home.
Instead of relying on strict rules that don’t always fit your home, this guide shows you how to understand what your plants need—and how to adjust based on your space, light, and environment. Whether you’re caring for your first pothos or expanding a collection of tropicals, the book helps take the guesswork out of indoor gardening.
Inside, you’ll find clear guidance on lighting, watering, humidity, feeding, propagation, troubleshooting, and more—all explained in a way that feels approachable, not overwhelming. Full-color photography and real-world examples make this a resource you’ll come back to again and again.
Justin helps readers understand not just what to do, but why plants respond the way they do—so plant owners can make better decisions and grow plants that thrive, not just survive.
Why It Works
- Breaks down plant care into clear, usable decisions—not guesswork
- Covers both beginner basics and more advanced growing topics
- Helps readers better understand watering, lighting, and humidity indoors
- Includes guidance for propagation, repotting, and troubleshooting
- Helps readers diagnose problems and correct them with confidence
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Written by a trusted Costa Farms horticulture expert
Topics Covered
Lighting
Learn how to better understand bright, indirect light, lower-light spaces, and how window placement impacts plant growth indoors.
Watering
Avoid common mistakes like overwatering by learning how plants actually use moisture—and how to adjust based on your environment.
Humidity & Environment
See how temperature, airflow, and humidity affect tropical houseplants and learn practical ways to improve growing conditions at home.
Propagation & Repotting
Follow clear steps for propagating plants and moving them into new containers with less stress and better outcomes.
Troubleshooting
Identify common plant issues including yellowing leaves, brown tips, pests, and stalled growth before they become larger problems.
Plant Selection
Find plants that match your lighting conditions, space, and experience level so you can set yourself up for success from the start.
Quick Tips
- Great for both first-time plant parents and experienced collectors
- Helps readers learn how to “read” their plants more confidently
- Designed as a quick reference, not just a cover-to-cover read
- Modern photography makes the content as inspiring as it is practical
[bio]
About the Author
Justin Hancock is a horticulturist and plant expert with Costa Farms who has spent years helping people grow healthier, happier plants indoors and out. Known for translating plant science into approachable, real-world guidance, he has helped educate millions of plant owners through articles, videos, plant care resources, and educational content designed to make plant care accessible to everyone.
Ready to take your indoor garden further? The New Complete Guide to Houseplants transforms uncertainty into confidence, giving readers the tools to grow healthier plants with less stress and more success.
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4.0 ★★★★★
Based on 101 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Let me very clear. This book saved my Life!
Format: Hardcover
After a surprise diagnosis of Diabetes right before my retirement, this is the first book a bought after seeing segments on YouTube with the science of eating. I lost 60 pounds, got my glucose under control in less than 3 months and threw away all my diabetes medication! After three months, My doctor came in shaking my hand with congratulations! I was blown away. The book is full of practical advice for what to eat, when to eat, and what order to eat parts of your meal to control your blood glucose and not succumb to Diabetes. Life is all about choices! This book has easy instructions, thorough explanations, a little tongue in cheek humor along the way. If you want to kick your downward health spiral and kick diabetes to the curb making good health choices, then this is the Book for you.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2026
★★★★★ 4
Worth reading to better understand blood sugar, but don’t limit yourself to this one resource
Format: Hardcover
My mother had type 2 diabetes and ultimately died from related kidney failure. For years I have exercised and managed my diet in an effort to avoid a similar fate. I was therefore stunned during a recent doctor's appointment when it was revealed that my hemoglobin A1c was above normal limits. I immediately ordered a continous glucose monitor and was dismayed to see that my blood glucose levels were regularly exceeding what would be considered normal. I am now trying to learn as much as possible about preventing these elevated glucose levels.
In my research I was led to Jessie Inchauspe (Glucose Goddess on Instagram) and decided to buy her book, The Glucose Revolution. I will say that the majority of the information in this book is available for free on her Instagram account. However, I like the simplicity of reading through the book rather than scrolling through posts and reels.
The author gives a thorough overview of glucose, explaining the different forms and how they act in our bodies. She explains glucose spikes and has a really good explanation of what the hemoglobin A1c test is measuring. She then shares 10 hacks to help lower your blood sugar levels that I feel are relatively easy to incorporate into your eating plan. Some of them, like eating dessert over a sweet snack (eat a sweet food after a meal rather than on its own) were things that I have already been doing intuitively.
I do wonder at the description of our stomachs as a sink and the intestine as the pipe below. She claims that when we eat carbs first, they flow uninterrupted into the intestine. Drawing on information from my college nutrition classes many years ago, I seem to remember that chemical digestion begins in your mouth and that because of the churning in your stomach, the food that you eat will all be mixed around and therefore it doesn't really matter what order you eat your foods in. That being said, it's a relatively minor thing to eat a veggie starter and/or eat foods in the described order.
I also question the idea that our blood sugar shouldn't rise more than 30 points after eating. If my blood sugar is at 80, that means after eating my glucose level should not be above 110. That is well below the generally accepted rise to 140. I'm not saying that we should always be going to that level, but even a modest rise to 120 would not be accepable according to the standards presented in the book.
