Love houseplants, but already have more than enough to do without adding labor-intensive plant care to your schedule? Fortunately, not every indoor plant requires a complicated care routine. Some of the most popular and attractive houseplants require very minimal care and basically thrive on being all but ignored. Sound intriguing? Discover 12 beautiful houseplants that get our vote for being ultra-low maintenance, then choose your favorites to bring into your home.
12 Low-Maintenance Indoor Plants: A Quick Overview
Ready to enhance your decor with the beauty - and air purification benefits - of houseplants? Beautify and boost the air quality of your indoor living space with one (or more!) of these 12 very low-maintenance plants.
6 Lovely Easy Care Trailing Plants
Want to add a pop of greenery to a shelf, armoire, entertainment center, or dresser? Love the idea of enhancing your interior decor with a hanging basket? Consider these low-maintenance trailing plants.
Burro's Tail
If you have a sunny area appropriate for a trailing plant, burro's tail (Sedum morganianum), also referred to as donkey's tail or horse's tail, is a lovely low-maintenance plant. This succulent has trailing stems surrounded by leaves that somewhat resemble the tails of horses and donkeys. This plant will thrive as long as it gets plenty of bright indirect light and is allowed to dry out between waterings.
Grape Ivy
Grape ivy (Cissus rhombifolia) is a lovely trailing houseplant in the same family as grapevines, but it is not a fruiting plant. It will grow in any indoor light condition, from sunny areas that get bright filtered light to low-light locations. This plant likes moist soil, so you should water it as soon as the dirt starts to dry out from the previous watering.
Pothos
Pothos plants (Epipremnum aureum), also called devil's ivy, do well in just about any indoor light condition, ranging from bright indirect light to low light. They don't even require soil; you can actually grow pothos indefinitely in a glass or vase of water. Just change the water periodically. If you do plant your pothos in soil, let it dry out before adding more water, which you'll need to do every week or two.
Spider Plant
Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) have long trailing frond-like stems that produce mini spider plants that you can leave as they are or use to propagate more spider plants. They need a good bit of bright to moderate filtered sunlight. They should be watered as soon as the soil turns from moist to dry, which is generally about once per week.
Philodendron
Looking for a trailing plant for a location that gets bright indirect light? That's exactly where philodendron plants will thrive. These plants simply need to be watered every week or two, once the soil dries out a bit. Don't wait too long - add water as soon as the soil is no longer moist. Philodendrons do tend to grow very long, so you may need to prune them occasionally. Just snip some off and, if you want, root the cutting in water to propagate.
Necklace Vine
Necklace vine (Ceropegia woodii), also commonly called string of hearts, also likes to grow in bright, indirect light. This plant is a succulent, so it should be watered only when the soil is completely dry. It produces tubers at the base of its leaves, which you can press into the soil to root and produce new plants that can stay where they are (if there's room in the container) or be transplanted.
6 Awesome Low-Maintenance Upright Plants
Prefer a potted plant with an upright growing habit? The selections below grow upwards and tend to be taller than they are wide. Each requires only minimal maintenance.
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller), often referred to as a burn plant, is a very low-maintenance plant that grows well indoors as long as you put it in an area where it gets plenty of bright, indirect light. The only attention this popular succulent needs is to be watered thoroughly when its soil completely dries out.
Bar Room Plant
Bar room plant (Aspidistra elatior), also commonly known as cast iron plant, is a super low-maintenance indoor plant that does best in moderate to low-light conditions. This plant needs to dry out completely between waterings, so you'll only need to water it when the top two inches of soil are dry.
Jade
If you're looking for a small indoor plant for a sunny spot in your home, a jade plant (Crassula ovata) is a great option. With proper placement, jade is a lucky plant in feng shui. To care for jade, which is a succulent, you just need to water the plant every few weeks, as soon as the soil becomes dry to the touch.
Money Tree
Like the idea of an easy-care plant that'll bring you luck, but want a tall indoor plant? Bring a money tree into your home. In feng shui, this plant is known for bringing wealth and prosperity. Indoor money trees typically reach six to eight feet in height. Put it where it'll get bright indirect light and water it as soon as the soil dries out.
Snake Plant
Snake plants (Sansevieria) require very little care at all. They thrive in all kinds of light conditions, from bright indirect sunlight to almost no light. You should water snake plants only when the soil is very dry, which is usually every two weeks or so, but it can be up to a month. You'll know that you waited too long to add water if the leaves start to curl inward.
ZZ Plant
ZZ plants (Zamioculcas zamiifolia), also referred to as Zanzibar gems, thrive in indirect sunlight, but they also do fine in very low-light areas. They will even do well in windowless offices. Water ZZ plants only when completely dry, which is generally every two to four weeks. The more light they get, the more often they'll need water.
Easy Care Houseplants for Indoor Growing Success
Growing houseplants doesn't have to be complicated. Just choose low-maintenance plants like the ones above, and you'll be able to enjoy the beauty and air-purifying benefits of houseplants in your home with almost no effort. If you want to add multiple houseplants to your home, make things as easy as possible for yourself by choosing plants that have very similar maintenance needs. That way, you can get into a simple routine of watering everything all at once, then forgetting about your plants until it's time to repeat. A simple calendar reminder will keep you on track. A few times each year, boost watering with a liquid houseplant fertilizer to maximize the health of your plants.
