Guides / Houseplants
Houseplants
Plants for windowsills, shelves and shaded corners. Each guide covers light, watering, feeding, and common problems such as yellow leaves and brown tips.
A
African Milk Tree
Euphorbia trigona
Practical guidance for growing African milk tree, Euphorbia trigona, including its caustic sap, upright ribbed stems, low water needs, safe handling, and repotting a top-heavy plant.
African violet
Streptocarpus ionanthus
How to care for Streptocarpus ionanthus. Light for flowering, watering from below, avoiding leaf spots and understanding the name change.
Air plant
Tillandsia xerographica
How to care for Tillandsia xerographica. Soaking, drying the rosette upside down, mounting without glue and propagating after flowering.
Alocasia
Alocasia amazonica
How to care for Alocasia x amazonica. Recognising winter dormancy rather than death, getting the watering right, treating spider mite, and why it drips water.
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera
How to grow aloe vera indoors. Watering, light, dividing the pups, the difference between the gel and the yellow sap, and whether it is safe for pets.
Aluminium plant
Pilea cadierei
How to care for Pilea cadierei. Light, watering, pruning leggy stems, keeping the silver markings clear and replacing old plants.
Amaryllis
Hippeastrum vittatum
How to grow amaryllis, Hippeastrum vittatum. Planting the bulb half exposed, getting it to flower a second year, and the dormancy that most people skip.
Angel Wing Begonia
Begonia coccinea
Practical guidance for growing angel wing begonia, Begonia coccinea, including cane stems, silver-spotted wing-shaped leaves, watering, humidity, pruning, and toxicity to pets.
Angel Wings
Caladium bicolor
How to grow angel wings, Caladium bicolor. Why losing every leaf each year is dormancy rather than a dying plant, keeping the tuber dry through its rest, and the mouth pain calcium oxalate crystals cause if a leaf is chewed.
Areca palm
Dypsis lutescens
How to care for Dypsis lutescens. Watering a palm sold as a clump of seedlings, why the tips go brown, treating spider mite, and never cutting the growing point.
Arrowhead plant
Syngonium auritum
How to grow syngonium, Syngonium auritum. The arrowhead plant, why the leaf shape changes as it matures, and keeping it bushy rather than climbing.
Arrowhead vine
Syngonium podophyllum
How to care for Syngonium podophyllum. The plant that changes leaf shape as it climbs, why the arrowhead you bought turns into something else, and how to keep it compact.
Asparagus fern
Asparagus setaceus
How to care for Asparagus setaceus. Light, watering, humidity, toxic berries, its false leaves and its weed risk in warm climates.
B
Baby rubber plant
Peperomia obtusifolia
How to care for Peperomia obtusifolia. Light, watering, dry rooms, propagation and avoiding root rot.
Baseball Plant
Euphorbia obesa
How to grow baseball plant, Euphorbia obesa. Why it is mistaken for a cactus despite being a euphorbia with irritant sap, why a lone plant never sets seed, and why underwatering is by far the safer mistake.
Bird of Paradise
Strelitzia reginae
How to grow Strelitzia reginae. Light, watering, the cool winter rest, slow flowering and the bird-pollinated flower structure.
Bird's nest fern
Asplenium nidus
How to care for Asplenium nidus. Watering around the rosette, humidity, scale insects and protecting new fronds.
Bishop's Cap Cactus
Astrophytum myriostigma
How to grow bishop's cap cactus, Astrophytum myriostigma. It has no spines at all, propagates only from seed since it never offsets, and low light fades its silvery flecking to plain green.
Blue star fern
Phlebodium aureum
How to care for Phlebodium aureum. The blue-grey epiphytic fern that forgives dry air where a maidenhair would not, why the furry rhizome must stay on the surface, and the best first fern to try.
Blue Vanda
Vanda coerulea
Practical guidance for growing blue vanda, Vanda coerulea, including basket culture, bare roots, daily watering, strong light, a cool winter rest, and the true blue flower colour.
Blushing philodendron
Philodendron erubescens
How to care for Philodendron erubescens. The red-stemmed climber behind 'Pink Princess' and 'Red Emerald', why it needs a pole to make big leaves, and what the red pigment is for.
