Indoor plants for home; Types, tips, and how to care for them. Top houseplants decoration!

Indoor plants for decoration

We can achieve a perfect atmosphere at home just by using indoor plants as a decoration complement. Moreover, they reduce stress and clean the air—they are perfect!

No matter the decoration style, there are so many varieties of indoor vegetation in flowers and plants that they can easily adapt to any home fashion and style.

The only thing to keep in mind is the light and humidity needs, and consider that in general, few plants can withstand continuous relocation. Let’s start with houseplants in decoration…

Types of decorative indoor plants

It is important to know which are the ideal plants for indoor spaces. This type of vegetation usually requires little light and water, making them ideal as decorative plants.

Below is a small list of indoor ornamental plants that are ideal for placing inside the house and decorating it:

• Pothos: They need to be hung and in a space near the light. It is recommended to place them near windows.
• Aspidistra: A hardy plant that requires shade and little watering.
• Brazil wood: A plant that does not need much light and is drought-resistant. It can be placed anywhere in the house.
• Cactus: There are many varieties of cactus, but most can be in small pots, should be watered sparingly, but need light, making them ideal for window sills.
• Dracaena: A plant that does not require much sun or space. It can grow up to two meters, and the way to water it should be moderate.
• Sansevieria: Ideal for dark places, does not require much watering, and can live up to fifteen years with minimal care.
• Aglaonema: Ideal for indoors, does not require much light, should be watered regularly, but is not cold-tolerant.
• Ferns: Ferns are good for hanging, need enough light, so it is recommended to place them at the entrance or patio of the house; they require abundant watering for their growth and beauty.
• Ficus: A very attractive and beautiful plant, which can be used outdoors for decoration or indoors as a bonsai.

In a more schematic way, we present a list for each season of the year with resistant and easy-to-maintain indoor plants:

And if we need to expand the repertoire for more ideas in indoor gardens, we can also consult the Wikipedia list.

Decorative plants at home are essential to create a relaxed atmosphere, but you have to choose the right ones, especially if you have little time.

Which are the best houseplants for decoration

There is a lot of vegetation that adapts well to home conditions, but among them, some ornamental plants stand out as ideal:

• The sansevierias and cacti in general, due to their low watering needs, although the former survive better in dark environments than the latter.
• The ficus, bamboo, peace lilies, and dracaenas, which need more watering and humidity.
• The ivy, characterized by its rapid growth, sometimes difficult to control, and a good option for filling hanging baskets.
• Aromatic plants can be used to decorate any kitchen style, while also becoming a natural air freshener and very useful for upcoming recipes.

First tip: exotic plants are difficult to care for, start with the simple ones, and gradually introduce the complicated ones to maintain

It is possible to have a small indoor garden by mixing green foliage with flowering plants. So let’s list the most suitable plants for decoration:

Green plants for indoor decoration

• The Brazil wood (Dracaena Fragans), also called the Tree of Happiness, needs the ambient temperature to never drop below 12º C to develop.

This species needs a well-lit place to grow but not too sunny to prevent the leaves from burning. It can live with less light, but in that case, its growth will be very slow.

• The Parlor palm (Chamaedorea Elegans) grows slowly and rarely exceeds 120 cm in height in a pot.

In winter, ensure the ambient temperature does not drop below 10-13ºC, keeping the soil slightly moist. It is very suitable to water this palm with rainwater to prevent chlorosis caused by iron deficiency.

• The Ivy (Hedera Helix) was formerly cultivated in forms that required a cool greenhouse, but now we find variegated and dwarf varieties that withstand warm interiors.

Small ivies with their white or gold variegated leaves can live very well in an apartment with well-fertilized clayey soil and frequent watering. The more light, the better. In winter, keep them away from heating.

They are often used a lot as hanging plants in decoration.

Decorative plants not only have multiple aesthetic benefits, but they also provide psychological benefits that make them an unbeatable element for home decoration. (See also the healthiest coworking office with 1000 plants and the article on how to design a modern garden)

Flowering plants for indoor decoration

• The Cymbidium is the orchid that provides more flowers for cutting with beautiful shades.

