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Easy houseplants that help anyone be a plant parent
A leafy green houseplant can breathe fresh air into your home, brightening up your aesthetic and adding a pop of natural beauty. A plant isn’t just an elegant piece of decor, it can also help keep the air in your home clean and fresh.
Of course, we don’t all have the green thumbs to keep a family of flowers alive. If you want to become a plant parent but are worried about accidentally killing something, these nine houseplants are hardy and truly difficult to kill.
In this article: Snake Plant Zeylanica, Golden Pothos and Peace Lily
What makes a houseplant hard to kill?
If hardiness is important when looking for a houseplant, there are a few features you’ll want to prioritize:
Lighting
First, the plant should easily tolerate (and thrive in) the lighting you have. For example, if your living room is east-facing and gets bright, direct sunlight all morning, you’ll want a plant that loves hot, direct light, like a prickly pear cactus. If you’re in an apartment that’s darker or only gets indirect sunlight, choose a low-light plant like a snake plant or a Chinese evergreen.
Watering
Plants can be finicky about the amount of water they tolerate, and some will die with too much hydration, so it’s important to know how often your plant will need a drink. If you travel frequently, opt for a drought-tolerant plant that can go several weeks without water, such as a fiddle leaf fig or jade plant.
Humidity
The humidity level of your home and the climate where you live can also affect a plant’s vitality. Some, like succulents and cacti, like a drier climate. Others, like a peace lily or pothos, like a higher humidity level.
Best hard-to-kill houseplants
This leafy plant is technically a succulent, but it has long, pointy fronds with pretty light and dark green striations. The snake plant can tolerate low light and doesn’t need frequent watering. In fact, according to The Sill, “The easiest way to kill this plant is to over-care for it.”
This is a petite indoor plant with vibrant yellow-green heart-shaped leaves. In the right conditions—it likes low to medium indirect sunlight—a pothos will extend its tendrils into long, winding vines that make beautiful indoor decor.
This is an upright plant with delicate deep green leaves and elegant white flowers. The plant will thrive in low to medium light, and the best part is that it tells you when it needs help. The greens will droop when the roots run dry, and quickly perk back up when its thirst is quenched.
Like all cacti, the prickly pear prefers drier soil, which means you can skip watering for up to three weeks at a time — just give it a drink when the soil goes totally dry. The plant likes bright direct light, but will survive in indirect sunlight.
Monstera Deliciosa (Split Leaf Philodendron)
A monstera has soft, lush heart-shaped leaves that curl open from the stem and can grow larger than your head if the plant is repotted every few years. These plants like medium to bright indirect sunlight and need to be watered about once a week, depending on the humidity in your home. The soil should be kept moist, but not muddy.
If you want a hard-to-kill houseplant with some height, consider a fiddle leaf fig tree. You can find them as short as a foot high and up to 10 feet tall indoors. These hardy trees have sturdy, flat leaves and a thin trunk. They like bright light, but only need watering every one to two weeks.
The leaves on a Chinese evergreen plant are tinged with a pretty pink border, making this one of the more colorful hard-to-kill houseplants. They can tolerate low partial sun and can go several weeks without water.
Jade is a hardy succulent that has its own water reserves, so you can go on a weeks-long vacation without worrying about your plant at home. Jade has soft, rubbery green leaves tinged with red that branch outwards as it grows, rather than up.
As you might expect from the name, this is a stripey plant that calls attention to itself. It has pointy, upright leaves with bright white striations on one side that almost look painted. It needs water every two to three weeks and enjoys bright, indirect sunlight.
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