Some of the Best Plants to Grow Indoors
Houseplants are a very popular addition to our homes these days and they are only becoming more popular as buyers demand ever more interesting cultivars. These days plants are bred commercially on such a large scale that they are much more affordable than they have ever been before, and the rise in air freight makes it easier to transport plants from breeders to markets all over the world which makes for an exciting industry with lots of choice for consumers.
There are several benefits to having living plants in the home that makes them much more than a simple interior design choice. For starters, houseplants take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen which helps to keep the air in our homes fresher. They are also capable of removing toxins from the air and helping to contribute to a healthier indoor environment within the home.
The benefits of keeping houseplants don’t end there. There have been lots of studies into the effects that houseplants have on us in terms of our mood and mental state. Simply spending a few minutes tending to our houseplants can have calming and relaxing effects on us. It can help to reduce our cortisol levels and makes us feel good. In fact, the act of caring for a living thing, no matter plant or animal, can be deeply rewarding.
Spider plants
These tough little plants are able to withstand all kinds of mistreatment. They can adapt to a range of moisture levels without being killed off, so don’t worry if you under or overwater your spider plant every now and then. Spider plants are best known for how they reproduce, creating clones of themselves that are borne on long stems coming from the base of the parent plant. These can be snipped off once they are a little larger and potted up to create many new plants that you can give to your family of friends.
Rubber plants
With their thick, attractive foliage that can be glossed to a highly polished finish or can even be painted in stunning variegated colours, are an excellent plant to grow indoors. They have large, broad leaves that add structure, and some varieties grow tall while others grow out, and may need an aggressive pruning now and then to keep them under control.
Philodendron
The philodendron is an attractive vining plant that is very versatile. It can be grown in soil, in leca, or in a hydroponic system and will be perfectly happy. There are many different varieties to choose from and some are more sought after and expensive than others. The great thing about philodendron plants is that they are extremely low maintenance as long as you are somewhat in control of the water levels, and they are extremely easy to propagate. If you want to grow clones of your philodendron, all you need to do is take a cutting a few centimetres below a leaf node, and either put it in water just covering the node by a centimetre or two, or stick it in some soil past the node and keep it a little damp until it takes root.
Crassula
These petite plants are sometimes confused with cacti, but they are in fact a type of succulent. Their fleshy leaves and stems act as a water storage facility which makes the plants much more drought tolerant than other kinds of plants, though they do tend to take a little more water than your average cactus. There are many weird and wonderful varieties of crassula you can buy everywhere from garden centres to DIY stores, to specialist online stores that tend to carry more unusual specimens.
Fiddle leaf figs
You will have seen these gorgeous plants splashed all over social media pages in recent years, and though the trend has become quieter in recent months, the fiddle leaf fig is still very much in fashion. These are not the easiest plants to look after and it can be a little tricky to keep them healthy and looking their best, but if you take good care of them they will reward you with some of the most beautiful and dramatic foliage imaginable. They can grow very large, so be sure you have the right space for one of these, unless you buy a small specimen to start with and keep on top of pruning it.