So you’re ready to become a plant mom. While nowhere near as difficult as real parenthood, successfully growing and maintaining houseplants is no small feat. However, there’s nothing like the pride of showcasing a thriving fiddle leaf fig in your living room to all your guests. If one of your New Year Resolutions is to graduate from succulents and cacti and foster more extravagant plants, we’ve rounded up the best house plants that will make your green thumb glow all year long!
Monstera (Swiss Cheese Plant)
In our humble opinion, this house plant is incredibly Instagram-able and makes for a lovely living room addition! The textured leaves add great character to a room while the moderate height adds the perfect amount of depth to a blank corner. Taking care of this plant is rather simple. It just needs an interior temperature of at least 65 degrees and high humidity. So, since we live in the south, this box is automatically checked off. Other than that, simply water your monstera frequently so that the soil is consistently damp and gets filtered sunlight and viola! Say hello to a beautiful plant that’s easy to care for.
Viper’s Bowstring (Mother-In-Law’s Tongue, Snake Plant)
Out of all the house plants, this one is probably the easiest to care for. On the care spectrum, it’s up there with succulents. In other words, it can be neglected for weeks at a time and still thrive. So if you’re notorious for killing plants, start off with a snake plant! This two-toned colored plant has leaves that reach up towards the sky and offer height to a small or moderate-size space. We’ve mentioned this plant in previous blogs, but its fun appearance and easy care make it worth mentioning again! All you have to do is let the soil dry between waterings and place in indirect light. Bonus: During the winter, you only have to water this guy about once a month! Sign us up for a few!
(Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272678952425525494/)
Bird’s Nest Fern
The leaves on this fern resemble curly lettuce leaves which add beautiful texture and a vibrant pop of greenery to any space. They are naturally found in rainforests, so in terms of watering, make sure the soil is always moist but not oversaturated. The spoon-shaped fronds on the bird’s nest fern thrive best when exposed to filtered or indirect light. Since these are rainforest natives, putting it on the bathroom window sill is ideal since it will be exposed to high humidity and warmth. Plus, you’ll have a lovely authentic addition to your bathroom space.
Devil’s Ivy
Native to the islands of French Polynesia, Devil’s Ivy is pest and disease resistant and can be grown both indoors and outdoors. To give you an accurate sense of how resilient this plant it, it can freeze to the ground in the winter and come back to life in the spring. Apparently this plant thrives by neglect. Who knew? If you want a plant that is impossible to kill yet looks delicate and adds incredible texture and volume to your space, choose Devil’s Ivy! Simply place this vine in a space that gets adequate filtered light and water about once a week in spring, summer and fall and once every other week in winter.
Fiddle Leaf Fig
Ah, the fiddle leaf fig. A beautiful houseplant that always looks straight out of an interior design magazine. Unfortunately, keeping these lovely trees alive isn’t as easy as we’d always like. We’ll give you some pro-tips for this delicate tree. To start with, since they’re so finicky, we recommend buying an inexpensive version. While many places charge up to $150 for this tree (we know, wow), you find smaller, less mature fiddle leaf figs for closer to $25. We’re not saying that you can’t successfully nurture a fiddle leaf fig, but we are saying they’re notorious for dying by just a fraction of light change, humidity, or watering, so we suggest getting an inexpensive one to start with. If your fig tree does start to die, chop off the top portion of the trunk. It’s okay, it should (if it likes you) sprout back from the top. Most indoor environments have a humidity level of 10. The fiddle leaf fig thrives in levels of 65, far balmier than anyone would want their home to be. So, if you’re feeling all sorts of love towards your fig tree, place a humidifier near it, or at least mist it frequently. If all else fails, fake it until you make it with a faux fiddle leaf fig tree.
Will you be a new plant mom in 2020? For more tips on keeping your new plant-children alive, check out some of our previous blogs! And, don’t forget to stop into our shop for helpful tips and a wide selection of popular house plants.