10 House Plants Perfect for Beginner Plant Owners
House plants can be a nice way to spruce up a room and your home in general with life and colors! A big fear that beginner plant owners usually have is that they’ll kill their plants by forgetting to water them, overwatering them, not enough sunlight, etc. Luckily there are many house plants out there that are tough and resilient so even if you forget to water them every so often they’ll be okay! Here are 10 house plants perfect for beginner plant owners!
1. Succulents – Aloe
Succulents can make great options for beginner plant owners to get used to maintaining house plants. They aren’t necessarily the most luxurious or beautiful plants but they can definitely add some unique looks to any room! A cool succulent to start with for beginner plant owners is an Aloe vera plant. It’s an attractive plant that doesn’t need too much water and will likely grow for years in the same container. Aloe prefers bright, but indirect sunlight especially when in cooler temperature rooms/areas. You can cut off and use the sap from its leaves for skin moisturizer, healing minor cuts, and easing sunburns. Just be careful when you use the leaves that you only cut off about a third of it so that it has enough to live and grow back!
2. English Ivy
English Ivy makes a great house plant, and with relatively easy care it can be great for beginner plant owners. It’s very attractive and makes a great hanging plant addition to any room for some color and life. The leaves are practically heart-shaped, giving it a great look in addition to a range from dark to light green coloring. With proper light, water, and care, you won’t need to worry about your English Ivy overgrowing or getting out of hand. It typically prefers medium to bright light environments and doesn’t like to be overwatered. English Ivy makes a beautiful house plant and its level of maintenance required makes it great for any beginner plant owner.
3. Cast Iron Plant
Cast Iron Plants are resilient house plants that are perfect for beginner plant owners. They grow very well in low light rooms and don’t depend on regular watering. They have great dark green leaves and even have small purple flowers that sometimes appear on the soil surface, although they’re usually hidden in the foliage. They can live for many years if treated right and add lots of color and life to any room! It’s a simple and resilient house plant that any beginner plant owner could have.
4. Sweetheart Plant
The Sweetheart Plant, or Heartleaf philodendron, is a very popular house plant that has low maintenance making it perfect for beginner plant owners. It has some glossy leaves that once come out have a bronze tint to them, but then quickly turn a nice shade of green. They’re fairly small plants making them perfect for tables or desks. It requires a moderate amount of light and in terms of watering it prefers letting the soil dry out before being watered again.
5. Snake Plant
The Snake Plant makes an interesting addition to rooms with its swordlike leaves, it almost appears as if it belongs in a dessert. It’s an easy, low maintenance house plant that is great for beginner plant owners. It’s a low light house plant that gives any room some good color and life!
6. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky Bamboo makes a cool addition to your house plants with its simple but elegant look! Who doesn’t want a mini bamboo forest right in their bedroom? They are known to bring good luck and also come in a variety of shapes to match any space or style. Just give your Lucky Bamboo plenty of water and it will flourish even in indirect light. You may need to give it some iron fertilizer occasionally.
7. Dumb Cane
Dumb Cane is a popular plant for beginner plant owners due to its low maintenance and great look. Each leaf has an almost unique pattern which makes every plant unique! However, there is a big caveat with this plant and that is it does have toxic sap. So it should not be in environments reachable by children or pets! The sap is also irritating to the skin so make sure to wash hands thoroughly if handling the plant at all. It can be a big downside to have to worry about that so if you’d rather not deal with that then check one of these other plants for beginner plant owners!
8. Spider Plant
Spider Plants are spiky house plants that have a very unique look and don’t require much light. They’re known as spider plants because they produce little “baby plants” at the end of their tips. Which then those baby plants can be replanted to make more plants! They are great for beginner plant owners due to their toughness and ease of growing. Spider plants can adapt to many environments and as long as they have moderate light and slight moisture in its soil then you’re good to go!
9. Christmas Cactus
Christmas Cactus is a cactus species that are great for beginner plant owners. With even minimal care, the plant will bloom on its own but likely not during the “holiday season” as is suggested through its name. That might require some dedicated work to time the blooming correctly. Regardless of that, the plant needs water regularly, and depending on your desire for it to bloom can adapt to different varieties of light environments. More light means more likely to bloom! But even in low light, it’s a great looking plant that beginner plant owners can show off to their friends and family.
10. Jade Plant
Jade plants make a good house plant for beginner plant owners with a medium-level of maintenance required. It’s an attractive plant with thick leaves that have a glossy look which adds some color and life to any room. Jade doesn’t need lots of sunlight so you’ll need a bright room for it to flourish in. Like some plants, Jade has a fine-line balance regarding its watering. If you overwater it, then you risk rotting out its roots and severely hurting the plant. But if you under-water then the leaves can die and fall off. The suggested watering is usually to wait until the soil is dry before watering more, but don’t wait too long once it’s dry. Seems fairly obvious but it’s one plant that you should keep an eye on to keep it beautiful and healthy!
What are your favorite house plants that beginner plant owners could try having? Share them in the comments below!
Featured Image Source: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
I have a passion for helping others and see journalism as a great way to reach and impact many people. Born in Texas but raised in the San Francisco Bay Area! Then with a short detour in Boulder, Colorado to get my bachelor's in Journalism with a minor in political science. I'm a determined, motivated individual striving to make a difference in this world. I have hopes to play a role in the continued development of journalism and in maximizing efforts to inform and inspire the public. Check out my articles on Society19!