The easiest of hanging house plants
September 27, 2022 1:40 PM Subscribe
What are some easy indoor house pants for plant hangers and other textural details?
I have pothos, in water and soil, that I've managed to keep alive. The clover I scattered yard sprouted. But overall I'm a terrible plant parent, but I'm trying to get better and increase the variety so everything isn't just pothos.
I'm looking for more texture and especially some hanging plants.
No pets. No kids.
Lower light.
Mostly east and south facing windows with sheers/light filtering shades so no direct sunlight.
Generally smaller potted space available, like 5" to 8" diameter pots. Some areas have some height to them.
Also any source for purchasing besides trying to look locally, especially since we are coming to the end of the season.
I have pothos, in water and soil, that I've managed to keep alive. The clover I scattered yard sprouted. But overall I'm a terrible plant parent, but I'm trying to get better and increase the variety so everything isn't just pothos.
I'm looking for more texture and especially some hanging plants.
No pets. No kids.
Lower light.
Mostly east and south facing windows with sheers/light filtering shades so no direct sunlight.
Generally smaller potted space available, like 5" to 8" diameter pots. Some areas have some height to them.
Also any source for purchasing besides trying to look locally, especially since we are coming to the end of the season.
I also recommend a spider plant -- they are very hearty. They do like light quite a bit but they don't need direct sunlight and I have found that they usually struggle with sunlight that is too direct. They hang nicely and they also sprout little babies that are relatively easy to cultivate. Nice plant practice.
Another possibility is a nerve plant. They are good hanging plants and they do not need a lot of sun. That said, they do need to be watered at least once a week, mine needs water every 3 days or it will faint, dramatically. I appreciate them because they tell you they are thirsty, and when you water them, they come back to life in a matter of hours. You can't just let them faint constantly though. They will only recover from a few dainty fainting spells.
Not for hanging, but palms also are quite hearty. I have a palm plant that I got at the beginning of 2020 that was about the size of my head, now it is almost 3 feet tall. It doesn't like direct light, the leaves turn brown if the sun hits it too hard. Water it once a week and leave it alone, and it'll do fine.
Another plant that is just lovely and I have managed to keep alive for 3 years is a pink pinstripe calathea. It doesn't like too much light either.
Finally, a bromeliad looks lovely, it does need some sun but they are very resilient until they bloom. Once they bloom (only once) they will start producing pups that you can practice cultivating.
These are all cat safe plants.
Snake plants, yucca plants, ficus are all really lovely indoor plants that are quite robust but are not great if you have a cat.
posted by pazazygeek at 1:58 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Another possibility is a nerve plant. They are good hanging plants and they do not need a lot of sun. That said, they do need to be watered at least once a week, mine needs water every 3 days or it will faint, dramatically. I appreciate them because they tell you they are thirsty, and when you water them, they come back to life in a matter of hours. You can't just let them faint constantly though. They will only recover from a few dainty fainting spells.
Not for hanging, but palms also are quite hearty. I have a palm plant that I got at the beginning of 2020 that was about the size of my head, now it is almost 3 feet tall. It doesn't like direct light, the leaves turn brown if the sun hits it too hard. Water it once a week and leave it alone, and it'll do fine.
Another plant that is just lovely and I have managed to keep alive for 3 years is a pink pinstripe calathea. It doesn't like too much light either.
Finally, a bromeliad looks lovely, it does need some sun but they are very resilient until they bloom. Once they bloom (only once) they will start producing pups that you can practice cultivating.
These are all cat safe plants.
Snake plants, yucca plants, ficus are all really lovely indoor plants that are quite robust but are not great if you have a cat.
posted by pazazygeek at 1:58 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
The various "string of x" plants are easy and fun as hanging plants. They include string of pearls, string of rubies, string of dolphins, etc. They're easy-care succulents that want bright, indirect light and tend to trail down prettily. So long as they're close to your south-facing window with sheers, they should be fine.
Spider plants also make great hanging baskets, and are almost as hard to kill as Pothos. They're easy to propagate, too -- they grow little babies that you can clip off and pot.
Snake plant is very tolerant of a variety of light situations, and is really hard to kill (believe me, I've tried).
Peperomia plants are tolerant of low-light, easy to care for, and come in a wide variety of textures and patterns.
ZZ plants are hardy and very tolerant. They're not particularly fancy-looking, but can add some abundant foliage to your mix.
I often window-shop plants at The Sill or The Spruce, then look for them locally. However, if you can't find what you want locally, The Sill does sell online (though at kind of a steep markup).
posted by ourobouros at 1:59 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Spider plants also make great hanging baskets, and are almost as hard to kill as Pothos. They're easy to propagate, too -- they grow little babies that you can clip off and pot.
Snake plant is very tolerant of a variety of light situations, and is really hard to kill (believe me, I've tried).
Peperomia plants are tolerant of low-light, easy to care for, and come in a wide variety of textures and patterns.
ZZ plants are hardy and very tolerant. They're not particularly fancy-looking, but can add some abundant foliage to your mix.
