When I first moved away from home last summer, I was spending much more time by myself in my apartment. In addition to being alone more, my apartment was also really dark because of the tree cover outside. This was starting to affect my mood but I quickly found a few solutions. In addition to adding some decorations, I also purchased a few house plants to spruce things up a bit. Here are ten great plants that you can add to any home to improve your space and your mood.
1. Pothos Jade
The Pothos Jade, also known as Devil's Ivy, is a popular houseplant that thrives in temperate regions. This plant is great for low light environments, as they don't fare well in direct sunlight. This houseplant is really easy to take care of too, as you only need to water it weekly.
2. Snake Plant
The Snake Plant is both a tropical plant and a succulent. They tolerate low light settings but thrive in medium to bright light. These qualities make the plant super hardy and I think, hard to kill. In addition, this plant only needs to be watered every two weeks. The Snake Plant also releases oxygen at night which helps to purify the air, as found in a study conducted by NASA.
3. Bird's Nest Fern
Unlike the Snake Plant, the Bird's Nest Fern is pet-friendly! This plant is great for beginners to and is perfect to add color and texture to any room. This plant only needs medium indirect light and requires weekly watering. These plants are also unique in that they never produce flower or seeds but reproduce using spores. Because of this, this plant can tolerate a moist environment.
4. Succulents
When I first became interested in plant parenthood, I started with succulents. While Florida is really humid, it is also VERY sunny here. Because of this, succulents are relatively easy to take care of as long as you don't over water them or leave them outside in a Florida summer storm. Succulents require bright, direct sunlight and only need to be watered about every two to three weeks in full sun. Succulents don't tolerate humidity too well because they are desert plants. However, don't fear! Place your succulents on a sunny window sill or on a desk that gets a good amount of sunlight.
5. Philodendron Silver
The Philodendron Silver has been used as a houseplant since Victorian times. This plant has beautiful heart-shaped leaves that vary in size with age. This plant should be placed in medium to bright indirect light (not fully direct sunlight) and should be watered weekly. This plant is a trailing plant which means it will develop roots that can attach to wood, walls, and other structural elements especially if in the presence of high humidity. While this plant will do just fine indoors, it would also be great to place on a balcony or porch railing!
6. Peperomia Marble
The Peperomia Marble is another pet-friendly houseplant that is great to keep on a desk! These plants are often confused with succulents because of their hardy leaves. However, these plants require less light and weekly watering. These plants do well in medium to bright indirect light. This plant, like succulents, can also be propagated through leaf-cuttings which is great if you want to start another plant!
7. Monstera
Ah, the Monstera, the plant you see in many drawings and illustrations. This plant is a great houseplant especially because of its intricate leaf shape. This plant needs bright indirect sunlight to thrive and requires watering about every one to two weeks. This plant is nicknamed the 'swiss cheese plant' because of their natural leaf holes. These holes are "theorized to maximize sun fleck capture on the forest floor by increasing the spread of the leaf while decreasing the mass of leaf cells to support."
8. Calathea Medallion
These beautiful plants are nicknamed 'prayer plants' because of the movements they make during the day. They raise and lower their leaves from day to night as a part of their natural rhythm. These plants have adapted to use these movements in order to follow the sun to absorb as much light as possible. The Calathea Medallion requires medium indirect light and weekly watering.
9. ZZ Plant
The Zanzibar Gem is a tropical plant that evolved in drier conditions found in Africa. These plants utilize rhizomes, plant stems that send out roots and shoots, to crawl to new locations. This plant thrives in medium to low indirect light and requires watering every two weeks. If you are a bad plant parent, this plant will forgive you as they tolerate neglect well. This plant is also an air purifier that is specialized in removing toxins in the air. While this plant is beautiful and skillful, don't let children or pets get a nibble as it is poisonous when ingested.
10. Aloe Vera
The Aloe Vera plant is an amazing plant that many Floridians are very familiar with. This plant has been used for medicinal purposes since the time of the Mesopotamians. Aloe Vera was actually used as a preservative for skin during mummification. While you may not be mummifying anything anytime soon, you may want to take advantage of its sunburn-healing properties. This plant requires bright direct sunlight and watering about every two to three weeks.
