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Pothos is so easy to grow! I started with one last year after a move and have propagated it successfully 8 times... I'm currently trying to get coworkers to acc

Pothos is so easy to grow! I started with one last year after a move and have propagated it successfully 8 times... I'm currently trying to get coworkers to accept clippings so I don't have to throw away excess. Snake plants are also easy to grow indoors. When I was first looking around for indoor plants I found the NASA study [0] on house plants for air quality and went with the easiest to maintain of these. To find how "easy to maintain" a plant is, just Google it and most sites that talk about care will let you know. [0] https://www.greenism.com/nasas-guide-to-air-filtering-houseplants/ https://www.greenism.com/nasas-guide-to-air-filtering-housep...

collyw 8y ago
That's an interesting link. I found it before when we had a very humid flat that got a lot of mould growing easily.
ttsda 8y ago
Don't throw the excess away! Chop it up and use it as mulch
- eatonphil 8y ago
  That is a great point, thanks!
faizshah 8y ago
Peace lily is extremely easy to grow, we've had some in the house as long as I can remember. Nice to know they're great for air quality too.
- eatonphil 8y ago
  Personally I avoid flowering plants because they tended to be more demanding. I've tried to find plants that don't "require" a flower to look beautiful.
- weavie 8y ago
  This is my favorite plant. It's really easy to propagate, just pull it out of the pot, split in two and repot in separate containers. It really tells you when it needs watering, so as long as you pay attention it is impossible to kill. Other plants, such as ivy seem to look healthy until suddenly one day I look and notice they are completely dead.
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    Word. I had one and always forgot to get people to water it when I went away from the office - it would be limp, sagged flat, conformed to the pot and table top. Water it and it bounces back within the day. In retrospect it's probably some sort of "do people in your office care" test, does anyone water your plants when you're away.
- test1235 8y ago
  Probably worth noting that what is easy to grow for one user might not be for another - we all live in different parts of the world. At first glance, Peace Lilies wouldn't do well in my cold, dark and rainy part of UK.
  - weavie 8y ago
    I'm also in the UK and have a peace lilly growing very successfully under my stairs, which gets very little light.
  - faizshah 8y ago
    Good point! My grandmother lives in London and she's had a peace lily growing indoors for over a decade. Give it a try or ask around :)
  - stevekemp 8y ago
    I stood one on the window of my bathroom, and left it there for a couple of years. Never watered it at all, and it thrived despite the leaky window. I always assumed it would get water, via condensation/steam from my shower and that seeemed to be the case.
- hazmazlaz 8y ago
  For anyone with pets at home, please be aware that lilies are toxic to dogs and cats. Keep them away from your pets! http://www.vetstreet.com/care/ten-household-plants-that-are-dangerous-toxic-to-dogs-and-cats http://www.vetstreet.com/care/ten-household-plants-that-are-...
cimmanom 8y ago
Pothos technically doesn’t even have to be planted. You can leave the cuttings in a vase of water for years and they’ll be perfectly happy. And I’ve seen a planted one bounce back after a month without water (though they thrive best being watered at least weekly). The only thing it doesn’t like is light. Of course, as a plant, it needs some light to grow. But its threshold is ridiculously low. Even plenty of indirect light will cause it to grow small, sparse leaves instead of dense, broad ones. I recommend putting it in the darkest corner that exists in a room that has a window.
- eatonphil 8y ago
  In my experience this is not totally the case. I have a patio that gets bright light for a few hours a day (it's surrounded by buildings and I'm rarely home during the day). The pothos I've put outside grow better (leaves are wider/longer and branches grow faster) than the ones I've kept in solely indirect light.
  - cimmanom 8y ago
    In an apartment that gets bright indirect light all day long, my pothos grows dense only if either it’s tucked in a corner far from the windows or I keep the shades closed. In direct sunlight it’ll even start growing leaves with larger white streaks instead of green or gold.
EForEndeavour 8y ago
Obligatory reminder that the NASA Clean Air Study on indoor plants was not conducted under realistic home or office conditions, and follow-up studies have shown mixed results at best. Adding a few plants to a room that's not hermetically sealed (let alone a huge open-concept office space) will not have any practical impact on air quality, be it oxygen levels or pollutant concentration. It'll make your space look good, though. Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study http://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/ http://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/
hieloz 8y ago
Pothos can be grown in water or in dry soil. Cuttings can be taken from a mother plant and rooted in water and kept in water as a houseplant.

