My company recently moved offices, which inspired me to rethink my cubicle decor. One big conclusion: I’d like a plant.
I am, however, not especially knowledgeable when it comes to botanicals, so I don’t really know what kind of plant is going to thrive in an office environment. I need recommendations.
Stuff I do know:
My desk borders a window that faces east, so we get a lot of window-filtered sunlight throughout the day in addition to omnipresent fluorescents.
I like plants with biggish leaves, not a lot of tiny little ones that will fall off constantly.
I’d rather have a desktop plant than a hanging one. I don’t like spider plants.
It can get largeish – I’d be comfortable with something that could get to 3-4 feet high, although it doesn’t have to be that big to start with (or ever).
I’m here five days a week. I’m happy to water and deadhead and perform basic upkeep, but I’m not much of a green thumb. Something so fussy that one bad decision is going to kill it would be a bad idea.
Any recommendations would be appreciated. Any further questions for me will be answered.
A book that I’ve been meaning to buy: How to Grow Fresh Air goes into detail on the top 50 or so plants that are best at giving you oxygen and removing pollutants from the air, which is a worthy goal in an office.
The flourescent lights are too far from your desk to offer the kind of intense light that “sunny” plants crave, and an east window will give full sunlight for only a few hours a day. You should narrow your search to shade-loving plants. Perhaps a green&white or green&gold hosta would fill the bill.
Are the lights on all night? If so, flowering plants will be confused. Their clues to spring, summer, and fall will be gone. They might flower all the time or never. Office buildings are often dry, so you might consider drought-hardy plants.
Go spider plant and cut off all the little babies that hang down. This way you get a desk plant that WILL NEVER DIE. If you remember to water it once every two weeks or so you will be fine. Really, they liven up an office and cannot be killed.
For a non-trailing plant, there’s one that’s nearly impossible to kill and with low light requirements that comes to mind. I think the nicknames for it are something like “snake plant” or “mother-in-law’s tongue” - the leaves are flat and long like sword blades, and tough to kill. The leaves grow straight up, twisting somewhat as they grow. I’m afraid the scientific name doesn’t spring to mind at the moment.
Philodendron are notoriously hard to kill. When I was teaching middle school, I had a classroom filled with them, grown from clippings, in bagged topsoil (not even potting soil) in plastic Solo cups. They were never fed, and the boys in the class took great pleasure in doing whatever they could to try to kill them, including giving them doses of the noxiously cheap soap from the student restrooms, but nevertheless, they simply would not die.
They will trail (my mother has one on a high shelf which has trailed the entire perimeter of her living room) but you can cut them back, of course. The leaves aren’t tiny (larger than a 50 cent piece) and won’t fall off if given proper deadheading and maintenance. They’re a very pleasant office plant, IMO.
Another vote for a philodendron. They are very unfussy about everything. You can let them dry out until thoroughly wilted and they will come back within an hour of being watered. If you water them a bit too much, they just grow faster. They do trail, but that can be kind of fun. I saw one in an office once that had been run from its pot up the wall, all the way across the ceiling, and down to the floor on the opposite wall.
I got a violet for my cubicle after my mom told me that they do really well in ultraviolet light. It’s incredibly easy to care for – I just water it once a week, and put plant food spikes in the pot about every six weeks. It’s grown so much during the last few months that I’ve to transplant it twice.
I haven’t tried a philodendron yet, but that one’s next on my list.
Ok, your freindly neighborhood horticulturalist is on the case:
Hard to kill plants that I reccomend for your office:
Snake plant or Mother-in-law-tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata) - long (3ft+), narrow, stiff, upright leaves which may or may not be lined in yellow. Will become a floor plant in a few years
Devil’s Ivy or Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum, used to be Scindapsus) - Often mistaken for philodendron, waxy heart-shaped leaves on vine, usually varegated yellow. This is a vine-like plant most consider a ‘hanging plant’ but I use them on tabletops as well, they drape over the sides of a table nicely. These can also be trained to climb, some are sold with a post.
Philodendron (Philodendron spp.) - Various waxy-leaved tropical looking plants. The most popular is Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens); the one which looks like the pothos above only darker green, and a bit smaller leaves. A larger plant, P. selloum (I think it is sometimes called ‘Elephant ears’), forms a rosette of deeply cut, largish leaves from a central trunk which will eventually grow to 3ft or so.
Dracaena (Dracaena spp.) Various trunked plants with usually narrow, long arching leaves. These will get larger over time and will eventually become floor to ceiling plants. All common varieties are fine for moderate light.
Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior) - Large (2ft+), upright, dark green, leathery leaves. Easily the ugliest of the bunch but you could place this guy in a closet for a month and he’d just laugh at you.
All of these plants are tough, need little sunlight and thrive with abuse.
Just a tip on watering too: Most plants are overwatered so be careful here. Wait until the soil dries out - plants do not always need watering every week (or even every two).
I have a black thumb but was given a dieffenbachia three years ago when it was a foot or so tall. Since then it grew to 7 feet, fell over and broke. I jammed the top half into the dirt to see what would happen, and both stalks continued to grow. More shoots started showing up and right now I have four stalks between 4 and 6 feet tall.
It has never had a drink of water. All it gets is cold coffee.
I’ve killed ferns, philos, and aloe vera plants within weeks so I’m very impressed with this plant.
if you want a plant with a fairly striking appearance, you might consider a zebra plant. large glossy dark green leave with white stripes on the ribs, somewhat crinkly in texture.
it wilts noticeably if you forget to water it, but rebounds well immediately after. however, if you continually forget to water it, it will start to drop leaves and get a leggy look to it.
(they can be successfully air-layered, where you cut a small notch partway into the trunk, wrap mossy potting material around the wound, and wait for new roots to sprout. once established, you can cut off the trunk below the new roots and repot as a new plant. the old trunk might even resprout leaves too.)
The leaves grow straight up, twisting somewhat as they grow. I’m afraid the scientific name doesn’t spring to mind at the moment.