We have literally not a single plant in our apartment, and I’m sick of it! We need some green! But I have no idea what to start with.
FWIW we’re in the far nordics near the arctic circle, so conditions in places like windows vary quite wildly throughout the year, from occasionaly hot and long summer days to cold and very short winter days.
Not really fuzzed about beautiful flowers, just leaves, vines, will keep us happy. Maybe succulents?
Would appreciate any advice :)
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It sounds like you want a pothos! Golden pothos is the most easily available, but it also comes in other fun colors that are a bit rarer (like neon green or white/green variegated). It doesn’t need a lot of light or water and grows vigorously.
I’m not a fan of succulents as “beginner” plants, since they require SO much light. It’s a lot easier to give a plant more water than more light.
Other plants you might try are snake plant, ZZ plant, spider plant, or a hoya.
Be aware that many houseplants are mildly toxic to pets, so keep them out of reach.
Praise for the pothos! I love their cascade of green lushness. One of the only indoor plants I’ve had success with. Plus so easy to propagate.
No pets, so that’s not an issue. Pothos look really great, and seems interesting that they can be grown in such a variety of ways, like in water. Thanks, good one!
I’d like to add here, since you appreciate the variety of growing mediums, check out growing your houseplants in LECA (kiln-fired clay balls).
An alternative to soil substrates, and I won’t claim to be an expert on it at all. We do have around 300 tropical houseplants, though. And I’d say a good 50% are in LECA only and thriving!
Best of luck with whichever route you try!
I would recommend spider plants! They are extremely easy to grow and care for, they tolerate many different soil types and moisture levels, and they spread quickly so you can get a whole bunch of baby ones to keep your collection growing. And an added bonus, they are one of the best plants for air purification!
This sounds awesome, thank you, I’ll have a look into them! Sounds more or less exactly like what I want, and they look great too.
Yes and if you know somebody who has one you can take a cutting and grow your own easily!
I’m seconding the snake plant and spider plant recommendation! There’s lots of snake plant varieties, so try getting the ones that catch your eye :D As for succulents, you’ll have to research depending on the type of succulent. I know that popular social media has put out this misconception that succulents are set and forget plants but anyone who has tried to raise any amount of them would be able to tell you otherwise! Underwatering, overwatering, sunlight exposure amount (especially going to be a problem depending on how much light your apartment gets), etc, there’s a lot to mess up and different varieties are more demanding. Succs can be really fussy sometimes.
Aloe. The easiest. Can forget to water it for weeks. Doesn’t need a large amount of light. And it is a useful crop.
Seconding pothos and snake plants. I started with a single 4" pot of pothos a few years ago and through sticking cuttings in dirt I’ve got about 10 or 12 pots now. One of them extends across the windows in 3 rooms and is threatening to eat the entire downstairs.
Snake plants are apparently impossible to kill, even if you forget to water them for weeks.
If you eat avocados you can just start burying all the pits in a pot of dirt, keep it watered, and some of them will sprout. Or the next time you have a carrot or potato or onion start to sprout, bury is and you will have free greenery for a while.
Snake plants are apparently impossible to kill, even if you forget to water them for weeks.
Can confirm. I’ve seen them in overcrowded pots in a hallway, away from all but fluorescent lighting, not watered for months and months. I’ve also visited the tropics, where people stick them in beach sand in full sun to part shade, and they thrive!
In my experience you can kill snake plants by over watering them
Oof, not quite impossible to kill… I put mine on the balcony as it’s getting nice here, but after a couple 90 degree days noticed the leaves were getting a rough texture, not the normal smooth shiny texture. I brought it back indoors and it’s been a couple weeks but the texture hasn’t been restored. :S
- ‘ZZ’ plant
- Snake Plant / mother-in-law-tongue plant
- Dracaena(sp?)
I have had these growing indoors in poor light conditions, rarely watered, for YEARS and they do well.
Ah, I actually think I’ve seen Dracaena in my parents house, and I do like them quite a bit. Thanks, these are good looking suggestions!
Succulents are a great choice, very much a "less is more’’ kind of plant in terms of effort. Also anything bamboo-adjacent, like money trees (I actually have no idea if they
re related or not). They do very well in low light situations, so you could place them opposite a window year-round. Hell, they dont even need soil.Money trees look like they could be fun. Maybe one day they’ll actually grow money, too, that would be very helpful 🙃
Adding to many other great suggestions already, but check out the Syngonium family. They’ll often be referred to as an Arrowhead Plant. They are very forgiving, can be found in a TON of gorgeous varieties, and are often pretty inexpensive.
Another good one for indoors are the caladiums. They’re very dramatic and love water when they come out of dormancy, but will wither to nothing when it’s time to be dormant. It’s always exciting to see em come back.
Just for reference my owned the caladium before we married and she’s not the best at regular plant care and it’s still with us.
Whatever plants you end up going with, I’d heartily recommend getting some LED grow lights for supplemental light! I live in an apartment that gets trash window light, but all my houseplants are looking vibrant and healthy (my spider plant bloomed for the first time!) Since getting them. From research I landed on basically anything with a full spectrum white Samsung LED panel, they’re reliable and efficient without being too expensive. As far as plants go, I currently have 2 ZZ plants, a couple of pothos, a spider plant, a peace lilly, a Christmas cactus, and a ponytail palm that are all thriving, so I agree with what a lot of others are saying in terms of plant selection. Best of luck with everything!