Boston Fern
Nephrolepis exaltata
How to grow a Boston fern, Nephrolepis exaltata. The humidity it demands, why fronds shed in winter, propagating from runners, and the Victorian craze that made it famous.
Bottle Palm
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis
How to grow bottle palm, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis. The whole wild population survives on one island off Mauritius, and while an established plant tolerates drought, salt and wind, any real frost does lasting damage.
Brahmi
Bacopa monnieri
How to grow Bacopa monnieri, the creeping marsh herb sold as brahmi. Growing it in an aquarium or a wet pot indoors, and the two different plants that share the name.
Bunny Ears Cactus
Opuntia microdasys
Practical guidance for growing bunny ears cactus, Opuntia microdasys, including glochid safety, paired pads, bright sun, dry roots, and mild toxicity.
Burro's Tail
Sedum morganianum
How to grow burro's tail, Sedum morganianum. Why its leaves detach at the lightest touch, a normal trait rather than a problem, siting it somewhere nothing brushes past it, and rooting the fallen leaves into new plants.
Button fern
Pellaea rotundifolia
How to care for Pellaea rotundifolia. The New Zealand fern with round leathery buttons instead of lace, why it takes drier air than other ferns, and the one thing it will not forgive.
C
Cast iron plant
Aspidistra elatior
How to care for Aspidistra elatior. The Victorian parlour plant that survives dark corners and cold hallways, why it grows so slowly, and the two things that kill it.
Chinese evergreen
Aglaonema commutatum
How to care for Aglaonema commutatum. Why cold does more damage than low light, watering it correctly, and why the pink varieties need brighter conditions than the green ones.
Chinese hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
How to grow Chinese hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Flowers that last a day, why bud drop happens, and keeping it through a cool winter indoors.
Chinese Money Plant
Pilea peperomioides
How to grow Pilea peperomioides. Light, watering, why the leaves curl, and how to take the offsets that carried this plant across Europe before any nursery sold it.
Christmas Cactus
Schlumbergera truncata
How to grow and reflower a Christmas cactus. Why it is not a desert cactus, how to tell it from a Thanksgiving cactus, and what causes bud drop.
Coffee Plant
Coffea arabica
How to grow coffee plant, Coffea arabica. Why a plant can grow for years without ever flowering, telling a dramatic thirst-wilt from silent root rot, and keeping the caffeine in its leaves and raw cherries away from pets.
Coleus
Plectranthus scutellarioides
How to grow coleus, Plectranthus scutellarioides. Pinching out the flowers to keep the leaves, taking cuttings that root in a week, and overwintering it.
Cooktown Orchid
Dendrobium bigibbum
How to grow Cooktown orchid, Dendrobium bigibbum. Healthy canes with no flowers usually mean too little light or too shallow a dry rest, it flowers on leafless older canes, and it takes almost no cold below 12 deg C.
Cooper's Haworthia
Haworthia cooperi
How to grow Cooper's haworthia, Haworthia cooperi. Why its translucent leaf windows sit mostly buried among grass in the wild, and why it needs far more regular summer watering than a typical succulent.
Corn plant
Dracaena fragrans
How to grow corn plant, Dracaena fragrans. Brown leaf tips, cane pruning, watering, light and toxicity to cats and dogs.
Creeping fig
Ficus pumila
How to care for Ficus pumila. The one ficus that takes real shade, why it climbs walls without support, and the adult growth phase that turns a neat green sheet into a coarse shrub.
Cretan brake
Pteris cretica
How to care for Pteris cretica. The variegated table fern that outlives the rest of a mixed bowl, why the two frond types look like different plants, and how it seeds itself.
Crimson Cattleya
Cattleya labiata
Practical guidance for growing crimson cattleya, Cattleya labiata, including pseudobulbs, the autumn flowering trigger, bark mix, bright light, and how to avoid bud blast.
Croton
Codiaeum variegatum
How to care for Codiaeum variegatum. Why it drops every leaf when you move it, the light it needs for colour, treating red spider mite, and settling a new plant.
