Beginner House plants

[KGun12]

Hey everyone! Having just bought a house, I FINALLY have enough spaces near sunlight to be able to have indoor house plants.
But... I know nothing of what types of plants are good for indoors!
I have a 9 month old and what they don't tell you about pregnancy brain is that it never goes away. It just becomes your brain haha. So something that doesn't require watering every day would be great!
Thanks so much for your help

 

[Marck]

The wise course here is to ask you more questions about what kind of plants you want to grow.

However, I will suggest succulents because they enjoy sunny windows and are particularly low maintenance. They are also particularly rewarding for beauty, as their leaves are as ornate as their flowers.

 

[KGun12]

 

[KGun12]

Those are what I have so far. Something that requires just a bit of sun and maybe watering once a week or less Haha
Maybe an indoor tree too? No no, that's far too ambitious right now, I should relax.

 

[Marck]

Peperomia obtusifolia 'Variegata' and Polka-dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) are both commendable choices.
I'm sure you would well with an indoor tree. If you do go shopping for a Ficus, I will recommend Ficus maclellandii 'Alii' over Ficus benjamina for ease of care and adaptation to indoor conditions. Though of course, there are many other possible indoor trees besides Ficus.

 

[GardenOfEnglandGardener]

Pothos plant would seem to be a good house plant? People liked it because it's kind of "unkillable". It can draw moisture in from the air, if I remember rightly. Originally from south Pacific region. Sadly nobody has seen this plant flower in something like sixty years, even though it can flower.

Further reading:

How to care for golden pothos (devil's ivy)

All you need to know about growing golden pothos (devil's ivy), in our detailed Grow Guide.

www.gardenersworld.com

Cool video on it:

The Common Houseplant That Hasn’t Flowered in Almost 60 Years​

 

[Marck]

That is an interesting video article. One point that wasn't mentioned was somatic mutations. Plants don't need to have sex to change there genetic code, though it does help. Somatic mutations are genetic changes that happen anywhere on an organism except the reproductive germ line. Even in horticulture, there are a number of known cultivars, and likely there are many more somatic mutations that are not so readily visible, but can still affect natural selection, or atificial selection. So Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum, not to be confused with the genus Pothos) are not so genetically static as the video might suggest. ...and yes, animals can and do get somatic mutations as well, but they are more likely to be deleterious. For example, we call some of these mutations 'cancer'.

Post-script: 'gasp' an Epipremnum aureum in southern Florida flowered and fruited this year, 2021. Who knows? Maybe that was due to a somatic mutation. Picture Follows.

 

[GardenOfEnglandGardener]

Further to my post above about pathos plants, I just had another idea for an easy houseplant: a pineapple.

Now hear me out. It's inexpensive because all one has to do is cut the top off of a store purchased pineapple, which, I hear, is actually what farmers do to make new pineapple plants for themselves. The hard part is actually eating the pineapple, because those are hard fruits to cut I find.

What one should do is, cut the green top off (getting rid of any yellow flesh) and leave it in a container of water until it makes roots. Once it's rooting, you can happily put in soil. After maybe three years or so, it should bear fruit for you. Far cheaper than buying a pineapple plant from somewhere like eBay.

Here is the obligatory 'here is one I made earlier' (along with Pathos plant behind it):

If you need it, here is a good video explanation I found:

Spoiler: Quote

That is an interesting video article. One point that wasn't mentioned was somatic mutations. Plants don't need to have sex to change there genetic code, though it does help. Somatic mutations are genetic changes that happen anywhere on an organism except the reproductive germ line. Even in horticulture, there are a number of known cultivars, and likely there are many more somatic mutations that are not so readily visible, but can still affect natural selection, or atificial selection. So Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum, not to be confused with the genus Pothos) are not so genetically static as the video might suggest. ...and yes, animals can and do get somatic mutations as well, but they are more likely to be deleterious. For example, we call some of these mutations 'cancer'.

Post-script: 'gasp' an Epipremnum aureum in southern Florida flowered and fruited this year, 2021. Who knows? Maybe that was due to a somatic mutation. Picture Follows.

True! The video was not not supposed to be exaustive by any means, as I assume it's aimed at a younger audience. Thanks for sharing photograph. Weirdly shaped flowers.

 

[Marck]

Yes, I've cultivated new plants from store-bought pineapple (Ananas comosus) too. I have one I've over wintered for several years and never divided. The clump is almost three feet wide and tall. It did flower and produce one small pineapple last year. As it approached ripeness something (a rat? a squirrel?) came along and ate it... I will add that it is preferable to just twist off the topknot of leaves from the pineapple rather than cut it.

 

[cpp gardener]

Peperomias are great. Most will grow almost anywhere. Polka-dot plants are a pain. They need extremely bright light to maintain the dots and hate to get dry. Succulents ONLY work in very bright windows that face South and/or West.

Easier ones are:

Philodendrons
Peace Lilies - Spathyphyllum.
Scheffleras
Sansevieria - Greatest houseplant alive!
Dracaenas
Some palms: Kentia and Chamaedorea are the easiest. Stay away from Majesty Palm, they never survive.
Hoya - they don't call them Wax Plant for nothing
Zamioculcus zamiifolia - the ZZ plant
Monstera
Syngonium

There are no plants that need to be watered every day, they all need to dry out at least a little. Stick your finger into the soil to determine if the plant needs water. Each one is different depending on species, age, humidity, soil, light, nutrient levels, temperature and so on. Eventually you find what works for your plant in your house. The way I care for them is to visit once a week to check moisture and health and then enjoy the view until the next week. This avoids the 'Helicopter effect'; the tendency to fret over every single spot, wrinkle, fuzzy, 'not what you expect', thing that comes along. Houseplants are for enjoying, not obsessing over.