# Recommend a plant for my room **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167 "2004-06-19T04:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/1 "2004-06-19T04:33:53Z")
What kind of plant should I get for my room? I want something that will not require a lot of work. I can water it once a day. Do I have to keep it by a window? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/2 "2004-06-19T04:52:47Z")
Well, I just got a Cycad Palm - it’s sturdy and slow growing with long fronds and narrow leaflets (I’m copying from the little plant card here). Anyhow - dryer rather than wetter (once a week is probably OK) and it will do ok with indirect sunlight. Sturdy, in case you were wondering, typically means “Hard to Kill.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/3 "2004-06-19T05:06:32Z")
I have a jade plant and an umbrella plant (“luseane schefflera”). I have not managed to kill either one of them, and I do things like leave for several weeks without having someone come in and water them. The jade plant’s … well, alive… but the schefflera actually seems to be thriving somehow. I water both of them on a terribly inconsistent basis, too. Can’t explain it, but I recommend the schefflera. If I can’t kill it, you should be fine. It likes medium light, according to its little dirt tag, and I keep it on a windowsill where it gets pretty good light in the mornings, but not much the rest of the day. ---
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/4 "2004-06-19T18:31:04Z")
A [Ponytail Palm](http://www.botanicus.com/BotanicusWNY/products/live_plants/exotic/ponytail_palm/body_ponytail_palm.html). ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/5 "2004-06-19T18:34:47Z")
A fake one. Requires no attention what so ever, apart from maybe dusting and continutes to look attractive while decieving others to believe you spend time caring for a plant. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/6 "2004-06-19T21:26:57Z")
I got a bonsai that’s pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/7 "2004-06-19T22:34:41Z")
cactus ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/8 "2004-06-20T00:26:11Z")
Get a Resurrection Fern[I believe it’s really some kind of moss] It comes as a dried up ball, place it in a saucer of water and within a few hours it unfurls and becomes green. You can dry it out and start over again whenever you wish. Chinese evergreen[Aglonema] diffenbachia or a sansaveria would also be good choices. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/9 "2004-06-20T00:36:03Z")
Yes, you’ll want to put the plant on the window. Most people over-estimate how much sunlight actually gets into their house. Chinese Evergreens and Sansevieria are said to be very tolerant of low light, but even they seem to do better with more light. Whatever you get, don’t water it once a day! That’s way too much water for just about any houseplant and the roots will rot if the soil is constantly water-logged. Most houseplants will do best if you let the soil dry out between waterings (NOT so much that the plant shrivels up, of course, but enough so the roots have a chance to “breathe”). That said, my picks for some of the easiest plants: Spider plant, golden pothos, or ZZ plant. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/10 "2004-06-20T01:18:31Z")
Get a bamboo plant. They take indirect lighting (read: Stick 'em anywhere). I bought one about 5 years ago. Since then, I have indiscriminately hacked off bits and peices and put those peices in glasses, empty jars or what have you, with some rocks. I water them when I remember, yet the suckers refuse to die. You can also train them into interesting shapes. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-plant-for-my-room/251167/11 "2004-06-20T01:52:47Z")
I have killed jade plants, I have killed scheffleria. I have killed numerous cacti. For years the only plant to survive my ownership were spider plants. And they reproduce easily, so you can have lots of indestructible plants in no time. Oddly, for three or four years I kept african violets. You’d think I’d have killed those, with my talents, but they lived until I ended up so busy I never had the time or energy to even think of watering anything. The spider plants survived. Hell, african violets are cheap, so give one a shot–it needs to be in the window, and I had the best luck with one of those pots that sits inside a pot–you don’t pour water over the dirt, you put it in the bigger pot and the littler one soaks it up. Keep the bottom pot full. But get a spider plant no matter what, cause those things will take just about anything you can throw at them.