Crown of thorns
Euphorbia milii
How to grow crown of thorns, Euphorbia milii. The caustic milky sap, flowering almost all year in good light, and the spines that make it a poor choice near children.
Crystal Anthurium
Anthurium crystallinum
Practical guidance for growing crystal anthurium, Anthurium crystallinum, including velvet foliage, silver veining, humidity, chunky compost, watering, and mild toxicity.
D
Dancing Lady
Oncidium flexuosum
Practical guidance for growing dancing lady orchid, Oncidium flexuosum, including branching flower sprays, pseudobulb watering, moderate cold tolerance, and mounting versus potting.
Desert Rose
Adenium obesum
Practical guidance for growing desert rose, Adenium obesum, including the swollen caudex, dry dormancy, bright light, sparing water, severe toxicity, and repotting a bonsai-like base.
Devil's Ivy
Epipremnum aureum
How to grow pothos, Epipremnum aureum. Keeping the variegation, propagating in water, why a climbing plant grows different leaves, and the calcium oxalate that makes it toxic.
Dragon Blood Tree
Dracaena draco
How to grow dragon blood tree, Dracaena draco. Why it spends decades as a rosette before branching into its umbrella crown, the red sap once traded as dragon's blood, and why overwatering is the real risk.
Dragon Tree
Dracaena marginata
How to grow Dracaena marginata. Why tap water browns the tips, cutting a leggy cane to make it branch, and the saponins that affect cats.
Dumb cane
Dieffenbachia seguine
How to care for Dieffenbachia seguine. Handling it safely, keeping it from going leggy, air-layering a bare stem, and where the name comes from.
Dwarf umbrella tree
Schefflera arboricola
How to care for Schefflera arboricola. The tough bushy shrub that takes hard pruning and medium light, why the leaflets drop, and how to stop it becoming a bare stick.
E
Earth Star
Cryptanthus bivittatus
How to grow earth star, Cryptanthus bivittatus. Why it roots in soil rather than needing a tank bromeliad's water cup, how brighter light deepens its pink-bronze stripes, and why the rosette fades once it has produced pups.
Easter Orchid
Cattleya mossiae
How to grow Easter orchid, Cattleya mossiae. Why a cooler, drier winter determines whether it flowers each spring, and the disturbance that causes a forming bud to yellow and drop before it opens.
Emerald ripple peperomia
Peperomia caperata
How to care for Peperomia caperata. The deeply corrugated rosette peperomia, why water sitting in the crown rots it, and how to propagate one from a single leaf.
F
Fiddle Leaf Fig
Ficus lyrata
How to grow Ficus lyrata. Why it drops leaves when moved, telling root rot brown spots from sunburn ones, and how to make a single stem branch.
Fishbone prayer plant
Ctenanthe burle-marxii
How to care for Ctenanthe burle-marxii. The toughest of the prayer plant family, why the leaves fold up at night, and how it differs from a calathea in the ways that matter.
Flaming Katy
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
How to care for Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. Watering a succulent that is sold in flower, deadheading, and the long dark nights that make it bloom a second time.
Flamingo Flower
Anthurium andraeanum
How to care for Anthurium andraeanum, the flamingo flower. Light, chunky compost, humidity, watering and repeat flowering.
Flamingo Lily
Anthurium scherzerianum
How to grow flamingo lily, Anthurium scherzerianum. Why its calcium oxalate crystals cause an immediate burning bite rather than a slow poisoning, the curled spadix that sets it apart from Anthurium andraeanum, and the fluoride-sensitive browning mistaken for underwatering.
Flying Goldfish Plant
Columnea gloriosa
How to grow flying goldfish plant, Columnea gloriosa. Why its fish-shaped flowers need brighter light than the foliage alone, and what causes buds to drop before they open.
Forskolin
Plectranthus barbatus
How to grow Plectranthus barbatus, the tuberous coleus behind forskolin. An easy tender perennial for a windowsill, blue flower spikes in autumn, and three names for one plant.
