If you just don’t feel confident raising your own plants and seem to kill every green thing you come in contact with, I’m here to solve your problems and share with you my top choices of the 3 easiest house plants anyone can keep alive. I’ll be covering which plants to start with, when to water, how to propagate and where you can buy your own indoor plants.

A LITTLE BACK STORY… WHERE MY HOUSE PLANT OBSESSION ALL STARTED

I’m one of those people that likes to buy more houseplants than I have room for in my house. My addiction started towards the end of my senior year when I decided to skip class one Friday and take myself on a little trip to the Home Depot garden center. I became the proud owner of a few succulents and cacti that day – things were never the same. I still have those succulents today along with many more plants that I love as much as I love my cat.

BUT WHICH HOUSE PLANTS SHOULD I BUY FIRST?

Pothos: the pothos is my plant that just keeps on giving. Not only are there countless varieties of this plant that come in various shades of green and yellow, but they are so simple to care for! I acquired my first pothos plant after I broke off a stem from a friend’s plant. More on propagation later. After a few weeks in some fresh water, the stem had sprouted long roots and I transferred it to its very own pot of dirt. This baby sprouts 2-3 leaves every week! When I broke the stem off, it only had 5 leaves and was only a few inches long. Now, a few months later, it has close to 40 leaves, is almost 5 feet long and isn’t stopping any time soon! Mine is on a shelf near the window, but pothos can truly survive anywhere. Until a few days ago, it was in a hanging planter. I say “was” because I woke up to find out it had fallen out of the cieling :)))))) Thankfully it was still in a plastic pot and was easily moved to a floating shelf.

Pothos do especially well in bathrooms because of the humid air. They are pretty carefree and only require one watering a week. If you happen to forget the weekly watering sesh, don’t fret! Pothos are resilient and the leaves will perk back up after receiving some water. If you notice that the leaves are starting to yellow, this is a sign of too much water. The dirt should be totally dried out in between waterings, so aim to water every 7-10 days to avoid root rot.  

THAT SOUNDS NICE, BUT WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING I RARELY HAVE TO WATER?

Snake plant: this bad boy is what I like to call my most independent child. You could forget your snake plant in a dark closet for 6 months and when you came back to it, it would be just as good as when you put it in there. I’ve gone as long as 3 months without watering mine and it thrives. Snake plants are perfect if you don’t get much light in your home. They are super resilient and it takes a lot to kill them. This would be my top recommendation if you are a first time plant parent – they are super cool looking and the easiest plant to take care of. While they can survive months without water, more frequent watering will result in new, cute little growths. I water my snake plant once every 2-3 weeks.

MAYBE SOMETHING A LITTLE LARGER… A STATEMENT PLANT IF YOU WILL

Monstera: if you have an empty corner in your house that’s too small for furniture and too big it just looks awkward, may I recommend a monstera? These babies give a beautiful tropical vibe to any space. They can also grow to be pretty large so they are great for filling that random space in your home. Like the pothos, they don’t require much watering. Mine is watered once a week and gets the occasional spritz of water on its leaves. Also like the pothos, it is so easily propagated. This means that you can break off a stem of this plant, place it in a glass of water and it will grow roots to become its own plant. Like any plant with large leaves, it is important to regularly wipe the dust off of the monstera leaves to prevent dust mites. Take a damp cloth or paper towel and gently wipe the top and underside of each monstera leaf. This will keep your plant looking vibrant and beautiful!

NOW WHAT WERE YOU SAYING ABOUT PROPAGATING HOUSE PLANTS??

If you really don’t have much confidence in yourself with keeping your plant family alive, find friends who have easily propagated plants and get some clippings to test it out before you decide to invest in a $50 monstera or an expensive (but beautiful) fiddle leaf fig. Plants that I have easily propagated are succulents, pothos, and monstera! When you are selecting a stem to break off of the mother plant, you want to locate what is called the node. The node is a little notch on the stem of the plant (pictured below).

You will want to cut the stem below the node. The node is where the new roots will grow. To create a bountiful new plant, you will want to cut 3-4 stems below the nodes, place them in a jar of water. Make sure the nodes are under water. I like to refresh the water in the jar one per week. After about 2-3 weeks, some new roots will have sprouted and you can place the bundle of stems in a new pot of dirt! If you have never propagated a plant before, I like to wait until the roots are about 3-4 inches long (about the length of your middle finger) before planting them in the dirt.

OKAY, ANNA, YOU’VE CONVINCED ME. NOW WHERE SHOULD I BUY MY FIRST INDOOR PLANT?

Excellent question! For your every day common house plants, Home Depot is a great place to start. They usually have a wide variety of succulents, cacti, pothos and more to get you started. The prices at Home Depot are usually pretty affordable, so it won’t be too big of an investment. Check back throughout the year to see new seasonal plants every few months.

For more unique plant species, I recommend checking out local garden centers. If you are local to South Florida like me, my FAVORITE garden centers are Amelia’s Smarty Plants on South Dixie and Johnny Mango’s in Delray Beach.

If you don’t have any neat garden centers nearby, check out The Sill for your online plant shopping needs! They have A TON of different plants and lots of indoor plant education. The Spruce is also an amazing resource for plant education and answering any questions you will ever have.

YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY TO BECOMING A THRIVING INDOOR PLANT PARENT

Once you get that first little plant, I promise you will be hooked. Soon you will find yourself spending every free moment walking the local garden shops trying to find a new plant to add to your collection. Eventually you will have so many that you have to hire a full time plant babysitter when you go out of town because imagining your plant babies dying while you are gone is just too much… tell me I can’t be the only one.. right???

HAVE NO FEAR – FRUITS AND VEGGIES ARE ALSO HERE

I currently have about 6 mini pots with little bell pepper sprouts in random places around my house and a trough of thriving sweet potatoes that I am soooo excited about. I started out with 14 bell pepper seedlings, but the landscapers in my neighborhood love to come on my porch and weedwhack them, so unfortunately a few were not able to be recovered. Stay tuned for a full round up of my experience growing produce from seeds, coming soon!

HOUSE PLANTS DON’T HAVE TO BE INTIMIDATING

I promise that plants aren’t as intimidating as they may seem. There are definitely some finicky little things out there, but there are just as many easy to care for houseplants. They’re just waiting to come home with you to start purifying your air and filling your heart with unexplainable joy at their little green leaves. 

I have a full Instagram post talking about some of my favorite plants in my house that you can read here. I’m always buying and growing new things so there’s lots more plant chat where this came from.

Are you also a house plant addict? Tell me your favorite house plants so I can add them to my own collection! My dream one day is to have a house and yard full of beautiful unique plants, fruits and vegetables.

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