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Gabbing with a Green Thumb: Best Houseplants for Beginners

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Carleton chapter.

I love being outside, especially when I’m gardening in the sunshine. After I had mastered the outdoor world of gardening, I decided it was finally time to face my fear of houseplants. With practice — and using the most basic plants ever — I have finally grown confident enough to share my favourite houseplants that I didn’t kill!

Snake Plant

Also known as ‘Mother-in-law’s tongue,’ this plant is great for anyone who doesn’t have good lighting. Whether you’re in a condo, dark room, or basement, these plants can survive through any low-light. Watering can be done every one to two weeks and even removes harmful toxins in the air! ​

Marble Queen Pothos

Pothos plants come in all different colours and genuses, but the marble queen is by far my favourite! This plant is great for stringing and hanging, especially down a bookcase or wall. You don’t have to water it very often and it only needs minimal light. It’s also very easy to propagate, which means you can create tons of mini-plants from the original stock! ​

Aglaonema

Also known as ‘Chinese evergreen,’ you literally won’t be able to kill this plant! This plant will survive with pretty much little to no care. You can water it maybe once a month and it will still bloom and grow beautifully — as long as it has some light sunshine. This one is also very good at removing toxins from the air! ​

Aloe Vera

These have some really great benefits! These are pretty easy to grow as long as you have the appropriate size pot (two inches larger than the nursery pot — the pot it comes in) and fresh sandy soil. Aloe is a type of succulent, so it does best in a good amount of sunlight and minimal watering. As you probably already know, it’s very helpful to keep in the kitchen, if you burn yourself cut a leaf off and put the gel on the burn to soothe it! The gel is also really great for keeping skin young, flexible, and acne-free. ​

These are all my favourite starter plants for beginners. Each of which usually requires minimal lighting and watering! Please remember that overwatering is the number one cause of dead houseplants so better to leave it than drown it. Hopefully one of these will be perfect for your own home!

Rachel Fiset

Carleton '23

Rachel is a Journalism and Political Science combined honours student. She loves to write, read, and learn any way she can! Rachel enjoys keeping busy, and along with HerCampus is involved with The Charlatan, CKCU 93.1 FM, Book Ravens, and the Campus Activity Board.