It should be watered abundantly until September and fertilized every four weeks with special orchid fertilizer. From September until the end of winter, watering should be more spaced, and it should not be fertilized.

• The Saintpaulia or African Violet is an indoor plant native to East Africa and produces permanent flowers similar to violets with a duration of up to three months and colors ranging from purple to white, including pink.

Its leaves are velvety and heart-shaped. It needs a lot of light but never direct sunlight. The temperature should never be below 12º C.

• Spectacular Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) From a large bulb, you can have an exuberant and very fragrant bloom in the living room.

It usually blooms between January and April. The Amaryllis needs a very bright place and constant humidity. Always use rain or mineral water. After flowering, space out the watering and stop once the leaves turn yellow.

As a helpful note, NASA drafted a document on the best indoor vegetation with absorption and purification properties. You can see it from HERE, and it is in Spanish.

Tips for decorating with plants

Indoor plants can be grouped to form small gardens or distributed throughout the house or workplace. The important thing is to provide them with adequate light, watering, and fertilization; nature will do the rest and provide the best and most spectacular decorations.

The best is to find plants that match the chosen decoration style, creating a sense of continuity with the rest of the decorative elements.

Beware of excessively large plants with lots of foliage. You need to maintain a balance in interior design

For example, you can use plants that give a greater sense of space to a small apartment or, conversely, create a warmer atmosphere in a large home.

By combining plants with decorative pots, you can achieve surprising and low-budget effects, but you can also place plants on other types of supports such as hanging baskets or pedestals, depending on the effect you want to achieve. Any room can be decorated this way, from the living room to the bathrooms, including the kitchen or bedrooms; the combinations are endless.

• We must choose plants knowing in advance their light and temperature needs.
• We must recognize the space we have and what the plant’s growth will be (Remember that radiators and drafts negatively affect).
• An outdoor plant can never survive indoors.
• Always choose a good pot, which you will find on the market with excellent designs and colors. (it’s not worth having a beautiful plant in a horrendous pot)

Pots and ceramic planters in classic decoration always combine well.

Pots and wooden planters in rustic decoration combine perfectly (You can even place wicker baskets).

Pots and concrete, glass, or ceramic planters of design fit perfectly in a modern decoration. (As a curiosity, we can read the article about Kokedama, the Japanese alternative to decorate your home with plants without a pot)

• For any decoration style, it is appropriate to use pots in groups of two or three, whether they are the same or different sizes.
• Plants are an excellent zone delimiter; To mark the dining or living room area, an office in the dining room, or where a staircase begins.
• They create focal points. A beautiful and appropriately sized plant will always draw attention.

• In the kitchen, aromatic plants are used, and some types can be used for cooking.
• Recommended plants with personality to place in centerpieces, in a bathroom without overdoing it, or in the kitchen.
• They are excellent for high ceilings. The perfect example is bamboo, which has stems that can reach a considerable height. Also, the Ivy or its variants that we can encourage to climb the walls.

Many times we stop having plants in the home because we don’t have time to care for them, but there are beautiful plants that grow without problems and survive our lack of care.

🟧 As a note: we can also create a green mantle or wall on the wall and step out of the traditional. We can see an extensive guide article from how to create a vertical garden for home.

Which indoor plants are more resistant and easy to grow

Although we have to mention that the list can be very long, in general, the resistant indoor plants that do not need much attention would be:

• Cissus: scientific name Cissus rhombifolia. Native to South Africa, it is a hanging plant with beautiful dark green leaves that lives perfectly in low-light places. Regular watering in summer with liquid fertilizer every fifteen days and sparse watering in winter.
• Ivy: scientific name Hedera helix. Native to Europe and Africa, ivy is one of the most grateful plants that exist. It lives without problems with little light and regular watering. It can be used as a hanging plant or given some supports to wind the long branches. The best varieties to add color to the house are the dwarf ones with variegated leaves.

