What kind of indoor plant do I want?

February 6, 2013 1:03 PM

I have always been one of those "I have no green thumb" type people, but now I want an indoor plant for my NYC apartment. Specifics inside.

I want plants (at least one) for my light filled (one wall of floor to ceiling windows) apartment in NYC. I've never been great with indoor plants or liked them much, but now I want one. I have pretty bad tree and grass pollen allergies, but my understanding is there are low allergen indoor trees, if trees are an option. I'm not super into flowers but could consider it.

I also have two super adorable very beloved cats who must not be made ill, dead, injured, annoyed, anxious, or otherwise bothered by the plant. This is very important.

I have overall a very minimal design aesthetic, but don't want the plant to look either too hippie-ish or too "officey."

posted by sweetkid to home & garden (31 answers total)

I don't know how well they go with cats, but my incredibly-un-green-thumbed friend went into a shop and asked for something easy about 10 years ago. He walked out with a pretty rubber tree (the plant that makes rubber, not a plastic plant) that he has yet to manage to kill. In the meantime he's tried many other plants and killed them all, but the rubber tree goes on. I pruned it a little bit, but otherwise it's very tolerant of watering issues.

If it turns out a rubber tree isn't good with cats, you might try going to a nice flower/plant shop and seeking their advice. They certainly steered him in the right direction.
posted by ldthomps at 1:07 PM on February 6

Important questions that will affect the answer:

1. How many hours of direct light does this window get?

2. What cardinal direction does the light come from?

Those two things have a HUGE impact on your choice. I've found that even if you do have a sunny window, if the window faces north it's still not as bright as if that window were facing east, so if you put something that really loved sun in that window it still wouldn't do as well.

IF your windows face either east or west, and you do a lot of cooking, a little herb garden may not be a bad idea; stick to the woodier herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano, or thyme and you can also get away without a lot of watering. (I've got a decent-sized rosemary and a thyme in the same window box, and a sage was also in the box with them until it died of old age; I got away with watering the whole box only once a week.) Rosemary in particular can be quite attractive - your snipping off sprigs to cook with effectively does the pruning, and you can intentionally snip it into a topiary shape while you're at it over time. Or let it grow as it will, and the pruning will eventually sort of make it look like a bonsai.

And those particular herbs are not only cat-safe, but my own cat didn't seem very interested in them anyway.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:19 PM on February 6

I too lack a green thumb but have had great luck with "mother in law tongue" (weird name but also known as "snake plant" apparently). Mine is very robust and does not seem to be affected by my over- or under-watering (as other plants have suffered). I have it about 8 feet away from a window but my friend has hers right in a window and it does fine too. I am pretty sure it is non-toxic to cats and either way, it's the only one of my plants my cat has never been tempted to chew on. I think they are pretty cool-looking too and would work well with your minimalist thing.

Also, if I had as much light as it sounds like you do I would go for succulents. They're all-the-rage right now and nearly impossible to kill (unless you keep them in a cold dark room, I'd think).

To play it safe, I'd take a picture of your set-up with your phone, make a note of what direction the window is facing, and go into a plant store. In my experience they have always been very enthusiastic to give suggestions.
posted by lovableiago at 1:22 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

The windows face south.
posted by sweetkid at 1:25 PM on February 6

I am reasonably good with plants -- now.

Back when I was NOT reasonably good with plants, I STILL found it nearly impossible to kill either a spider plant or a pothos (aka "devil's ivy").
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:26 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Start with something hard to kill - Aloe is nearly impossible to kill and is good for your air (bonus that you can break off some and use it on a sunburn), succulents are hard to kill as long as they get enough light, peace lilies are pretty hard to kill.

One good way of finding the right plant is to go to the plant store (a dedicated plant store; don't buy the plant from a grocery or some such), and tell the person at the shop that you'd like a plant that gets so much light from such a direction and they'll say well, there's this, this and this - and then you can just pick the one you like, more or less.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:27 PM on February 6

Pothos and spathe are good -- that's why they are in so many offices. Snake plant is a great idea for a south window.
posted by jgirl at 1:28 PM on February 6

I fear the snake plant, spider plant and pothos all look "officey" to me. Am I doomed by my windows? Btw ALL the apartment windows are on that side.
posted by sweetkid at 1:31 PM on February 6

Jade plants are nearly impossible to kill and will grow easily from cuttings.
posted by gnutron at 1:31 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Going to plant stores is fun. If you're in NY, go find a nice store with an expert and enjoy yourself. It's much more fun to shop when you're actually going to buy something, and the shopkeeper expert will be able to advise you. Bonus if you bring a photo or two showing how much window and light you get.

Re: the cats. Consider hanging a pot up -- the plant store will have options, but I've made some good ones using linked metal chains from the hardware store. That way, you can control the length of the hanging, and you avoid the cheesy plastic hangers commonly sold.
posted by amtho at 1:40 PM on February 6

No, south-facing is good! It means you get more light.

I am currently growing some purple shamrock and I looove it. A friend gave me two little tiny chunks of root in a plastic baggie, I stuck them in some dirt a few days later, and three weeks after that- cute lil plants. All I've done is water them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:43 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Yes, south = loooooots of light. Herbs would do really well in a window with a southern exposure, in fact.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:46 PM on February 6

My cat got really sick from a random plant in my apartment. I suggest consulting this list (Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List - Cats) before buying. Unfortunately, Mother-in-law tongue and Jade (which I both really wanted) are on the poisonous side.
posted by hooray at 1:47 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]

My cats LOVE to eat all plants, silk, plastic, green carnations from the grocery store. So even if I could grow something other than a pothos, it's kind of pointless.

