The Ultimate Guide To Best Plants To Grow Indoors

Growing house plants allows you to bring outdoor life into your home in a beautiful way. Take your home up to the next level, whether you have a green thumb or not, with this list of the best plants to grow indoors.

There was a time when people felt that plants only belonged outside in the garden. Thankfully, that’s changed, and having indoor plants is an easy and beautiful way to bring the outdoors in.

Hand-drawn pictures of many of the best plants to grow indoors.

Plus, growing indoor plants has many benefits, including:

Purifying the air
Reducing stress and lowering blood pressure
Acting as beautiful home decor
Improving well-being

But, if you don’t have the “greenest” of thumbs, growing indoor plants may seem daunting. I’ve gathered a list of some of the easiest and best plants to grow indoors.

Where Can You Buy Good House Plants?

First, where can you even buy indoor plants? Thankfully, finding good house plants is an easy task to accomplish.

My top recommendation is to purchase your house plants at a local garden center or nursery because the staff know about the plants and can thoroughly answer questions you may have.

My next choice for finding house plants would be large stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. While you can find good plants there, it’s harder to find knowledgeable staff should you have questions.

Finally, you can find plants to grow indoors at online plant stores. However, I don’t prefer this method since they need to be shipped and could get damaged in the process.

A lush indoor plant nursery where you can find the best plants to grow indoors.

Which House Plants Need The Least Amount Of Light?

Homes don’t often have the best levels of light for many plants. Here’s a list of indoor plants that can tolerate very low levels of light:

ZZ Plant
Snake Plant
Peace Lily
Chinese Evergreen
Pothos Ivy
Chinese Money Plant

Finding enough light for indoor plants can be tough in some homes. That’s why I’m including this list – if you have a low-light home, you can probably grow these plants without a problem.

However, if you wanted to try to grow plants that need more light, you would likely need to invest in grow lights for indoor plants.

Which Indoor Plants Need The Least Amount Of Water?

Remembering to water the plants can be much harder than it sounds. Here are the best plants to grow indoors if you’re likely to forget to water regularly.

Ponytail Palm
Rubber Plant
ZZ Plant
Pothos Ivy
Snake Plant
Chinese Evergreen
Aloe
Jade Plant
Christmas Cactus
Yucca

A green plant growing from a crack in dry soil.

Best Plants to Grow Indoors

There are few things that make me feel like I’m an adult (in a good way) more than growing indoor plants. I love looking around my home and seeing the green plants as well as the flowering ones.

Here are some super easy indoor plants that require little attention or green thumb skills, yet they’ll breathe life (literally!) into your home.

Spider Plant

This plant is one of my absolute favorite indoor plants because I love how easy they are to grow and their color. The baby shoots make it easy to grow new plants to pot and enjoy in other areas of your home or share with family and friends.

Plus, they make very visually appealing hanging plants for your home! All they need is medium or bright indirect light and weekly watering.

A spider plant with a vine hanging down.

Snake Plant

Snake Plants (aka Mother-in-law’s tongue) are not nearly as scary as the name makes them sound! This plant has tall vertical, stiff, variegated leaves that make a striking-looking addition to any room.

The major bonus of this houseplant is that it likes to live on the dry side and can go a month between waterings and even does well in low light settings.

Monstera Deliciosa

This large-leafed philodendron plant works like a champ to reduce air pollutants thanks to its large, beautiful leaves. It’s super easy to grow since it only needs medium to bright indirect light and a drink of water every 1-2 weeks.

Pothos

If you consider yourself to be a “black thumb” growing a pothos plant will change your mind. It’s a leafy vine that will thrive in some of the driest and darkest conditions and make you feel like the gardener you never thought you were.

Thanks to its trailing stems of ivy, it makes a great indoor plant for a hanging basket.

Pothos plant growing in a pot with a vine hanging down.

ZZ Plant

It may have a funny-sounding name, but this popular houseplant thrives on neglect. Its striking dark green rubbery leaves do well in medium to low light and you can go easy on the watering by letting it dry out before giving it a good drink.

This ultra low maintenance plant is one of the best indoor plants to grow in pots anywhere in your home.

Peace Lily

Peace Lilies have beautiful green leaves with soft, curvy white blooms. Their name is fitting as they look peaceful and elegant and brighten up any room while also filtering the air.

They aren’t fussy plants and do well in low-light environments, but they do like to drink a good amount of water. They’re some of the best plants to grow indoors for people who tend to overwater.

Learn More: We have a full guide on growing and caring for your indoor peace lily that you may find informative.

A peace lily in a pot with slender white blooms.

Aloe

This succulent is renowned for its spiky leaves that contain medicinal properties. As a succulent, aloe prefers dry soil and thrives in indirect light. Give this low maintenance house plant a soak every 1-2 weeks.

Ponytail Palm

The slow-growing ponytail palm loves a good sunny window and dry soil. The plant’s name comes from its shape: a thick stalk sprouting skinny leaves that drape downward. The non-fussy ponytail palm is one of the best plants to grow indoors thanks to its low-maintenance nature.

Rubber Plant

The rubber plant should really be named the “easy plant” because I’m just not sure there is an easier plant to grow indoors. It likes life on the dry side in bright to medium indirect light and provides a stunning pop of color with its deep green leaves.

Chinese Evergreen

This is one of the best plants to grow indoors because it’s so hard to kill! I love the large number of fun varieties you can find including stripes and speckles. The Chinese Evergreen prefers medium to low light and a good drink only once its soil dries out.

Jade Plant

Succulents, like the jade plant, are about as low-maintenance as plants can be, which is why I like recommending them as some of the best house plants.

Their round, green leaves hold water, so you don’t need to water them often. Plus, they grow slowly and thrive in bright indirect light but will tolerate medium light as well.

Christmas Cactus

Here’s another succulent, but it’s one of my favorites because of the beautiful red, pink, purple, or white flowers that bloom around the winter holidays. Their segmented leaves hold water, so keep the soil on the dry side.

As far as lighting is concerned, they like bright, indirect light all year round except for around the holidays. In order to trigger them to bloom, pull them away from the window and put them in a darker part of the house.

A Christmas cactus with bright red blooms.

Yucca

The winning formula for a happy yucca is sun, sun, and even more sun. As a succulent, it only needs water a couple of times a month. Grow these indoor plants in deep pots to prevent the top-heavy stems from pulling the plant over.

Chinese Money Plant

This low-maintenance house plant isn’t fussy and only needs some water once a week and a spot in low light to grow. Reminiscent of the spider plant, the Chinese Money Plant also has baby offshoots which you can plant to easily grow new money plants for your home or give to loved ones.

Herbs

If you love to cook and use fresh herbs, there’s no better to get fresh herbs than by growing them in your kitchen! Unlike many of the other house plants on this list, however, herbs usually need bright sunlight (and more frequent waterings) to grow and taste their best.

But if you have a nice sunny window, trying growing these herbs for a constant on-demand supply for all your cooking needs! They even make great plants to grow in hanging baskets!

Green thumb…black thumb…or somewhere in between, this list contains the best plants to grow indoors and there really is something for everyone on this list!

Busy oregano growing in a galvanized bucket.

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