9 Easy Plants to Care For in a Small Apartment

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Plants are an excellent way to spruce up your small apartment. The only problem is, some plants can be hard to care for. If you find yourself constantly throwing out plants after just a week or two, it’s not just you. Plants can require tons of care, and if you’re not careful, one extra cup of water can spell disaster. Luckily, some plants seem to thrive off of being neglected. Here are 9 easy plants to care for in a small apartment. 

Snake Plant

If you have cats or dogs in your small apartment, you may want to avoid this plant since it can make them sick if they ingest it, but otherwise, it’s a great candidate for your apartment. Snake Plant is extremely difficult to kill. It’ll grow in direct sunlight or dimly lit corners. You can forget about this plant for a month, and it’ll still be alive and kicking. 

Water it sparingly in the winter months and weekly in the summer heat. The soil should be damp but not soaking. This plant can go a long time without water, but too much can cause root rot. There are only two ways to really kill this plant: too much water and frost. Avoid both, and you’ll have a bright green plant in your apartment year-round. 

Peace Lilies

Peace lilies come from the forest floors of Central and South America, where they thrive in spotty sunlight and moisture. A lot of people like this plant because it blooms beautiful white flowers in early summer, adding more to your apartment than a simple green plant. 

Unfortunately, this is another plant you want to avoid since its leaves and stems are toxic to dogs and cats. If they eat them, they can get sick. You’ll either have to choose another plant or keep this one up high out of reach. 

Place your peace lily in indirect sunlight and water it often enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Like snake plants, peace lilies can suffer from root rot if you overwater them in soil. When the leaves start to droop, you know it’s time to water them. You can also place them in a glass vase filled with river rocks and water. They don’t need soil to grow and can thrive in water as long as the base of the plant is above the water line.

Pothos or Devil’s Ivy

Pothos, also known as Devil’s Ivy, is a great choice thanks to its hardiness and ability to thrive in a number of conditions. Bright sunlight or a shaded corner, it doesn’t care. It also likes to have dry soil between waterings. Don’t immediately water it if you notice the soil isn’t as damp as it usually is, but don’t wait till the leaves start shriveling either. 

Devil’s Ivy is fast-growing and makes an excellent decorative piece in an apartment. While it doesn’t cling to walls as you might expect, you can intertwine it with nails and other supports to create the illusion of a wall-clinging ivy. 

This plant is in the same boat as the other plants on this list that contain calcium oxalate. While small children or pets are unlikely to die from eating the leaves or stems, it can cause them to be very sick. Something to keep in mind if you plan on growing this plant in your small apartment.

Ferns

Ferns are extremely easy to keep alive, and there is a wide enough variety of them to interest any homeowner. While they tend to grow on the forest floor in low light conditions, that doesn’t mean you can starve them of the sun. Keep them in partial sunlight, but avoid direct sunlight in the heat of the day.

You should keep the soil moist and the room humid. If you live in a small apartment with low humidity, it’s not a bad idea to keep a spray bottle nearby and mist the leaves every so often. Ferns also do great in homemade compost, which can also easily be done in a small apartment. These plants are also not toxic for pets, making them great if your cat likes to nibble on plant life. 

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is a great contender for a plant in a small apartment. Place it in a pot on a windowsill or kitchen counter, water it, and forget about it. Aloe vera does best in warmer temperatures, indirect sunlight, and watered infrequently. 

You ideally want the soil to dry out between waterings and be moist to the touch immediately after watering. Ideally, you should only have to water it every other week, but if you notice the leaves beginning to falter or yellow, you need to water it. The more sunlight it sees, the more often it will need water. 

Aloe vera is a commonly used product in lotions, sunburn soothers, and more. The juice from its leaves is often considered a miracle product, but you shouldn’t try and use yours to do the same. Ingesting the juice can make you sick, and you may irreparably damage your plant if you try and harvest leaves improperly. 

Rosemary

Probably the most useful plant you can grow in your small apartment is rosemary. What’s better than seeing a recipe needs rosemary and grabbing a few twigs from your own plant for free? While you could try and use sprigs from the store, it’s much easier to buy a rosemary plant from a garden center. Reward yourself and grow this herb on your kitchen counter.

Give your rosemary plant lots of sunlight and enough water to keep the soil slightly moist. Most people leave their rosemary on the kitchen counter where they’ll use it, but if there’s not enough sunlight there, the plant will die. Keep it in indirect sunlight and water the soil regularly. The soil should be allowed to dry slightly but not go bone dry between waterings.

Basil

Another great herb to grow at home, basil is easy to take care of and doesn’t require your full attention. Keep your basil in a small pot with good drainage and water it about once a week, enough to keep the soil moist but not wet. Wet soil will cause root rot, and you’ll no longer have a basil plant soon.

You should also keep it in an area that sees indirect sunlight for around six hours each day. Too much sunlight can cause the plant to dry out and die. Basil is a great excuse to start learning Italian recipes or making pizza in your oven at home. Impress dinner guests with your own assortment of homegrown herbs. 

Cacti

Cacti are the epitome of low maintenance. These things grow in the desert on just a few inches of rainwater a year in the blistering sun. We suggest getting a star cactus or easter cactus if you’re worried about caring for a house plant. Not every cactus is the same, so be sure to read up on whichever one you purchase, but these are some general guidelines you can follow. 

Place them in a south-facing window or whatever window gets the most sunlight, and they’ll thrive. You should water them about once every two weeks in the summer months and once a month in the winter. They’ll grow best in fast-draining soil. Bonus points if you can put them outside in the summer when it gets above 60 degrees. 

Succulents

We already covered some succulents on this list, but there’s a whole plethora of succulents you can easily grow at home in your small apartment. It’s almost like these plants were made for indoor apartments or new plant owners. They can survive after long periods of neglect and come back to life as if nothing happened.

Different succulents need different things, but you can expect to water them every ten or so days in the summer and rarely in the winter. They’ll need direct sunlight, so place them in an east or south-facing window. 

We suggest getting echeveria, a jade plant, or sempervivum. These plants grow in small pots, require little care, and look gorgeous on countertops or window sills. They require minimal upkeep. Just water them when the leaves look droopy, and they’ll perk right back up. Avoid saturating the soil and let it dry between waterings.