TOP FIVE HOUSE PLANTS THAT THRIVE ON NEGLECT!
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House plant ownership can be full of highs and lows - the joy of bringing home a new plant-baby, the sprouting of a new leaf or the appearance of a flower bud can fill you with satisfaction and smugness.
But keep house plants long enough and you will also experience some of the lows - leaf burn, leaf browning, leaf drop, powdery mildew, spider mites, underwatering, overwatering, root rot - not to mention sudden unexplained “I don’t understand it - it looked fine yesterday” plant death.
Some house plants can be temperamental, needy and downright diva-ish in their demands and even supposedly ‘low maintenance’ plants can take a sudden turn for the worse if you don’t keep an eye on them.
If you are looking for more house plants in your life but all of the above fills you with fear; if you’re worried you don’t have green fingers or the time to commit to daily misting - rest assured we’ve got five tried-and-tested plants for you that thrive on neglect. Trust us - these are really really really hard to kill. That’s not to say it can’t be done but it takes effort.
1
KENTIA PALM
For a luscious tropical look, you can’t beat a palm - and a Kentia Palm (‘Howea Forsteriana’) is one of the easiest and better value larger palms you can buy. A glossy green fountain of leaves which looks great grouped with other plants or brightening up a dull corner. We both have Kentias and have had them a long time, without having to worry about them dying on us.
2
SNAKE PLANT
Everybody says these are bomb proof and everybody’s right. A snake plant (‘Sansevieria’) can be left in a corner and forgotten about for months and will still look just the same. Leave it for long enough and will probably die…one day…surely? We can only assume.
3
DEVIL'S IVY
A great climbing and trailing plant - Devil’s Ivy (‘Epipremnum Aureum’) can be trained to go wherever you need a bit of green. It has beautiful large heart-shaped leaves which are flecked with yellow when they get enough sunlight. It grows quickly, it’s cheap to buy and it is very unfussy - just the kind of plant we like.
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4
JADE PLANT
Like Snake Plants, Jade Plants (‘Crassula Ovata’) are desert dwelling succulents - which is always a good bet when choosing hardy drought-tolerant houseplants. Thought to be good luck in their native South Africa, they are often given as housewarming gifts. They look like tiny trees and happy to be left alone for long periods of time just doing their Jade-plant thing.
5
CHINESE MONEY PLANT
Our fifth and final recommendation is the Chinese Money Plant (‘Pilea Peperomioides’) - another much loved house plant with gorgeous circular plate-shaped leaves (also described as pancake or coin-like) sprouting out of a central stem. They can grow a bit wonky if you don’t turn them now and again, but they’re easy to care for and if happy, they’ll produce lots of little baby offshoots which you can re-pot and give to others!
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As with any plant - the quickest way to kill even these hardy houseplants is to water them too much. Better to leave them be and only water when really necessary - in other words don’t fuss them and they’ll be fine!
