Easy Care and Heart Breaker Houseplants

By Master Gardener C. Rae Hozer, MGardenerRae@frontiernet.net

Some indoor plants are easier to maintain than others. Expect minimum care houseplants grown in a good soil-less potting mix with the right amount of water and fertilizer that receive correct lighting to stay handsome and healthy for a number of years.

Unfortunately many people have bad experiences with houseplants that don’t survive typically dry indoor air during the heating season. Some species sold as indoor plants are infamous for quickly losing their good looks if not kept in a humid greenhouse-like environment. Without misting or similar humidifying measures, death soon follows. These short-lived houseplants may last a bit longer if moved to a shady spot outdoors after night time low temperatures warm to consistently at or above 60°F, but when brought back indoors in the fall to avoid cold, expect to see their health rapidly decline. 

Particularly problematic are flowering plants sold by florist shops as gifts. After the plant bites the dust, the gift recipient feels bad about their inability to maintain a once live, green Easter or Mother’s Day present. Don’t blame yourself or decide your thumbs are brown not green, when heart breakers like potted azaleas, hydrangeas, flowering begonias, cyclamens, gloxinias and red flowering Anthuriums perish. Equally bad indoor foliage plants include the zebra plant (Aphelandra), coleus, croton (Codiaeum), and maidenhair fern (Adiantum).

Whether a beginning indoor gardener or one with lots of experience, I suggest picking mostly easy care foliage plants. They don’t depend on blossoms for good looks. Their leaf shapes and colors are decorative year round. With minimum effort on your part these good performers will build confidence and satisfaction in raising houseplants. 

Here is my easy-to-grow houseplant list:  1. cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) 2. Boston fern (Nephrolepis exalta ‘Bostoniensis’) 3. Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum) 4.Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum ‘variegatum’ has white stripes along outer edges with green at the center of each leaf, C. comosum ’vittatum’ has a white stripe mid-leaf and green edges) 5. Dieffenbachia (dumb cane)  6. Dracaenas (cornstalk dracaena, Dracaena fragrans ’Massangeana’, Dracaena deremensis ‘Janet Craig’, and Dracaena deremensis ’Warneckii’)  6. Maranta (prayer plant)  7. Monstera (Ceriman) 8. Philodendron species (heart-leaf Philodendron scandens ‘oxycardium’ and other types) 9. pothos (Scindapsus aureua)  10. snake plant with horizontally-striped green leaves (Sanssevaria trifasciata is taller and S. ‘Hahnii’ shorter with a birdnest form) and 11. peace lily (Spathiphyllum ’Mauna Loa’).

Most of my long time resident houseplants are members of this easy-to-maintain group. They grow well in bright, indirect sunlight near north-facing windows in my living room or dining room. Light requirements differ slightly from plant to plant but none of these easy care plants would be happy sitting right next to a window with a southern exposure on a sunny day. It would be too hot and too bright for them without blinds or curtains. I also have a croton with bright orange markings on large green leaves that has been with me since Christmas. It requires special handling. Crotons crave moist air, warmth and bright indirect light. This croton’s pot is perched on the base of a tall stone fountain with lots of other potted plants surrounding it. (Closely grouped plants keep humidity in the immediate area high.)  

Plateau Gardening is written by Master Gardeners for those tending home landscapes and gardens in Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland Region. UT Extension Cumberland County at P.O. Box 483, Crossville, TN 38557 (931-484-6743) has answers for horticulture questions, free publications and details on how to become a Master Gardener. Send email comments or yard & garden inquiries to Master Gardener Rae, mgardenerrae@frontiernet.net.