nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

House plants for the complete beginner

Ben Done

I realise this is the gardening forum, but though it the best place to ask.

I've never grown anything, but it was recommended to me as being beneficial to one's well-being to have plants in the house - I can see why, as I absolutely love being out in nature, and 'forest-bathing' is one of the most relaxing activities..

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on plants that are easy to grow for someone with no prior experience - I presume it would be better to buy a plant than try and grow from seed?

Any varieties you could suggest I look for?

I have a smallish apartment, with good natural light in the living room, though the place gets cold in winter, if that might be a factor..

Would be grateful for any advice :)

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

[Deleted User]

I'm not very good at keeping houseplants, (reminds me of the movie 28 days) but I do have a couple that have managed to survive my neglect, mostly because they are succulents. (Crassula Arborescnes) They tend not to need too much watering and you can get creative and make little mini indoor gardens with them.

I was looking at some earlier on quickcrop they're doing a special at the minute with 10% off most things (think you might need this code though NGM10)

houseyhouse

Ooh, there are so many good ones!! Cactuses and succulents are very hardy. Generally they are quite small when your buy and grow slowly and they usually like sunlight so they’re good for windowsills. Sanseveria (mother in law’s tongue) is a bigger succulent and a favourite of mine. Pothos is a lovely trailing plant that grows quickly in summer and is very easy to care for. Spider plants are also very difficult to kill. Rubber plants are small trees with beautiful big leaves that can grow quite tall and so can have a big presence. Also very easy to care for.

The quickest way to kill a plant is overwatering. The roots rot and the plant dies. Especially in winter, most plants can go a week or more without water. Certainly all the ones I’ve listed above.

Go to a garden centre or plant shop (not the supermarket/diy store) and you should get good advice on what will work for your situation. If you’re in Dublin, Plant Life us a fabulous shop. Enjoy!!

Ben Done

^ Brilliant info, thank yiou both!

I was just on quickcrop, and think I'll maybe start with a 6 plant mix of succulents - there's a 5er off for new customers!

There's a load of choices, so I'll try and choose a nice mix tomorrow, with fresh eyes :)

If I manage to keep them alive, I'll venture into a garden centre as you advise houseyhouse, and look at some of the ones you suggest - I was in a house earlier in the week that was filled with plants, and I'm fairly sure rubber plants and spider plants were amongst the varieties - some great advice there, which I'll take on board, with thanks :)

looksee

Absolutely agree spider plant is the beginner's best option, you would struggle to kill one and its easy to see when they need watering - which is not too often - they go a bit pale and translucent looking. Tradescantia is another very easy one, especially zebrina which has nice purple/red stripes. Mother in Laws tongue also easy, as mentioned. Begonia Rex is colourful and dramatic but easy - if it needs watering it will wilt, but pick up when watered. I have a very droopy looking one on a window ledge at the moment that needs a drink! The most common orchids you see - phaleanopsis - are surprisingly easy too and will flower for 5 or 6 months, then start again after a rest.

If you avoid the fig plants (ficus) and be careful with ferns (some of them will grow in dry conditions, some need very careful watering), most of the plants you buy in the supermarket/garden centre displays are easy enough.

LapsypaCork

Spider plant. Also, whichever you choose, it’s important to know what type of light to keep them in.

Mollydog123

Agree re spider plant. Also money or jade plant. Again very difficult to kill and requires little enough watering. Very easy to grow from cuttings if you know someone who has one.

Mollydog123

Spanish Eyes

I gave up eventually, too many issues with the darned plants!

I now have a collection of these.... you cannot kill em! (I am being tongue in cheek, but they are quite nice and not noticeably false either).

https://jysk.ie/homeware/decoration/artificial-plants

Ben Done

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118161029#Comment_118161029

They look great, but I think what I'm after is the challenge of the nurturing and growing..

My late grandpa was a great gardener, and hopefully I'll discover I've inherited his green fingers!

CinammonGirl

Peace lilies are also a good idea. You know when they need to be watered as they get a bit droopy. A few hours after watering then they perk up beautifully. Also supposed to be good in a room where you are using a computer, cleanses the air.

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118161029#Comment_118161029

I know you're not being serious, but artificial plants are just one of the worst things that exist on this planet in my humble opinion. They have no destination other than landfill. They can't be composted, turned into furniture, eaten, feed wildlife, anything. Made from oil derivatives / plastic, usually in china, horrible carbon footprint. And they replace actual living plants. A blank space is better than an artificial plant.

hirondelle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159311#Comment_118159311

Great post- and to add, the Sanseveria is a tall, thin plant so works really well in apartments (big plant with a small footprint). Fleshy plants like succulents and cacti just need some watering- other plants need misting also to stay in really good conditions (mimics humid warm countries) so maybe take on the former first and eventually get some that need a bit more care. Maidenhair fern, Jews Ear, are lovely plants that fall into the latter category.

[Deleted User]

Aloe Vera, very difficult to kill, just put it in a sunny window and water once or twice a month, doesn't mind if you miss watering for a while. Will grow a lot, so after a year or two put it in a bigger pot or split it into 2 or 3 plants - more gardening knowledge and wellbeing.

