The 6 Best Houseplants for Beginners
The best houseplants for beginners are the ones that are going to be the easiest to grow and can survive on some neglect. Because when you get your first plant you might forget to water every week, or two.
Unless you’re a nurturer. One of the sister’s wants to water her plants everyday so these are not the best choices in her house. Side note – after killing a few plants by “overcaring” for them she’s doing much better.
How to Choose Your Plants
We’ve got some suggestions for types of plants to look for when you head to the nursery or to the home improvement store. The home improvement store is generally not going to carry a lot of rare or needy plants because they don’t have the staff and knowledge to manage those so a lot of what you find there is likely to be suitable.
The downside of the home improvement store is that their houseplants aren’t always in the best condition, and you want to buy healthy plants.
Be sure that there aren’t broken stems or yellow leaves on your plants. If the leaves look droopy and the soil is dried out you should probably avoid those too. You want to pick out a plant that appears healthy and then keep it that way!
Here are a few other things that you’ll want to consider when you’re shopping for houseplants…
Temperature
Most of the plants that we fall in love with are tropicals. That means that they need a temperature that’s not too cool, generally between 65 and 75 degrees. Thankfully those are the temps that we humans are most comfortable in too so that makes it pretty easy.
Sometimes we move our plants outside when the weather is mild and give them a good watering. Most houseplants don’t like it when the temp drops below 50-55 degrees so if it’s cooler than that at night they might not like your windowsill with the open window either.
Houseplants like their environment to stay pretty consistent so you generally don’t want them too close to a fireplace or heater, and you’ll also want to avoid the a/c blowing directly on them.
Light
All houseplants appreciate light. Most of them don’t want direct sunlight which is why they do well inside. A bright window location with filtered light is generally the best place to grow your plants, although some can be more sensitive than others.
Humidity
Going back to the houseplants being tropicals, they generally love humidity. Most of us humans are not big fans of it. When we run our a/c’s and our heaters it dries out the air in our homes and our plants may need to be watered more often.
There are a few ways to overcome this – if you have a covered area outside you can keep them there during pleasant weather. You could also move them into a bathroom where it’s more humid by nature, or try misting them with water.
Most plants aren’t going to need that much attention though – especially the ones on this list!
Water
Water needs are going to vary from plant to plant but this list contains plants that are easy to read. They should thrive with inconsistent watering and the leaves may look droopy when they need water.
A few things to watch for:
- If your soil looks dry, push your finger down into the dirt. If it feels dry go ahead and water.
- Don’t put water on your leaves, water the soil.
- Make sure that your plants have a drainage tray and water until it comes out the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have a drainage tray water over your sink or in the tub.
- Use water that’s room temperature – you don’t want ice water or boiling water.
Pot and Soil
When you purchase a new plant it’s generally not going to be in a pretty pot and you’re going to want to move it to a new pot. Be sure that you get the right size of pot. Planting your new plant in a giant pot doesn’t mean that it will grow gigantic any faster. Big pots are also harder to move around.
Your pot should be only slightly larger than the size of the pot the plant arrives in.
Your best bet on soil is to use potting soil because it’s meant for houseplants. Garden soil is meant for gardens and yes they are different. Succulents also have their very own soil but overall just sticking to potting soil for houseplants should be just fine!
Fertilizer
Just like a garden grows in the warmer months, your plants can use a little fertilizer in their growing months. A freshly potted plant doesn’t need fertilizer and your potted plants shouldn’t need anything more often than once a month.
Find a fertilizer that’s meant for potted plants and follow the directions on the package. You’ll find fertilizer in liquid or powder form so just use the one that you prefer. It’s okay to pick the one that’s easiest to store.
Let’s talk about the best houseplants for beginners now. These are our favorites to start with and we think that you’ll agree!
Best Houseplants for Beginners
We haven’t listed these in any particular order, we tried to include a range so that you could pick a plant that has the shape your are looking for.
We’ve got some spiky, vining, pointed and all green plants for you to pick from. Rest assured that we’ve tried all these plants out and know from experience that they are easy to grow and take care of.
Snake Plant
You may have heard of the snake plant being called the “mother-in-law’s tongue”. We can guess it’s because of the shape of it’s leaves that appear to looks like blades. Yikes.
The snake plant is happy with low light and it’s a great plant for cleaning the air. They only need to be watered every 2-3 weeks so they’re also an easy to care for choice if you’ve got an erratic schedule for watering.
The snake plant has a very distinct style so you may love it or you may not. It makes a great statement but it also looks great mixed in with other houseplants.
Golden Pothos
The golden pothos is one of our all time favorite plants. Not just because it’s one of the best houseplants for beginners but because it looks amazing and it’s so easy to take care of.
These make beautiful hanging plants with trailing vines but you can grown them in a pot on the floor and train their vines up a pole.
The pothos will tell you that it needs water by it’s leaves looking droopy and not as shiny – once you notice that you’ll never have to guess again if it needs to be watered.
Spider Plants
The spider plant is another great starter plant that’s easy to grow and makes lot’s of offshoot’s – which we call baby’s around here.
These will grow in lower light, even in artificial light so they’re perfect in an office situation. They might not thrive under flourescent lights but they will live and that’s better than you can hope for with most plants.
The spider plant isn’t picky about light, temp or water and that’s why we picked it as a best houseplant for beginners. It can stand living on a desk and it’s okay with a little neglect so you can go on a trip and not have to worry about it. Overall, it’s an easy plant that isn’t fussy.
Which is the kind of plant we all want. An easy plant that makes us look like we’ve got a green thumb right?
Peace Lilly
The peace lily is another plant that can easily tolerate low light and not so regular watering. It will look droopy when it needs a drink and it has beautiful dark green leaves that make a beautiful plant even when it’s not blooming.
The bonus is that it has pretty blooms on it. The bigger bonus is that it’s a superstar at cleaning the air in your home or office so we should all have one of these around.
Ponytail Palm
The ponytail palm is not actually a palm tree, we just think it looks like one. They are technically part of the agave family, which means that they are actually a succulent. Without getting all technical about their name, we’re just letting you in on the secret that they’re easy to grow.
These like to have their soil dry out before they’re watered again and they’re used to harsh conditions so moving them outside and back in won’t shock them. The ponytail palm really only needs fertilizer a couple of times a year and they’ll bless you with a wide stalk and a fun shock of green spiky leaves on top.
Lucky Bamboo
The lucky bamboo plant is supposed to bring you good luck and fortune! What better reason to have one of these in your home or office right?
The fact that they’re nearly indestructible is why they’re one of the best houseplants for beginners. The lucky bamboo can be grown in water or soil, and they can withstand just about any kind of light. They only thing they really don’t love is a cold draft so don’t put it in front of your a/c vent.
Sometimes they can be finicky about water so they may prefer a drink out of your bottled water rather than the tap, they’re not fans of chlorine and chemicals.
Those are the best houseplants for beginners
We’ve tested all of these and we can assure you of the ease of growing these plants. If you’re looking for a first time plant or a great plant to give as a gift then this is the list to follow.
Just be careful because one plant will be lonely and you’ll want more…..
