Best Indoor Plants | Beginners
Regarding indoor houseplants, I think most of us shoot in the dark. We research the amount of sunlight and water, and the rest is a guessing game. I’ve had a lot of bad luck with indoor plants. I’ve killed too many succulents and cacti to count (and those are supposed to be the “easy” plants). But finally, when we moved into our new house in February 2017, I knew I wanted to start over and try it. It’s a lot of trial and error, friends. But after over a year, I’ve got a good grasp on a few plants that are super easy and have lived through even my black thumb! So, if you’re starting and want to save yourself a little bit of the guessing game, I’d start with these three plants:
- The ZZ Plant. This one is my favorite. I bought it because it was called “the plant of steel,” which is my kind of plant! It multiplied the months after I bought it. I split the plant and transplanted it into two pots on our nightstands. I love their look (especially in these gray clay pots). The thing I love about this plant is it tolerates low/indirect light and infrequent watering. The only way you could kill this plant is overwatering and too much direct sunlight. So basically, low maintenance for the win!
2. My second favorite plant is the Snake Plant. The top photo is one we bought right after moving into our house, and it’s thriving. We’ve moved it to a bigger pot since the roots started coming from the one it was in when we bought it. The bottom photo is a baby one I purchased a few months ago since I’m so hooked! These plants can be neglected for weeks – they can handle low light and need little water. They also help keep the air inside your home clean, so cool! Again, overwatering is the leading cause of death for these.
Root rot is something I’ve learned about the hard way (killing our brand-new raspberry bush last year). I usually only water my plants once every 1-2 weeks now. Most of the plants I buy don’t thrive with the soil staying moist all the time, so you always want to ensure proper drainage and that your soil is drying out before the next time you water. I’m not an expert by any means (although my brother is a soil and crop scientist; I guess he got all the green thumbs in our family).
3. The third one I’d suggest is a Spider Plant. My sweet friend Hannah has given me two of these that she has propagated. I keep them both in indirect sunlight. These are more frequent waterings than the other two, and once they shoot off, they go crazy! Hannah’s plant is enormous, and she just pinched off 20 shoots and propagated them as favors for a baby shower we planned. How often does a house plant produce 20 more plants?! This one all our husbands would love cause you can get your money’s worth 😉
I have LOTS of other plants in our house. We are lucky cause the front of our house faces south, so we have plenty of sunny windows for all my full-sun-loving plants. But these three are the easiest regardless of your natural light scenario. What are your favorite house plants?!