Foxtail Fern
Asparagus densiflorus
Practical guidance for growing foxtail fern, Asparagus densiflorus, including plume-shaped stems, tuberous roots, bright light, drought tolerance, and toxicity to cats and dogs.
Fragrant fern
Microsorum punctatum
How to care for Microsorum punctatum. The upright strap fern with no scent despite the name, why the crested forms cost more, and how it grows on bark without soil.
G
Gardenia
Gardenia jasminoides
How to care for Gardenia jasminoides. Why the buds drop, the ericaceous compost and rainwater it insists on, and the steady conditions that decide whether it flowers.
Ghost Plant
Graptopetalum paraguayense
Practical guidance for growing ghost plant, Graptopetalum paraguayense, including pale rosettes, leaf propagation, drought tolerance, bright light, and non-toxic houseplant care.
Golden Barrel Cactus
Echinocactus grusonii
How to grow golden barrel cactus, Echinocactus grusonii. Its entire wild population was flooded by a dam in the 1990s, overwatering is the real risk rather than drought, and most never live long enough to flower.
Golden Shower Orchid
Oncidium sphacelatum
How to grow golden shower orchid, Oncidium sphacelatum. Why a plant kept damp year-round skips its huge branching spray, judging sun by leaf colour, and giving pseudobulbs the dry rest they need to flower.
Green aglaonema
Aglaonema modestum
How to care for Aglaonema modestum. The plain green original of the Chinese evergreens, tougher in shade and cold than the coloured cultivars that replaced it, and why the plain leaf is the point.
Guduchi
Tinospora cordifolia
How to grow Tinospora cordifolia under glass. The vine that drops aerial roots like strings, why Sanskrit calls it the nectar of immortality, and the 2021 hepatitis cluster.
Gymnema
Gymnema sylvestre
How to grow Gymnema sylvestre under glass. The leaf that switches off sweet taste for half an hour, why it needs a heated greenhouse, and what gurmar means.
H
Hare's foot fern
Davallia canariensis
How to care for Davallia canariensis. The Mediterranean fern that sheds its fronds in a dry summer and grows them back, why it takes a cold room, and how it differs from the Fijian one.
Heartleaf Philodendron
Philodendron hederaceum
How to care for Philodendron hederaceum. How to tell it apart from pothos for certain, why climbing gives bigger leaves than trailing, and how it behaves around pets.
Holly fern
Cyrtomium falcatum
How to care for Cyrtomium falcatum. The stiff, dark, glossy fern that takes cold halls and dry air, why it looks nothing like a houseplant fern, and where it has escaped.
Hoya
Hoya carnosa
How to care for Hoya carnosa, the wax plant. Never cutting off the flower spur, keeping it pot-bound so it blooms, and the winter rest that sets the buds.
J
Jade Plant
Crassula ovata
How to grow a jade plant, Crassula ovata. Watering a succulent properly, pruning it into a tree, getting red leaf edges, and why it breathes at night.
Japanese aralia
Fatsia japonica
How to care for Fatsia japonica. The big-leaved shade shrub that works as a houseplant and a garden plant, why it hates warm rooms, and what the shiny black berries are.
Jelly Bean Plant
Sedum rubrotinctum
Practical guidance for growing jelly bean plant, Sedum rubrotinctum, including bead-like leaves, sun colour, propagation from a dropped leaf, watering, and low pest pressure.
Jewel Orchid
Ludisia discolor
Practical guidance for growing jewel orchid, Ludisia discolor, including its velvet patterned leaves, shaded position, moist soil rather than bark, low light tolerance, and modest flower spikes.
K
Kentia palm
Howea forsteriana
How to care for Howea forsteriana. Watering a palm that hates wet feet, why the brown tips appear, never cutting the growing point, and the one island it comes from.
King Anthurium
Anthurium veitchii
How to grow king anthurium, Anthurium veitchii. Why its huge corrugated leaves need far more humidity than an average anthurium, and what a moss pole does for its pendant habit.
L
Lady palm
Rhapis excelsa
How to care for Rhapis excelsa. The most shade-tolerant palm in cultivation, why it costs what it does, and why a plant that suits cool dim rooms is still sold as difficult.