Of note, the author does not have diabetes or prediabetes and started the Glucose Goddess after working for a company that was developing continuous glucose monitors.
Overall, I do think this book is worth reading to better understand blood sugar. I wouldn't limit your knowledge to just this one source of information though. I've been slowly working through articles and videos published on the Nourished by Science website. I really appreciate the perspective offered there. Women entering menoupause might want to investigate the effects of decling estrogen on their blood glucose levels too. The New Menopause by Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a fantastic book on this stage of life.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2024
★★★★★ 5
Glucose Revolution is very healthy and has specific recommendations
Format: Hardcover
This was recommended by an outstanding organization that addresses discomfort and overall health and wellbeing, Pearson and Weary. This gives recommendations to stabilize glucose and flatten curves. There was beneficial discussion of the use of fiber which slows the body's glucose absorption. Comparisons of orange juice (lacks fiber) vs. eating an orange (includes fiber) that does not create a glucose spike. Evaluated sugar as a cause of not feeling well and leading to glucose spikes which can lead to heart disease, type II diabetes and cognitive decline. Glucose spikes also lead to inflammation which is a common source of illnesses: strokes, chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, liver disease, diabetes and obesity. When glucose curves are flattened the body burns fat. The book reviews the short term and long-term effects of glucose spikes. Cornell University which I attended as an undergraduate stated there is a specific order to reduce glucose spies by 73% that includes fiber 1st, protein and fat 2nd, starches and sugars last. Other recommendations: (1) never drink fruit juice as sugar from fruit is missing the fiber "resulting in disastrous blood glucose levels." (2) Breakfast cereals is one of the "worst ways to begin your day as it always creates tremendous glucose spikes." Choose savory breakfast can include yogurt, meat, cream cheese, protein powder, butter, eggs, and seeds. Toast alone increases glucose spikes but added peanut butter or avocado can minimize spike. (3) artificial sweeteners can increase insulin rise and havoc in the gastrointestinal system. (4) fasting has benefits for 8-12 hours. (5) snacking increases obesity. (6) add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a large glass of water which is best 20 minutes before eating. This approach after 3 months led to a loss of 2-4 pounds. Vinegar stimulates mitochondria to burn more fat. (7) exercising after eating can also reduce glucose spike and is beneficial within 70 minutes of food consumption.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2025
★★★★★ 5
READ THIS AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER NOW!!!
33% of Americans are verging on type 2 diabetes and do not know it.
This should make you run to get this book!
Following Glucose goddess on Instagram and got her book as well. It is easy to read, with fun illustrations by the author. She has truly helped me so much with my insulin resistance and managing my glucose spikes. "Lifestyle optimization" is an essential for everyone. Why wait until you are diagnosed? These hacks are simple, fun, and super easy. Her audiobook is also out now and is read by the author!! Which is awesome.
What makes this book even MORE useful though, is if you invest in a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and have the app. I had the Freestyle Libre sensor. Each sensor lasts 2 weeks on the skin and logs your real-time glucose levels 24/7. Way better than doing the old fashioned painful and wasteful lancet and test strips. Although you can verify your CGM occasionally using the lancet, and see how accurate the CGM is. You can have a CGM prescription written for you if you INSIST at your nurse practitioner's. (NPs are WAY more open to this kind of experimentation and self-monitoring...I got the rebuff from the doctor, HA!)
What is so sad is that the healthcare system is so broken that insurance will NOT cover a CGM UNTIL you have full-blown type 2 diabetes and are dependent on exogenous insulin delivery. OR if you are a type 1 diabetic and born without the ability to process glucose. Sad huh? The FDA wants you sick, fat, ugly, and miserable. We are MUCH better desperate customers then...willing and eager to take any pills to solve the problems!
Let's not be proactive and encourage the PATIENT to take measures against type 2 diabetes, right?
So there are MANY benefits of managing glucose. Fairly effortless weight loss actually. In this book she dives into nutrition science and the biochemistry of different sugars as well. She has so much credibility and science-driven data backed up by her own personal journey as well as many peer-reviewed articles.
Thank you Jessie!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2022
★★★★★ 5
Really Good Book & Inspired Me to Take Action
Format: Hardcover
After I finished reading the book, I asked my doctor for a Continuous Glucose Monitor. For two weeks, I reduced my carb & sugar intake & was able to keep my glucose in the "steady" range. Then, I ate an oatmeal cookie without pre-eating any fiber or protein. BIG SPIKE! One cookie sent my glucose soaring. I can't even imagine what happens to my body when I eat 1/2 pound of candy. This book was written in a very understandable way & it inspired me to start tracking my glucose levels. I recommend reading this book. And there is definitely something about seeing the effect on your body when you eat sugar by using a CGM. It's an almost immediate visual telling you that you're inflicting damage on yourself. When you don't see it, you can pretend it's not really happening. When I saw that spike, I imagined my poor body trying to release all that insulin to remove sugar from my blood.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2025