A friend of mine is looking to join mastodon and is looking for a server. They’re very into growing plants, specifically cactus, so will want to post about that. Do you know of any good servers for them or a cool general server you would recommend?
So, ironically, https://fedi.garden is part of the answer you seek. It lets you search #Mastodon servers in detail. That will help.
@HailsandAles where's cactushead.club when you need it
Oct 17, 2026, 11:20 PM@HailsandAles Does anyone who follows the below hashtags have any suggestions for good servers/instances for a soon-to-be-newbie On Here? (See post above. 👆🏼)
#BloomScrolling #gardening #plants #cactus #cacti #botany #succulents
@clickhere @HailsandAles i recommend a "local" instance as it is nice to meet people in the local timeline which often are not far away from the own hometown. A thing i like a lot of mastodon. It might be good especially when growing plants, for exchanges?
Hope you find a good server recommendation for all those #succulents and #botany posts soon!
@HailsandAles You should also tell your friend about the importance of hashtags here. Tell your friend how to follow hashtags. I am not on a gardening server, but participate in the #gardening hashtag and that way join gardening conversations. I also follow the knitting hashtag. Your friend can follow relevant hashtags for people who grow cacti.
I have joined a general server that is relevant to the location where I live and enjoy other conversations relevant to our geographical location. The most important thing about the server I am on is that we have a wonderful admin team, really good moderation, and a server that is technically reliable. I help by contributing a small amount of money to the cost of maintaining the server, but this is entirely voluntary.
It doesn't matter that we talk about diverse topics on our server because I follow the hashtags that interest me. However I also can see other conversations which can take me out of the conversational bubble I might get into and broaden my horizons.
Tell your friend how to mute conversations they might not want to see. It is also good if they know how to create trigger warnings if they happen to write a message that might be upsetting for others (for example, about a sad topic like death or addiction).
I like how you can see a warning instead of the original message if that message contains a word that is on your filter list. I create a filter list for words relating to certain politics. The content warning gives me the choice of continuing not to see it, or I can click on the warning and see the original message.
@HailsandAles
Honestly, it doesn’t matter since migrating from one instance to another has been shown to be very easy and lossless.
Moreover, after joining an instance, your friend should say a lillte about themselves and their interests using the *Introduction* hashtag - that toot will get wide coverage.
Join any that looks promissing and use hashtags in your toots. You’ll see where #Gardeners congregate soon enough and you can change to that server. @FediTips can also help with the initial selection of instance
Oct 18, 2026, 12:22 PM@RaymondPierreL3 @HailsandAles @FediTips ??? there's still no migration other than your follows and followers, on Mastodon.
@phl @RaymondPierreL3 @HailsandAles
Server choice does matter as it affects moderation, reliability, extra features, the local timeline etc. Some servers are less reliable than others, that's why I started https://fedi.garden to help people find good ones 🙂
However, account transfer does take more than just your follows and followers (it transfers your followers, follows, bookmarks, lists, filters, mutes, blocks and domain blocks). Old posts redirect people to the new account.
@HailsandAles have them check out fedi.garden. It’s a great resource.
@markwyner first thing I did