5 Houseplants You (Probably) Can’t Kill

The best low-maintenance indoor plants for low-patience gardeners.

By 

Amy Maclin

Published on September 03, 2024

There are those of us who, like earthly fairies, can cultivate bowers of lush, green houseplants that are the envy of #PlantTok. And then there are those of us who bring home a single potted succulent every six months or so and set it hopefully on the windowsill, where it spends the next six months slowly losing the will to go on. For all of you in the second group, we consulted a botanist who specializes in plants that will resist your best attempts to destroy them.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way: The only truly immortal plant is an artificial one. But the good news is, green thumbs aren’t born, they’re made, says Scott Zona, PhD, research technician at North Carolina State University and author of A Gardener’s Guide to Botany: The Biology Behind the Plants You Love, How They Grow, and What They Need. Here are Zona’s suggestions for hardy plants that can survive almost anything.

Scott Zona, PhD, research technician at North Carolina State University and author of A Gardener’s Guide to Botany: The Biology Behind the Plants You Love, How They Grow, and What They Need

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African Spear Plant (Dracaena angolensis)

The African spear, a succulent perennial native to Africa, is a member of the asparagus family (Asparagaceae).

Succulents are often billed as easy to grow, so if they’ve died on you in the past, you may have assumed that hi, you’re the problem—but actually it may have been your soil. “Succulents are commonly sold in a peat-based potting mix, but you’ll have more success if you repot them in a mix specific for cacti and succulents—usually a mix of sand, pumice or perlite [a lightweight material made from volcanic glass], and grit with just a tiny bit of organic potting medium,” Zona says. This porous soil is better at draining moisture away from these notoriously drought-tolerant plants that don’t require a lot of hydration.

Speaking of moisture, your spear plant will need water only about every two weeks in the summer and monthly in the winter. Place it in a brightly lit window, and be careful if you take it outdoors: Give it morning sun only, lest it get sunburn, and when the temperature falls below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s time to bring it inside.

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ZZ Plant (Zamioculcus zamiifolia)

The ZZ plant hates getting its feet wet, so “it’s very forgiving of unpredictable watering,” says Zona. Put it in well-drained potting soil that’s allowed to dry out between waterings. That means watering about twice a month in the summer and once a month in the winter, when it goes dormant. The ZZ plant isn’t hugely hungry for light (they can grow even in areas with only fluorescent light), but they do best with bright, indirect sun. (Direct sun can cause the leaves to scald and brown.) Fertilize just once or twice a year.

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Baby Rubber Plant (Peperomia obtusifolia)

Also charmingly known as the “pepper face,” this is a popular desktop plant. It can generally tolerate low light for several months without stress, preferring bright indirect light (direct sunlight will burn the leaves); dry soil (again, beware of overwatering); and medium to low humidity.

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Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

Pothos is a low-maintenance gardener’s friend: Although it prefers bright, indirect light, it can take long periods of low light, and it doesn’t need a ton of watering either. Be sure to let the soil dry out between waterings, but mist the leaves regularly to keep humidity levels up. Wipe down the leaves every so often with a soft rag to remove any collected dust, and fertilize it every other month (with the exception of wintertime, its dormant period).

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Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema)

The Chinese evergreen does well in diffuse sunlight or good indirect light, and although it prefers high humidity, it can also handle dryer air. Keep the potting mix moist from spring to fall (you can skip watering during dormant winter), and prune off any flowers or fruits in order to direct energy back to the growth of your plant. This one loves warmer weather of 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whichever plant you choose, Zona says to look to Mother Nature to keep it thriving. “My general advice is to learn about how the plant grows in the wild, as that will inform how you grow it at home,” he says. “Many succulents, like the African spear plant in this list, grow under shrubs in the wild, so they don’t get full sun and are thus pre-adapted to our dimly lit homes.” Plants with waxy, thick, or rubbery leaves (i.e., many of the options in this list) tend to hold on to moisture, so they do better in drier environments, such as indoor winter heating or summer air conditioning.

As always, beware of helicopter-mom habits like constant watering or taking a more-the-merrier approach with fertilizer, which isn’t meant to be a daily multivitamin or a miracle cure. And make sure your plant care information is coming from trustworthy sources, Zona says, like university extension departments (he works with the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox).:”There’s a lot of crazy information out there, and the well-informed grower is going to be more successful than the uninformed grower.”