If you’re like me have more of a brown thumb (alot of my green plants have dried up and turned ashy brown), you might really like this post. Even though faux plants are great too, I think caring and keeping a few plants alive brings me more joy haha so I came up with my go-to list of the top 10 easy houseplants!
Decorating with plants is always a part of my design plans and that almost always includes these top common house plants. They liven up a room and help improve and purify our air. (If you’re currently decorating, see my post on apartment living room ideas for 2024)!
My best tip by the way to keeping plants alive, is to wait until they’ve fully dried out before watering them again. Sometimes instructions will say water once weekly but if I see that the soil is still kind of moist (you can poke a finger in), then definitely don’t water it yet! This will prevent root rot.
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The Top 10 House Plants – Air Purifying and Hard to Kill!
Spider Plant
I recommend this to everyone starting out with trying to keep plants alive indoors. These are super easy to keep alive for a few reasons. They don’t need direct sunlight and can survive on a bi-weekly water cycle. They can grow in various conditions, plus they grow fairly fast (and you can start to propagate pretty fast too)! That’s my kind of plant.
Peace Lily
Peace Lily is one of the top plants for fighting indoor air pollution, plus they’re super elegant to have inside your home. You can have multiple in various areas and mix it up by placing them at various heights.
The best part is that they’re also super easy to grow and maintain. They can thrive in the shade. But unlike the spider plant, you’ll need to water your Peace Lily weekly for good results (or less often, depending on the humidity levels in your home). When this plant starts to get thirsty, it will let you KNOW. It’s a very dramatic plant haha, it’ll look like it’s been neglected for ages but as soon as you water it, it’ll start to perk up in no time!
Always check the soil before watering your house plants to ensure it has thoroughly dried out and the plant does need more water.
Aloe Vera
The uses for aloe vera seem just about endless, and it’s always a good thing to have around just in case. It’s recommended that you only water your aloe plant every 3 weeks and even less in winter months!
There are a ton of great apps for both Android and Iphone offering water reminders and tips on keeping certain plants alive. A plant like the Aloe Vera succulent may be an easy one to forget to water on time (since you really don’t have to water it often at all), so reminders like this would be very helpful!
Pothos
The pothos, or devils ivy, is a beautiful and popular indoor house plant. You can get them with various variegations (the light colored patterns on the plant like shown below). These easily grow in all light conditions, making them perfect to put in any corner of your home. They grow really well too and you can get those viney long pieces to drape down over a shelf or a hanging pot. It’s such a staple plant!
However, they do need a bit more light than the previous two plants mentioned. You will likely need to water your pathos plant about once a week or once every two weeks. Again, check the soil and the amount of light your specific plant gets and adjust your watering schedule accordingly.
Snake Plant
Another one of the most popular indoor beginner-friendly house plants to grow. They are extremely tolerant of low water and low light. Making them easier to grow and maintain.
Again, these will need to be watered just about once a week but can do well with once every week and a half up to two weeks.
I keep a snake plant in my bathroom and another one by my laptop, it gets a good amount of light so it does need to be watered more often. It is a very resilient and beautiful plant.
Dracaena
(Sorry! Couldn’t find a real plant link to add so it’s just an artificial one for example)
Like the rest on this list, the dracaena doesn’t require much sunlight and only needs moderate water to survive. But it is also one of the most effective plants when it comes to air purification.
Dracaena trees would be a beautiful addition to any family room. Ensure never to let the soil stay soggy but they will thrive with more often watering.
Weeping Fig
DO NOT get a fiddle leaf fig tree if you’re prone to killing plants. Those things just require too much attention. This fig plant however, is a lot easier to handle. It thrives in more direct sunlight, so it is best placed near a south-facing window in your home.
This may not a good plant if you have pets around, because it can be toxic along with a few others on this list. It is always safe to say keep plants out of reach of small children and pets and always look into whether a plant will be toxic for any house pets.
They do enjoy higher humidity as well, which would make them excellent plants to place in your bathroom. However, mistings will also work just as well.
English Ivy
This plant is a fantastic air purifier! It is perfect for those in heavily populated areas because it can soak up carcinogens, so if you live in an apartment building with smokers, or smoke yourself, this is great at absorbing some unwanted toxins in the air.
These grow best in direct sunlight. This plant needs to be watered more often, check to make sure the soil is slightly moist but not soggy.
Chinese Evergreen
The aglaonema, or Chinese evergreen, is another one of the easiest plants to decide where to place it, as it can do good anywhere in your home with indirect light.
This plant also prefers humid air, occasional misting can do the trick just fine! It is another tolerant plant making it adaptable to most conditions.
ZZ Plant
I couldn’t find an online shop link for a real ZZ plant, but this guy is super easy to take care of!
Sometimes I honestly forget to water my ZZ plant for over a month and it’s doing just fine. I think you’d actually have to be careful not to over-water! It does okay in low light but it would prefer good amount of indirect light.
Final Thoughts
If you’re like me and need hard to kill plus air purifying house plants, I hope you found this list helpful and soon bring home some new plant babies to try raising yourself!
With these common house plants that are easy to grow, easy to maintain, and hard to kill anyone can add these to their home! Add that natural element to any space in your home with these great options, and have fun with different potters. Plus, get the added benefit of purifying the air in your home!
Warmly,
Abbey
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve recently gotten into indoor plants, and I’ve been looking for plants that are hard to kill and are great for beginners. I’ll keep the plants you mentioned in mind next time I’m looking to grow my collection.
Glad you found it helpful!