That Gay Plant Life
Raoni Washburn has been obsessed with plants for almost 6 years up to this point, and continues to grow with the knowledge of plant care, from everything as basic as the jade pothos, to the most extravagant and exotic form of rare variegated Alocasia. Raoni’s growing desire to share his plant care knowledge with the world is finally manifesting in 2026.
Raoni, like most people, began his plant hobby back in 2020 during lockdown. It was basic at first, but over the years, as he learned and grew alongside his plants, he shifted his hobby into an obsession and now considers himself close to mastering the craft. Not only is he growing houseplants, but he is now getting into it on a level that some outside of the plant world might find extra or a little crazy, but those of us in the know know what is really going on.
This plant obsession significantly shifted in 2025 when this political climate took a turn for the worse, and story after story of doom and gloom began to take its toll on Raoni’s mental health. Raoni took refuge from social media stories about the Dump administration’s dismantling of democracy and found a plant TikTok among other things, and immersed himself in that community to distract him from the horrors the world was becoming around him. This, in turn, thrust Raoni into a plant community he did not expect to be part of, and suddenly, the plant way of life became his new norm.
This cultivated the character creation of “That Gay Plant Hoe,” a humorous spin on Raoni’s gay, sexually and inappropriately charged podcast persona implemented into the online plant world. Raoni found that most plant content out there, while informative and necessary, lacked entertainment, and “That Gay Plant Hoe” was the perfect opportunity to blend his podcasting and plant worlds together, and it has been nothing short of a hit.
This, as you can imagine, has opened the doors to many plant-related business ventures, many of which are in development and will be launching in 2026. One of significant note is the founding of a new company specifically geared towards plant sales, care, services, community, and even pop-up shops around San Francisco. “Big Leaf Energy Plant Co.” will begin its 2026 launch into the plant world, so stay tuned for more information on that coming soon!