Lady's Slipper Orchid
Paphiopedilum insigne
Practical guidance for growing lady's slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum insigne, including the pouched flower, no pseudobulbs, constant light moisture, cool growing conditions, and handling care.
Lipstick Echeveria
Echeveria agavoides
How to grow lipstick echeveria, Echeveria agavoides. Why its pointed leaves look closer to a small agave, what strong sun does for the red leaf-tip colour, and why water pooling in the rosette is the fastest way to lose it.
Lipstick Plant
Aeschynanthus radicans
Practical guidance for growing lipstick plant, Aeschynanthus radicans, including tubular red flowers, dark calyxes, trailing stems, bright light, humidity, pruning, and non-toxic houseplant care.
Living stones
Lithops lesliei
How to grow living stones, Lithops lesliei. The strict watering calendar, why you must not water while it splits, and the annual leaf change.
Lucky bamboo
Dracaena sanderiana
How to grow lucky bamboo, Dracaena sanderiana. It is not bamboo, why tap water yellows the tips, and moving it from water into compost.
M
Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum raddianum
How to care for Adiantum raddianum. Why it crisps in an ordinary room, the one thing that revives a fern you think you have killed, and how it differs from its near-hardy wild relative.
Mexican Snowball
Echeveria elegans
How to grow Echeveria elegans. Keeping the rosette tight, why you must not touch the leaves, watering without rotting the centre, and beheading a stretched plant.
Mind your own business
Soleirolia soleirolii
How to care for Soleirolia soleirolii. The tiny-leaved carpet that fills a shaded pot in a season, why it is a nettle without a sting, and why it is hard to remove once loose in a garden.
Moon Cactus
Gymnocalycium mihanovichii
Practical guidance for growing moon cactus, Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, including grafts, rootstock lifespan, bright shaded light, dry soil, and non-toxic care.
Moonstones
Pachyphytum oviferum
How to grow moonstones, Pachyphytum oviferum. Why touching a leaf leaves a permanent mark in its chalky farina bloom, and what triggers its red-orange flower spikes each winter.
Moth Orchid
Phalaenopsis amabilis
How to grow a moth orchid, Phalaenopsis. Watering an epiphyte, reading the roots, the temperature drop that triggers a new spike, and where to cut the old one.
Mother of thousands
Kalanchoe daigremontiana
How to grow mother of thousands, Kalanchoe daigremontiana. The plantlets that drop off everywhere, the cardiac glycosides that kill livestock, and containing it.
N
Neem
Azadirachta indica
How to grow Azadirachta indica indoors outside the tropics. A conservatory tree that needs constant warmth, why it cannot legally be sold as a pesticide in Britain, and the infant poisoning record.
Nerve plant
Fittonia albivenis
How to care for Fittonia albivenis. The plant that faints when it dries out, keeping the humidity it demands, growing it in a terrarium, and pinching to keep it bushy.
Never-Never Plant
Ctenanthe setosa
How to grow never-never plant, Ctenanthe setosa. Why its leaves fold upright every evening and flatten again by morning, and telling hard-water leaf scorch from simple dry-air browning.
Noble dendrobium
Dendrobium nobile
How to grow Dendrobium nobile. The cool dry winter rest that makes it flower, why the old canes must be kept, and the keikis that grow instead of buds.
Norfolk Island Pine
Araucaria heterophylla
How to grow Norfolk Island pine, Araucaria heterophylla. Why turning the pot regularly keeps its tiers even, why cutting the leading shoot ruins the shape for good, and telling normal lower-branch dieback from the early signs of root rot.
P
Paddle Plant
Kalanchoe luciae
Practical guidance for growing paddle plant, Kalanchoe luciae, including flat paddle-shaped leaves, red colour in strong light, flowering stems, drought tolerance, and toxicity to pets.
Panda Plant
Kalanchoe tomentosa
How to grow panda plant, Kalanchoe tomentosa. Why the rust-brown leaf edges are normal rather than a sign of stress, why it rarely flowers indoors, and the cardiac glycosides that make a flowering plant riskier to pets than its leaves.
