Room Therapy: Low-Maintenance House Plants?

April 24, 2008

Dear CasaSugar,

I want to get a house plant for my not-so-green apartment, but I need something low maintenance since I'm barely home on my days off. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Lioness5

Hi Lioness5,

I was just at a friend's house this weekend and she had stunning houseplants. This is remarkable only because she used to have a black thumb — she killed every plant she touched. So what changed? She found easy, low-maintenance plants that could deal with her occasional indifference to their existence.

To see the rest of my answer, and to leave your suggestions, just read more.

I've rounded up a few different types of plants that might work for your house, depending on your home's growing conditions. Take a look!

Plants That Will Grow in Water

Don't want to bother with planting your houseplants? Then check out these plants, which will grow in a vase or bowl of water!

Wandering Jew
English Ivy
Bamboo

Plants That Need a Sunny Room But Little Else

Cacti
Aloe
Bromeliads

Plants That Require Little Care And Indirect Sunglight

Snake plant
Spider plant
Wax plant
Ivy

I hope this helps! Anyone else have other suggestions for easy-to-care-for, hard-to-kill houseplants? Let Lioness5 know by leaving a comment below.

Source

13 Comments

shebata 5 years 4 weeks

Any of the philodendrons is oh, so easy to grow. All it needs is indirect sunlight and reasonably moist soil; but it will tolerate your forgetting to water it more than occasionally. Philodendrons have a consistent rate of growth and can enhance any home with an invigorating atmosphere.

THEQueen 5 years 4 weeks

I KILLED my Aloe Vera plant. :(

tdamji 5 years 4 weeks

i don't know. i always water too often or not often enough. right now i have some "lucky" bamboo in a vase with water in the bottom and that's it. i find Yuka plants to be pretty good for tolerating drought. :)

meetmeherelater 5 years 4 weeks

everytime i buy plants they are on the brim of death after a week. my boyfriend takes them home and somehow they relive and are gorgeous. i dont get it. its very frustrating. haha but at least i enjoy them when i am there.

okmaebe 5 years 4 weeks

For something big, try a ZZ plant. Zamioculcas Zamiifolia. Pretty low maintenance. Very pretty and bright green.

bluesarahlou 5 years 4 weeks

Oh I forgot...I have mostly Phalaenopsis Orchids (Moth Orchids). They're by far the easiest ones to maintain!

bluesarahlou 5 years 4 weeks

I seem to have a knack at killing almost any plant other than Orchids. They have a reputation for being difficult but I've found as long as you provide them with adequate sun and water once a week they thrive. I have a Violet that I've almost killed...but it's finally flowering :) They're pretty easy too. And I have a Wandering Jew (planted) that loves the sun it gets in my cubicle. I water all my plants once a week, since that's about how often I remember to!

bluesarahlou 5 years 4 weeks