Remember: Native plants of the area are always the simplest to care for, both indoors and outdoors, as they are adapted to the climate

• Syngonium: scientific name Syngonium podophyllum. Native to Africa, its arrow-shaped leaves in a green mottled with cream are very attractive. It is not demanding regarding light or watering. With very little care, you get a beautiful and lush plant that can live for many years, transplanting it from time to time.
• Tradescantia: scientific name Tradescantia fluminensis. Native to South America, tradescantia, with its small and abundant leaves with a metallic sheen and purple underside, is a great ground cover plant suitable for brightening any corner of the home; especially bathrooms and kitchens, as the ambient humidity favors its growth.
• Aspidistra: scientific name Aspidistria elator. Native to China and Japan, it is a robust plant with long, shiny dark green leaves, sometimes mottled with cream. Also popularly called “tin,” this plant withstands everything, low light, and sparse watering, although it appreciates good fertilization during the summer.

• Sansevieria: scientific name Sansevieria. Called “Mother-in-law’s tongue,” it is a rhizomatous plant native to Asia and Africa. Very popular a few years ago, although currently relegated, giving prominence to other more exotic plants; however, sansevieria has long and fleshy leaves that mix dark green and cream in their coloration, making them very decorative. It withstands lack or excess of light and watering without problems. Ideal for the hallway or to highlight any corner.

Despite having little time, it is always possible to decorate the house with resistant indoor vegetation, you just need to choose the variety that best suits our circumstances, and we can enjoy a plant world in the middle of the urban jungle.

How to care for houseplants

Placed in hallways, stairs, balconies, near windows, or even in the bathroom, plants brighten up the rooms in the home.

When deciding to include plants in home decoration, the most important thing is to learn about their basic needs: the right amount of light and temperature, so that the home can be conditioned as close to their natural environment as possible. There are a series of recommendations that should be followed to achieve this.

What is the ideal temperature for plants?

In each room, the temperature is different; it should be measured so that the plants bloom. To determine the appropriate climate, it is recommended to follow the following table:

• Low (cool environment); the minimum temperature is 7 to 10 °C, which is what outdoor plants sometimes need indoors, for example: azalea, heather, primrose, cyclamen, etc. It is also recommended for some more typical indoor species, such as aucuba, aralia, or ivy.
• Moderate (temperate environment); the minimum temperature is around 20 to 15 °C and is ideal for plants like clivia, aspidistra, asparagus fern, or schefflera
• High (warm environment); the minimum temperature ranges between 15 and 20 °C, which is ideal for most indoor plants like: dracaenas, bromeliads, orchids, ficus, etc.

Note: to determine the temperature in the rooms, use an environmental thermometer, which can be found in stores specializing in gardening.

How much light do plants need?

Light is the source of life for plants, as they perform the process called photosynthesis through it, which allows them to survive.

Plants are divided into three main groups according to their light needs:

• Those that need direct sunlight (avoid midday sun).
• Those that require more or less intense light, but without direct sun exposure.
• Those that grow in the shade.

Therefore, you should know which plants to choose and where to place them, all according to the light they need.

Almost all indoor plants prefer places in the house where they have enough lighting, but without direct sunlight on them. So you should ask if the plants are affected by sunlight or not. If this happens, place curtains or blinds on the windows.

Remember: Avoid direct sunlight at midday

To give more light to the spaces in the house, paint with light colors, such as beige or white, and place mirrors and glass objects. Of interest is the article on natural light architecture where we explain more concepts.

Most colored-leaf plants need intense lighting to maintain their color, even without direct sunlight.

Decorative flowering plants should be placed in well-lit areas; otherwise, there is a risk that they will not bloom.

Can artificial light be used on plants?

It is not necessary to have a home or house with very good lighting; artificial light can be used so that the plants bloom:

• Place lamps over the plants to provide the necessary light.
• If illuminated with bulbs, they will have little light but quite a bit of heat. Therefore, the plant should be very close to the light source. Fluorescent tubes only illuminate more intensely than incandescent light bulbs.
• If the light from fluorescent tubes and traditional bulbs is combined, a light identical to sunlight will be obtained.

Of interest for its curiosity is the article on plants that give light—it’s crazy!

How to know if plants lack light?

It is true that some plants need less light than others, but its scarcity can cause a pale and weak appearance, few or no flowers, leaves falling, and a weakness that may lead to death.