Parlour palm
Chamaedorea elegans
How to care for Chamaedorea elegans. The Victorian drawing-room palm that still tolerates a dim corner better than almost anything, why it stays small, and the two things that brown the tips.
Peace Lily
Spathiphyllum wallisii
How to care for Spathiphyllum wallisii. Why it wilts on purpose, what brown tips are telling you, why a shop-bought plant often refuses to flower again, and how it behaves around cats.
Pencil cactus
Euphorbia tirucalli
How to grow pencil cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli. Not a cactus, the seriously caustic sap, and why 'Firesticks' needs full sun to keep its colour.
Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima
How to buy a poinsettia that lasts, keep it alive past January, and get the bracts to colour up again. Plus the truth about whether poinsettias are poisonous.
Polka dot begonia
Begonia maculata
How to care for Begonia maculata. Pruning to stop it going leggy, watering a cane begonia without rotting it, keeping the spots bold, and rooting cuttings.
Ponytail palm
Beaucarnea recurvata
How to grow ponytail palm, Beaucarnea recurvata. The swollen base that stores water, why it needs watering monthly rather than weekly, and its slow growth.
Prayer Plant
Maranta leuconeura
How to care for Maranta leuconeura. Why the leaves fold up at night, what causes the crispy edges everyone gets, and one of the few striking houseplants that is safe with cats.
Purple Heart
Tradescantia pallida
How to grow purple heart, Tradescantia pallida. Why light matters more than feeding for keeping the purple colour strong, and the sap that can trigger a skin rash even after years of handling it without trouble.
Pygmy Date Palm
Phoenix roebelenii
Practical guidance for growing pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelenii, including its base spines, slow arching fronds, bright light, steady moisture, and pet-safe care.
R
Rabbit's foot fern
Davallia fejeensis
How to care for Davallia fejeensis. The Fijian fern whose furry rhizomes crawl over the pot rim, why they must never be buried, and how to grow one in a hanging basket.
Raindrop Peperomia
Peperomia polybotrya
How to grow raindrop peperomia, Peperomia polybotrya. Why its thick, teardrop leaves cope better with a missed watering than with compost left wet, and why it is safe for a home with cats, dogs or a toddler who chews everything.
Rex begonia
Begonia rex
How to care for Begonia rex. The begonia grown entirely for its leaf, why humidity matters more than light, and how to raise a new plant from a single leaf.
Round-Leaf Calathea
Goeppertia orbifolia
How to grow Goeppertia orbifolia. Humidity, filtered water, leaf movement at night and the Calathea name change.
Rubber Plant
Ficus elastica
How to care for Ficus elastica. Why it drops leaves when you move it, what the red sheath on new growth is, how to stop it becoming a bare pole, and the latex problem.
S
Sago palm
Cycas revoluta
How to care for Cycas revoluta. Watering a cycad that stores its own water, the one flush of fronds a year, treating cycad scale, and why it is lethal to dogs.
Satin pothos
Scindapsus pictus
How to care for Scindapsus pictus. The silver-spotted trailer that keeps its markings in far less light than a variegated pothos, why it is not a pothos at all, and how to stop the leaves shrinking.
Shatavari
Asparagus racemosus
How to grow Asparagus racemosus under glass. A thorny climbing asparagus with a hundred roots, scented white flowers, and the berries to keep away from pets.
Silver Torch Cactus
Cleistocactus strausii
How to grow silver torch cactus, Cleistocactus strausii. Its high-altitude Andean origin gives it a cold tolerance rare among cacti, strong sun keeps the spines dense rather than sparse, and a tall column can topple without a heavier pot.
Silver Vase Plant
Aechmea fasciata
Practical guidance for growing silver vase plant, Aechmea fasciata, including central cup watering, pups after flowering, silver banding, bright light, humidity, and non-toxic houseplant care.
Snake Plant
Dracaena trifasciata
How to grow a snake plant, Dracaena trifasciata. Watering, light, why variegated cuttings turn green, and what the air-purifying claims are worth.