I often window-shop plants at The Sill or The Spruce, then look for them locally. However, if you can't find what you want locally, The Sill does sell online (though at kind of a steep markup).
posted by ourobouros at 1:59 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
We have spider plants and Christmas cactus growing in low light conditions that have stayed alive for years with very minimal care (bordering on neglect.)
If there's any kind of local message board or Facebook group for your area, or if you post a notice where you work or ask a bunch of your friends, I bet you could find houseplants for free just by asking if anyone has extras they would like to pass on. Anyone with spider plants is likely to have a few baby spider plants they would like to find new homes for.
posted by Redstart at 2:00 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
If there's any kind of local message board or Facebook group for your area, or if you post a notice where you work or ask a bunch of your friends, I bet you could find houseplants for free just by asking if anyone has extras they would like to pass on. Anyone with spider plants is likely to have a few baby spider plants they would like to find new homes for.
posted by Redstart at 2:00 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tradescantia zebrina, aka Wandering Jew. I have several pots of it after a cutting, apparently chucked into my back yard last summer by an upstairs neighbour or passerby, took root alongside one of my plants in a pot, and has flourished shamelessly since then. It grows and grows and if you want more pots of it, just take another cutting and stick it into the soil.
posted by zadcat at 2:26 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by zadcat at 2:26 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mother of Millions is also very simple to keep. It grows slowly, is happy with shade (or sun) and is flexible about how much water it gets. They're also super easy to propogate, just pick a few babies off a mature leaf and drop them in dirt.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:04 PM on September 27, 2022
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:04 PM on September 27, 2022
Those... those are tribbles. They are BORN pregnant. Careful with those if you're the sort of person to want to plant (or let live) every last baby.
posted by aniola at 5:04 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 5:04 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Mother of thousands and mother of millions are best kept away from anything else with dirt. Particularly the outside.
I have African violets. In a California climate, they actively loathe direct light through a window, but indirect light suits. They're a sitting pot, not a hanging pot, but they don't seem to take much care, and probably want watering when your pothos wants watering, assuming you water it when it gets a bit droopy. I do not give them enough attention for them to be super healthy, but they still do flower on occasion and I quite like the leafiness of them in between times.
Christmas cacti will dangle over the edge of the pot. The flowers are quite pretty and it's a different style of foliage.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 7:55 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have African violets. In a California climate, they actively loathe direct light through a window, but indirect light suits. They're a sitting pot, not a hanging pot, but they don't seem to take much care, and probably want watering when your pothos wants watering, assuming you water it when it gets a bit droopy. I do not give them enough attention for them to be super healthy, but they still do flower on occasion and I quite like the leafiness of them in between times.
Christmas cacti will dangle over the edge of the pot. The flowers are quite pretty and it's a different style of foliage.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 7:55 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have a staghorn fern hanging in a little pot in a north facing window. I find it an interesting plant to look at, it doesn't trail and it lets me know when it needs a little water.
posted by amanda at 7:58 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by amanda at 7:58 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tradescantia zebrina / Wandering dude. They get leggy and weird looking after a while so expect to replace them every couple years. They grow very well, have nice stripey purple leaves, need very little care, and propagate really easily in a glass of water.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:32 PM on September 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:32 PM on September 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
No one has said ivy yet. So - ivy! If it's getting good amounts of sunlight, it will grow fairly quickly. If it's not getting much sunlight, it will stay alive and grow very slowly. If you forget to water it, you'll start getting brown leaves but it won't die without major neglect. And it's easy to propagate too.
I love the 'string of x' plants, but they make me nervous - it's very hard to get the watering right (way too easy to overwater) and I am pretty sure I'm always on the verge of killing them.
Tahitian Bridal Veil plants are really nice with tiny leaves. You can't water them too much or they won't grow. They love filtered light and and do better when you neglect them a little. Mine grew extremely quickly over the summer and it grows into a long chaotic mess which I think is really fun.
posted by kitcat at 6:57 AM on September 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love the 'string of x' plants, but they make me nervous - it's very hard to get the watering right (way too easy to overwater) and I am pretty sure I'm always on the verge of killing them.
Tahitian Bridal Veil plants are really nice with tiny leaves. You can't water them too much or they won't grow. They love filtered light and and do better when you neglect them a little. Mine grew extremely quickly over the summer and it grows into a long chaotic mess which I think is really fun.
posted by kitcat at 6:57 AM on September 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
« Older Cheapo Air refund scam and virus infection via... | I have metabolic alkalosis and I don't know what... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Spider plants to hang. Snake plants & rubber plants for pots that are not hanging.
Succulents, so long as you lean toward under- instead of over-watering, at least with them. They're great in small containers of all sorts for little pops of green.
As for "everything isn't just pothos":
I knew someone who had ONE PLANT that decorates the entire interior of their large, two-story farmhouse. I've known others who let them wander into several rooms, but that was the only one I've known that also made it into all the bedrooms upstairs.
posted by stormyteal at 1:54 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]