You might want to do some herbs and cat grass and cat nip. That way, if you have distructo cats like I do, at least they'll be eating nice, healthy stuff. Bonus, you can use your herbs to cook with.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:48 PM on February 6

Oh, I noticed you're in Brooklyn - seriously, go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden some time and check out what they've got in terms of plants. Ask people there what would work for you too. Or, if you can wait until May, they have a huge plant sale and you'll be spoiled for choice - and it's a botanic garden, so they know their shit when it comes to how to care for things.

But herbs would seriously do well. If you get a rosemary and you can keep it in a big enough bucket, it can get pretty big and your house will smell FANTASTIC.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:49 PM on February 6 [4 favorites]

I've always been a fan of dieffenbachias. Big, easy to care for, and pretty cool looking.
posted by Grandysaur at 1:50 PM on February 6

Oh no! It looks they're on the list of poisonous houseplants.
posted by Grandysaur at 1:52 PM on February 6

Oh no, nevermind, looks like shamrock plants are on the list too...
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:57 PM on February 6

Ficus benjamina. I've always gotten mine in grocery stores for about 10-15 USD. They might drop leaves the first time they're moved but otherwise very low maintenance. And my cats were never interested in these trees.
posted by faraasha at 2:35 PM on February 6

Bamboo or bamboo palm are both non-toxic to cats (our cats chew on the leaves and ruin the plants quite happily with no ill effects other than pissing me off).

The ASPCA website says aloe is toxic to cats, but I am positive I saw another site that said it wasn't, because when I moved in to this apartment with cats I did a check and separated everything out.
Anyway, our cats also live with aloe and they leave it alone and have not been sick.
posted by rmless at 2:42 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Seconding spider plant and bamboo. Spider plants will thrive in almost any light level, will tolerate sporadic watering schedules (bouncing back after being neglected), don't need finicky fertilizing, and I've never had one succumb to any sort of bug or disease. Spider plants also make good hanging plants, keeping them out of the way of destructo-cats. Bamboo seems pretty hardy as well. If you get a non-hanging potted plant, I'd recommend getting a cat-height or higher plant stand (one of those things that looks like a side table except it's only as large as a plant pot and taller than your average side table), and placing it somewhere that cats cant reach from other furniture.

My wanna-be-vegetarian cats did find the spider plant lots of fun to chew on. At least the spider plant seemed able to tolerate it (the ends of its leaves looked a little ragged, but the plant stayed healthy). They didn't show as much interest in the bamboo.
posted by eviemath at 4:39 PM on February 6

My schefflera plant probably should be dead ten times over by now. It lives in a somewhat shadowy corner of my bedroom, sometimes isn't watered for a few weeks, sometimes gets way too much water, has been pruned, poked at, covered in a fine layer of dust, and at one point named "Antoine-Maurice" and yet it's still growing new leaves all the time.
posted by capricorn at 6:01 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Might be too office-y for you, but I like areca plams if you can devote a square foot of floor space to it (or put it on top of a cheap stereo speaker, like I do). Also Peace Lilies are nice because of the occasional "flower". I don't know about the cat friendliness, but I have these and am a neglectful waterer. But it's really fun to go to a good green house and just browse too.
posted by benito.strauss at 6:19 PM on February 6

I appreciate these answers but just a polite request - can people please be careful to address the cat friendly part of the question? It's not super helpful to suggest toxic plants for cats because there is no way I would bring such a plant into my house and I just have to skip that answer. Thanks.
posted by sweetkid at 6:50 PM on February 6

I have cats and had success with several plants on this list. The only ones I managed to kill (inadvertently) were Kimberly Ferns.
posted by Lettuce_Leaves at 7:52 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

I have several jade plants and pothos, and my cats leave them alone.

My stupid cat chews on my "lucky bamboo," and she usually pukes it up somewhere, but she's still alive and kicking.
posted by sock puppet du jour at 7:55 PM on February 6

I had a lovely, big Areca / Golden Palm (#3 on this list of plants recommended by the ASPCA) inside in a semi-sunny spot for years, and it was incredibly resilient and long-lived.
posted by taz at 6:19 AM on February 7 [3 favorites]

Since the windows are floor to ceiling, you could install a very high shelf far away from jumping-off points and put any toxic (or not) plants up there. That's my strategy (my cat is a plant-devouring monster).

Another strategy: grow some of that cat grass stuff in a low, flat pot on the ground. You can buy the seeds and they grow like weeds, or you can buy the plants directly. That might distract the cats from eating the other plants (YMMV).

My plant suggestions: african violets are nontoxic to cats and super easy to grow (just don't water too much). If you don't like the flowers, just don't fertilize them and they won't flower again once the initial batch fades. Also seconding bamboo as a low (almost no) maintenance nontoxic plant - I've grown them for months without doing anything but topping up the water every so often.

Trees seem like a good idea since if there's a fairly tall, woody stalk, the cats will probably be unable to chew the greenery, and I doubt they'd gnaw on the stalk. I have no experience with trees, though.
posted by randomnity at 7:55 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]

Another vote for rubber tree. They are excellent air purifiers.
posted by natasha_k at 8:27 AM on February 7

Googling "cat-safe house plants" gave this as the first hit. Probably a good way to start your search. After you see a cat-safe one you like, check and make sure it doesn't need super low light; most houses don't have that much light, so many houseplants work well in low light. Some will also do well in bright light, though, and those are the ones you want.

I know you know this already, I'm just saying search cat-safe first, then check for light requirements.
posted by amtho at 10:48 PM on February 7

Oh sorry sweetkid, forgot to mention we have a cat and there has never been an issue.
posted by capricorn at 1:29 PM on February 8