5 Easy Indoor Plants

Growing up, my mom always had lots of indoor plants that thrived in the house and seemed so easy to keep up with. On occasion, she would ask me to help water them, but I never really learned much about how to take care of them myself. Fast forward many years later, I’m in my own home, and killing plants left and right. I discovered that every fancy plant I saw at the home improvement store or nursery was not so easy to care for. I had 5 empty planters because the plants I had did not make it. I needed to find about 5 easy indoor plants if they would survive past a month or two.

Since we moved into our current place a couple of years ago, I had yet to replant the planters I had indoors with new plants. Sad, but true. This week – yesterday actually – I decided to go forth and conquer some new easy house plants. Here are the 5 easy indoor plants that I chose, and why they might be a good choice for you as well.

1. Aloe. Aloe plants or Aloe Vera plants are very easy to grow, as long as you follow their rules. Aloes are succulents, so they need lots of bright light but not too much water. Make sure to water the soil until drenched, but allow for lots of drainage, as succulents don’t fancy standing water. Let the soil get completely dry before watering again.
2. Stonecrop, or Sedum. There are tons of varieties of Stonecrop, or Sedum, plants to choose from. They are succulents as well, so you care for them the same way as the aloe plant. That’s why I chose to put them in a planter together. One cool thing about Stonecrop is that it is very easy to propagate, or grow new plants. 
3. Dracaena ‘Lemon Lime’. The drama of this variety of the Dracaena would make it appear hard to care for, but this is one of the easiest plants to take care of. They tolerate low light, as well as a forgetful gardener who doesn’t water her plants as often as she should. The colorful yellow and green foliage brightens up any corner, as these leaves grow up to two feet long. The entire plant can grow 5′-10′ tall. Since the leaves are kinda large, they collect dust which isn’t good for their health. Just wipe them down with a soft cloth so that the pores are free of dust. This allows for it to do its air cleansing. The leave will also tell you how well you are caring for this plant. If the leaves start to brown – too much light. If the leaves lose their color – not enough light.
4. Dracaena ‘Janet Craig Compacta’. This Dracaena has solid deep green foliage, perfect for a space that has decor with lots of pattern or color variations. The care is the same as mentioned above, so again, I put them in a pot together. Another reason is that this particular variety of the Dracaena only grows to about a foot or so tall. But I’m sure in a couple of years, I’ll need to repot them and one will probably have to move in a planter of its own.
5. Alocasia or Elephant Ear. By looking at its foliage, you can tell where the Alocasia plant gets its name ‘elephant ear’ from. While this plant does care about its care, and will die if not care for properly, you just have to give it what it likes. An area with indirect bright light but not too dark is ideal. When it comes to watering, you want to keep the roots moist but not soggy – so water little but often. Not hard at all once you know what to do. And with this leaves, its worth the extra attention to detail.

I’m so excited about how these planters turned out. Nothing like some live greenery to really wake up your space, especially if it’s small. Not to mention the air cleansing benefits. Now let’s see if I can keep these babies thriving like Barbara Jean (that’s my mom).

Do you have any easy indoor plants that I should try? Besides these 5 easy indoor plants, I have one more planter left and I’m not sure what to chose. It will go in my bedroom which gets medium to low light, and the planter is about 8″ tall and 6″ wide. I’d love to hear what you’d recommend that I try in the comments. – TTYL, Jonna 🙂