Ben Done

Appreciate all the comments folks - first set of 6 succulents arrive tomorrow, and the wee ceramic pots are waiting on the windowsill to be filled - I'm sure I'll add to the collection, using the suggestions from this thread.

looksee

Love the pots!

ellee

I would just say succulents need Really Good Light! You might think you have good light but the plants might not agree! So please don't get discouraged if the succulents do not thrive. I put mine outside each Summer to keep them going. They get a bit etiolated each winter even so.

I find houseplants generally can be tricky. I've killed a spider plant AND two geraniums (both supposed to be v easy) but have an asparagus fern that is happy out practically in the dark (supposed to be hard).

So I'd say buy a few and see how you get on. If you can try and figure out if you're windows are northish or southish and if northish, buy plants for shade.

Agree on aloes, have one a neighbour gave me in 2007! Also have an aeonium which has survives well inside but grows like hell when it spends the Summer outside. Added bonus, every time a bit gets knocked off you just stick the broken piece in soil and boom, you've another plant!

looksee

Agreed on the succulents, or at least, some of them - I have a tray of succulents about 4 ft away from south facing large glass doors with a sloping-into-the-roof window as well, bathed in light, and yet one of them, a sempervivum, etoliated (lovely word) till it was two long stalks with little rosettes on top. It was going to be dealt with but then all the straggly leaves fell off and left a rather statuesque little plant which also flowered rather enthusiastically. A couple of others of the same type just continued on as normal. In less light than that though they could easily all turn weedy looking.

I have only ever killed one spider plant, a big plant that I put out for some r&r over the summer and never got round to bringing in. Between the wind beating it up and rain drowning it, it finally gave up. I did have numerous offspring following on so it wasn't completely gone!

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188794#Comment_118188794

Wow, gorgeous pots! Where did you get them?

Good luck with the plants, this thread is inspiring me to get a few and see if I can keep them going - I'm alright at outdoor stuff, but indoors I've never got to grips with properly.

chicorytip

Always use lukewarm water when watering houseplants and never use additives like Baby-Bio.

Ben Done

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118210796#Comment_118210796

Thanks!

They were just about £15 on Amazon for the set of 6, though seem to be out of stock just now - there were several similar ones when I was looking though..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KGBPWNC

hirondelle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118210823#Comment_118210823

Can i ask why you wouldn't use Baby Bio?

chicorytip

I can only speak from personal experience but it seems to shorten rather than prolong the lifespan of plants it is applied to and I was always careful to use the correct amount according to the manufacturers instructions. Now, I use only lukewarm water.

houseyhouse

Lukewarm water is less of a shock to the plant. Especially in winter when the cold water out of the tap is very cold. The way I think of it is that in nature rain would be similar temperature to the air.

I do use baby bio for many of my plants in the spring/summer but there are some types that don’t like too much fertiliser. I use a specific cactus/succulent feed for those plants. If you repot in fresh soil regularly then you can do without but otherwise you run the risk of plants running out of nutrients in old soil.

Ben Done

Got the plants in the post today - thanks to all for the advice so far :)

Just one slight problem - the pots I got are smaller than the plastic pots they arrived in!

Would it be ok to re-pot them into the smaller ceramic pots (there is a small hole in the bottom of them), or should I just go looking for bigger pots to place the plastic ones into?

If ok to re-pot, how tightly do you need to pack the soil / potting mix?

Sorry for all the questions, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere!

looksee

Leave them in the pots they are in, don't go smaller. You can stand the plastic pots in cache pots. These are decorative pots with no hole, you need to make sure you do not let water collect in them but you will need something under the pots with holes or they will damage furniture.

Ben Done

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118218613#Comment_118218613

Ah that's disappointing - I love the wee pots I got already!

They did come with little coasters, presumably to catch excess water, if that makes a difference, or is it the size of them that's at issue in the advice not to re-pot?

looksee

No, they would be fine on coasters, but if you reduce the amount of growing medium to get them into the smaller pots you might damage the roots. The pots themselves would probably be fine, succulents don't need a lot of wiggle room. An experienced gardener might well make a decision to transfer them anyway, but you could do damage. Its fairly hard to damage them and you might want to risk it, but I would not like to just say, ah go ahead.

If you did decide to do it I might suggest unpotting them fairly dry (this is completely against what you would do with other plants). If there is no sign of roots on the outside of the compost then just stroke off enough to fit them in the new pots. If there is a net of roots showing, take the rootball between your two palms and very gently roll it to see does compost fall away and reduce the size. If it has a solid mass of roots just pop it back in the original pot and leave it be. Don't be in too much of a rush to water, leave it for a while to settle.

houseyhouse

How far off are the decorative pots in size? Sometimes the plastic pot won’t fit inside the decorative pot but the internal dimensions of both are very similar. If that’s the case, I’d say you’re ok to repot.

Ben Done

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220564#Comment_118220564

Aye they're quite similar - the plastic pots at the bottom are exactly the same width as the ceramics, but they flare out, so that the top they're about 1.5 cm wider..

Ben Done

p.s. it seems that they're packed quite loosely into the plastic pots, but perhaps that's due to transit..