# Life expectancy of House Plants **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485 "2004-08-25T18:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![inDisGuize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/76d3ee/32.png) [@inDisGuize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inDisGuize)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/1 "2004-08-25T18:57:08Z")
Does anyone have any idea how long one can expect a house plant might live? Do some plants live longer then others? Does anyone know of house plants that have long life expectations? Thanks - Thumbs not so green ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/2 "2004-08-25T19:29:46Z")
Depends on the species and how nice you are to it. [Some bonsai will live hundreds of years.](http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun03/arts0603.htm) I have a white-veined nephthytis that I’ve systematically loved and ignored for almost 20 years now. And it’s still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/3 "2004-08-25T22:57:35Z")
I have a schefflera that’s over 30 years old. Somehow I accidentally turned it into a bonsai, as it’s only about 18 inches tall. I know it’s not a tiny variety, because I also have a cutting from it, that’s about 7 feet tall. I also have some spider plants whose great . . . great grandparents lived about 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/4 "2004-08-25T23:03:30Z")
I have a 10-year-old pothos. It refuses to die, no matter how badly I treat it. I cut some of it off at times. Once I left the stems on the floor, and 5 days later, since they were still green, I put one in water and it sprouted roots. I planted it, and it thrives to this day. From this I assume it will easily outlive me. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/5 "2004-08-25T23:05:39Z")
Well, my mom as a green thumb, she has a jade tree [relatively small srub/succulent] that belonged to my great grandmother, it is doing just fine. I had an air fern that I managed to kill off in less than 2 months. [serious black thumb, i followed the directions exactly, and our roomies air fern was still thriving after 3 years=(] ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/6 "2004-08-26T00:05:23Z")
I have some that go back 20 years – I gave everything away when I moved in 1983. The big philodendron in my bedroom dates back to 1987. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/7 "2004-08-26T00:46:00Z")
You can’t go wrong with the appropriately-named [url=http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/Images/cast%20iron.jpg]cast iron plant\*. Water it … or don’t. Put it in the sun … or don’t. As long as you check for life every few months (if life is sorely lacking: add water - don’t worry, even if it’s all brown but a single light green leaf, that leaf will come back), it should serve you well for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/8 "2004-08-26T18:47:10Z")
I had a huge [Parlour Palm](http://www.victoriantrading.com/store/catalogimages/13m/13m96.jpg) which my M-I-L gave me in 1992, and I managed to keep it going for a further 10 years or so … she first planted it in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![Gelaphane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@Gelaphane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gelaphane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-expectancy-of-house-plants/261485/9 "2004-08-26T20:09:46Z")
Don’t feel bad… in MY house, a plant will hardly last a week if I’m lucky.