Besides adding aesthetic beauty to a home, indoor plants are sure to boost your mood, ramp up your creativity while at the same time eliminating air pollutants from your space.
In fact, researchers have found out that people who work on their horticultural indoor plants are bound to be less stressed and consider working on their plants as therapeutic. Another study found out that people working on greenery during their hospital recovery periods were highly likely to recuperate faster than those who were spending their hospital stay doing nothing.
Now that you are hooked on the health and aesthetic benefits that you could get from having indoor plants, let us look at some top 7 plants that you could have at your home.
Calathea/Prayer plants
The calathea earned the alias prayer plant after people found out that it will fold up its leaves at night as though it is in prayer.
Other than this praying behavior, the Calathea plant adds life to your home with its variety of leaf shapes, sizes and color tones. This species is native to the tropics, where it receives just enough light for survival. Therefore, you need to be keen that you place it where it only receives medium-light in the house. Direct sunlight could make it wilt or dry off.
The calathea thrives under moist but not too wet conditions. Consider watering it with little water so that it can continue thriving. Too much watering could make the roots rot. Adding pebbles to the soil around the plant also helps keep the soil moist.
Warm but not hot temperatures are the best growing conditions for these plants. Temperatures between 60ºF and 80ºF are the best. Misting the plant once or twice a week is highly recommended since they do well in high humidity. You can also choose to purchase a plant humidifier, especially if you live where the air is dehydrated.
The calathea plant can thrive in any soil. You can therefore use any soil mix that you have as long as it is well-drained and aerated. If all you can get is clay soil, try using peat moss in the soil since it lightens the soil. Apply fertilizers to the plant at least once a month to make the plant lusher green and healthy. Moving your Calathea plant to a bigger pot as the roots start expanding can show a better result of a healthy plant.
Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
This is a popular house plant and features stiff leaves ranging from six inches to eight feet tall. The plants have green banded leaves decorated by either white or yellow linings depending on the variety you planted.
The plant can thrive in both full and indirect sun conditions. In fact, if there were a prize to be bagged for the most tolerant plant to dry conditions and low light, the snake plant would get it easily.
ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas Zamiifolia)
The zz plant is another plant that will add aesthetic beauty to your office and home. It requires indirect sunlight and you could actually have it under a fluorescent light. Direct UV rays would scorch the beautiful plant, which can be quite unpleasant.
The zz plant, just like cactus, thrives in little water and too much water would actually kill it.
However, please keep in mind that you should not have your kids or pets ingesting the plants since they can be poisonous.
Coffee Plant
While a single coffee plant would not satisfy your caffeine needs, especially if you are a coffee addict, it could still decorate your home with its lush, glossy green nature. Indoor coffee plants need medium indirect light plus a lot of water not to droop and wilt away. Once it is mature, it will produce berries that you could use to make one cup of coffee.
The plant does well in loamy and well moist soils. It does well in a pH ranging from 6.0 to 6.5. Regular management of the plant will involve pruning so that it is less bushy. You will also be fertilizing with a weak liquid fertilizer.
Rubber Plants
Besides providing an accentuating look to your interiors, rubber plants are also great in cleaning the air in your house. It requires bright, indirect sunlight. It does not need so much water for its growth; you need to water it when the soil is parched.
Red Aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen)
The red aglaonema is another beautiful indoor plant that you could incorporate into your home for aesthetic ambiance.
As its name suggests, the aglaonema features stylish red and pink leaves. The plant does well in mild lighting conditions. It will withstand even the harshest of weather with little watering to it.
String of Pearls
When you want lush green alluring pearls decorating your entire home, then the string of pearls is the plant to go for. It does well in indirect sunlight but with lots of water. To have those nice little pearls extending and cascading through your home, grow the plant in a hanging pot.
Over to You: Choose your Favorite Plant
Once you land your hands on one of these top 7 indoor plants, go ahead to grow it with the conditions outlined. You will be surprised by how beautiful your home is going to turn out to be with this lush greenery spreading out its hands to beckon you every time you come home. You will also find that your general mood brightens when you are working on the plant and seeing how great it is improving.
You can also get an indoor plant for that recovering patient you are taking care of at home to have something to keep them busy and hopeful about life. You will be amazed at how such a little plant could positively impact the health and recuperation journey of this patient.
What are you waiting for; get one of these indoor plants and enjoy taking care of it.
Additional Resource: If you’re looking to find some information on advantages and benefits of decorative plant pots, simply visit this article.