collyw 8y ago

That's an interesting link. I found it before when we had a very humid flat that got a lot of mould growing easily.

ttsda 8y ago

Don't throw the excess away! Chop it up and use it as mulch

eatonphil 8y ago
That is a great point, thanks!

faizshah 8y ago

Peace lily is extremely easy to grow, we've had some in the house as long as I can remember. Nice to know they're great for air quality too.

eatonphil 8y ago
Personally I avoid flowering plants because they tended to be more demanding. I've tried to find plants that don't "require" a flower to look beautiful.
weavie 8y ago
This is my favorite plant. It's really easy to propagate, just pull it out of the pot, split in two and repot in separate containers. It really tells you when it needs watering, so as long as you pay attention it is impossible to kill. Other plants, such as ivy seem to look healthy until suddenly one day I look and notice they are completely dead.
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  Word. I had one and always forgot to get people to water it when I went away from the office - it would be limp, sagged flat, conformed to the pot and table top. Water it and it bounces back within the day. In retrospect it's probably some sort of "do people in your office care" test, does anyone water your plants when you're away.
test1235 8y ago
Probably worth noting that what is easy to grow for one user might not be for another - we all live in different parts of the world. At first glance, Peace Lilies wouldn't do well in my cold, dark and rainy part of UK.
- weavie 8y ago
  I'm also in the UK and have a peace lilly growing very successfully under my stairs, which gets very little light.
- faizshah 8y ago
  Good point! My grandmother lives in London and she's had a peace lily growing indoors for over a decade. Give it a try or ask around :)
- stevekemp 8y ago
  I stood one on the window of my bathroom, and left it there for a couple of years. Never watered it at all, and it thrived despite the leaky window. I always assumed it would get water, via condensation/steam from my shower and that seeemed to be the case.
hazmazlaz 8y ago
For anyone with pets at home, please be aware that lilies are toxic to dogs and cats. Keep them away from your pets! http://www.vetstreet.com/care/ten-household-plants-that-are-dangerous-toxic-to-dogs-and-cats http://www.vetstreet.com/care/ten-household-plants-that-are-...

cimmanom 8y ago

Pothos technically doesn’t even have to be planted. You can leave the cuttings in a vase of water for years and they’ll be perfectly happy. And I’ve seen a planted one bounce back after a month without water (though they thrive best being watered at least weekly). The only thing it doesn’t like is light. Of course, as a plant, it needs some light to grow. But its threshold is ridiculously low. Even plenty of indirect light will cause it to grow small, sparse leaves instead of dense, broad ones. I recommend putting it in the darkest corner that exists in a room that has a window.

eatonphil 8y ago
In my experience this is not totally the case. I have a patio that gets bright light for a few hours a day (it's surrounded by buildings and I'm rarely home during the day). The pothos I've put outside grow better (leaves are wider/longer and branches grow faster) than the ones I've kept in solely indirect light.
- cimmanom 8y ago
  In an apartment that gets bright indirect light all day long, my pothos grows dense only if either it’s tucked in a corner far from the windows or I keep the shades closed. In direct sunlight it’ll even start growing leaves with larger white streaks instead of green or gold.

EForEndeavour 8y ago

Obligatory reminder that the NASA Clean Air Study on indoor plants was not conducted under realistic home or office conditions, and follow-up studies have shown mixed results at best. Adding a few plants to a room that's not hermetically sealed (let alone a huge open-concept office space) will not have any practical impact on air quality, be it oxygen levels or pollutant concentration. It'll make your space look good, though. Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study http://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/ http://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/

hieloz 8y ago

Pothos can be grown in water or in dry soil. Cuttings can be taken from a mother plant and rooted in water and kept in water as a houseplant.