When do we know they need more light?… The stems will grow longer and weaker, and the leaves will have a pale green color

Check the light required by some plants:

• Intense light on a plant: hibiscus, aralia, ardisia, coleus, croton, peace lily, clivia, croton, and bromeliads.
• Medium light on a plant: aphelandra, azalea, schefflera, cyclamen, dracaena, marginata, Brazil wood, yucca, and ficus
• Low light on a plant: aglaonema, alocasia, flowering begonia, caladium, cissus, philodendron, fern, kentia, peperomia, sansevieria, and syngonium.

What humidity do indoor plants need?

Each plant requires different amounts of water per day. To avoid overwatering, ask before acquiring it, but if you want to check if the plant is well-watered, check it as follows:

• Direct check: insert your finger a couple of centimeters into the soil. If the soil does not stick or show signs of moisture, it means it needs watering.
• Lift the pot. If it feels light, it lacks water.
• If the soil appears lighter in color than usual and the plant easily detaches, it needs to be hydrated as follows: submerge it up to the root neck in a deep container with water, leave it inside until the air bubbles disappear.

It is advisable to pour water on the edges of the pot to avoid damaging the plant’s neck and avoid watering with hard water

🟧 Tip: Do not overdo the number of plants in a room; we may have problems with humidity in the house due to condensation—be careful!

When should I avoid watering the plants?

• When the wind is blowing.
• In full sun or during hot hours.
• With ice-cold water. Use lukewarm water; the reason is that cold water reduces nutrient absorption
• Without order (Water evenly throughout the pot).

Pests and diseases of plants

To prevent plants from getting sick, you must act beforehand:

• Check the suitability of the exposure. Sometimes excess sun or the opposite causes a bad appearance. They should be moved to another space or covered.
• Ensure the fertilizer is appropriate; if it loses its green leaves, it may be due to an excessive amount of fertilizer. Remove the plant from the pot, eliminate dead roots, remove most of the soil, and place it back in the pot.
• Ensure that sick plants are not placed next to healthy ones because pests and diseases can spread.
• Regularly check the shoots and leaf veins, as they are favorite places for pests like aphids.

What are the benefits of having plants at home

Plants will bring a touch of color and joy to our home, house, or office, and they also provide other health-related benefits that have been more than tested:

The previous photograph is from the article green architecture where we delve into one of the buildings with the largest number of trees in the world.

• They reduce stress, as they help calm the environment. They attract good energies.
• In the case of offices, it is proven that having plants helps improve workers’ efficiency, apart from harmonizing the work environment.
• They help reduce dust, both in homes and offices, by up to 20% of the usual amount.
• They reduce levels of dioxide and nitrogen, which are harmful gases and can affect human health.

Additionally, in the following tool, you can see the twelve that purify the air the most according to NASA.

🟧 Note: Also of interest is the article on tips for creating more comfortable homes to live more healthily.

Tips for maintaining indoor plants

We want to provide a series of tips for caring for indoor plants for the home in general, which we should not forget:

• Pruning wilted leaves will help the plants become much more radiant.
• Establish a single place to place them, preferably the living room, and do not move them much as plants do not like that, and they may wither.
• Avoid placing plants on tables due to the constant movement they are exposed to and because they could fall.
• Choose pots that do not retain too much moisture as it could be counterproductive and kill the plant.
• Avoid having plants in bedrooms and choose more visible and spacious places so they can provide all the necessary energy.
• Avoid having plants near the kitchen or very hot places as they will not withstand and, therefore, will die.
• Plants are also living beings, and it is the duty of their owners to care for and keep them beautiful.

App for caring for plants

Although there are many mobile applications for plants that can help us. We recommend the app “Plant Parent”, which is like having a gardener at home—very useful!

It provides advice on all types of vegetation and practical care tips, as well as information on pests and diseases, along with detailed solutions for each problem. You can find it on:

• Access from Android HERE.
• Access from IOS for Apple HERE.

To let oxygen flow in the home, there is nothing better than cultivating plants. If you don’t have a garden, it’s not a cause for concern, as we have seen, there are species that can adapt to all corners of the interior of the house or home.

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