
A Blog post by
Alyssa Rauton
Growing indoor plants is fun! You can grow your own little garden, forest or plant nursery in your own home.
But let's be real. #plantmom Instagram and TikTok accounts make extreme indoor plant care look easy- it's not! At least, not at first. Maintaining 100+ healthy plants like influencers do takes time, dedication and know-how. But you don't have to grow an indoor jungle to reap the benefits of growing houseplants!
You've got to start somewhere. Start simple and work your way up to the house plants of your dreams. Read on for our best tips on how to start building your at-home plant oasis.
Download our plant care for beginners guide here!
The best way to get started with indoor plants is by picking some low-maintenance varieties. Get used to your plant care routine with some indoor plants that are hard to kill. That way, if you skip a step, water a little late, don't have the right pot or don't realize that your apartment doesn't actually get any sunlight whatsoever, your plants won't immediately suffer. Think of these as plants with training wheels. They offer you a little grace while you get used to your new plant parent responsibilities.
Then later on, you'll be prepared to move on to plants that are a bit more needy. For example, tropical plants are humidity loving plants and may require you to get a humidifier. Or, you can just stick with easy plants forever... nothing wrong with that!
Here are a few examples of plants that are easy to grow in your home.
Snake plants have swordlike leaves that grow upwards up to three feet tall. These leaves have stripes of light and dark green and a waxy texture. Snake plants can grow in sunlight or low light areas, as long as it's not completely dark all the time. Plus, they don't need to be watered very often.
Pothos plants are another of the most hard-to-kill indoor plants. They have long, leafy medium-green vines. Pothos can be grown in indirect light as well as low light, and they can live in conditions from dry soil to vases of water.
A ZZ Plant has waxy, solid green leaves that grow upwards. Also known as Zanzibar gems, these plants prefer bright, indirect light but can be grown in low light conditions, too. ZZ plants just need to be watered every few weeks. This is because they grow from rhizomes, which are plant parts that grow beneath the soil and store water. If a ZZ plant's leaves become dull, they can simply be wiped off with a damp cloth.
Succulents have become increasingly trendy in recent years. We get why! Their wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors plus generally undemanding care make them really attractive as houseplants.
Some succulents like aloe do need bright light for most of the day, but can adapt to lower light areas if necessary. Give your succulents as much light as you can, but don't worry if they don't get sun all day.
Most succulents only need to be watered when their soil is dry. This is about once per week in the summer and every other week in the winter.
When growing plants indoors, here are a few things new plant parents need to have ready.
Did you know that overwatering is why most indoor plants die? Sometimes people feel like the key to plant care is frequent watering, but a lot of plants only need to be watered once per week or so. Most indoor plants only need water when their soil is dry. Read your plant care instructions for more details on how to water what you're growing.
Using a fertilizer or soil conditioner can help a plant grow to its best ability. There are plenty of simple, natural plant nutrient additives you can use by mixing them into your plants' water.
Like we mentioned above, it's best to have a few pots of different sizes available to use and re-use as plants grow larger and need more space. We recommend using pots with drainage holes so that excess water can run out of the pot if necessary. If plants have too much water standing in their pots, they might experience root rot.
Most plants grow best in 65–75 degrees, which is a typical range for air conditioned homes. So don't worry too much about your thermostat when it comes to growing simple house plants.
Different plants need different amounts of light, however most plants prefer to get light of some kind. Windowsills and tables that get at least partial sunlight make good spaces for houseplants! Always read a plants' care instructions to learn what kind of light they need.
Although a lot of plants can still grow in sub-optimal lighting conditions, drastic changes from their preferences can kill them. For example, a plant that likes full sun could still live in an area that gets sun for at least half of the day, but that plant would not be happy in a dark corner.
If you have any questions, contact us at farm@soulminerseden.com or (706) 619-1866.