Spider Orchid
Brassia verrucosa
Practical guidance for growing spider orchid, Brassia verrucosa, including long trailing petals, the wasp-mimicking flower, pseudobulb watering, bright light, and a warm intermediate climate.
Spider Plant
Chlorophytum comosum
How to grow a spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum. Fixing brown tips, rooting the babies, and whether it is safe for cats.
Spikemoss
Selaginella kraussiana
How to care for Selaginella kraussiana. Humidity, low light, constant moisture and growing it in a closed jar or terrarium.
Spotted Dumb Cane
Dieffenbachia seguine
How to grow spotted dumb cane, Dieffenbachia seguine. Why a bitten leaf can swell the tongue enough to affect speech and breathing, and why it needs a shelf out of reach rather than just supervision around children and pets.
Staghorn fern
Platycerium bifurcatum
How to grow staghorn fern, Platycerium bifurcatum. Mounting it on a board, why the brown shield fronds must be left alone, and watering by soaking.
String of Buttons
Crassula perforata
Practical guidance for growing string of buttons, Crassula perforata, including stacked triangular leaves, propagation from leaves, bright light, drought tolerance, and mild toxicity.
String of hearts
Ceropegia woodii
How to care for Ceropegia woodii. Watering a semi-succulent trailer, getting tight leaf spacing rather than bare threads, and propagating from the beads on the stems.
String of pearls
Curio rowleyanus
How to care for Curio rowleyanus. Bright light, careful watering, shallow pots, propagation and signs of stress in the beads.
Sweetheart Hoya
Hoya kerrii
How to grow sweetheart hoya, Hoya kerrii. Why a single heart-shaped leaf sold as a gift can never grow into a vine unless it was cut with a stem node, and why letting the mix dry out fully matters more than any feeding schedule.
Swiss Cheese Plant
Monstera deliciosa
How to grow and care for Monstera deliciosa, the Swiss cheese plant. Watering, light, feeding, common problems, and whether it is safe around pets.
Swiss cheese vine
Monstera adansonii
How to care for Monstera adansonii. The small-leaved monstera with holes and no splits, how to tell it from the plant sold as obliqua, and why the holes only arrive with age.
T
Ti plant
Cordyline fruticosa
How to care for Cordyline fruticosa. The red-leaved Pacific plant carried across an ocean by canoe, why fluoride in tap water browns the tips, and how much light the colour needs.
Tiger Aloe
Gonialoe variegata
How to grow tiger aloe, Gonialoe variegata. Why it rots more easily than it scorches despite its tough desert look, and how growing beneath low shrubs in the wild shapes its need for some shade rather than full sun.
Torch Plant
Aloe arborescens
How to grow torch plant, Aloe arborescens. Why it flowers in winter rather than the summer most aloes choose, how it resprouts after wildfire in its native range, and why a plant kept in a small pot may never flower at all.
Tree houseleek
Aeonium arboreum
How to grow aeonium, Aeonium arboreum. The summer dormancy that reverses normal watering, why a flowering rosette dies, and overwintering it outside its own climate.
V
Velvet Cardboard Anthurium
Anthurium clarinervium
How to grow velvet cardboard anthurium, Anthurium clarinervium. Why its flower barely registers next to the velvety, vein-patterned leaves, and the chunky aroid mix that keeps the roots from rotting.
Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula
How to care for Dionaea muscipula. Pure water, winter dormancy, full sun, feeding and the trigger hairs inside each trap.
W
Watch Chain
Crassula muscosa
How to grow watch chain, Crassula muscosa. Why its tightly stacked leaves look like a braided zip fastener, the unpleasant smell its small flowers give off, and why stretched, gappy growth from too little light cannot be reversed.
Watermelon peperomia
Peperomia argyreia
How to care for Peperomia argyreia. The silver-striped peperomia whose markings are structural rather than pigment, why the stalks snap, and how to propagate one from half a leaf.
Weeping fig
Ficus benjamina
How to care for Ficus benjamina. Why it drops every leaf when you move it, settling a new plant, treating scale, and handling the irritant sap when you prune.
Whale fin snake plant
Dracaena masoniana
How to care for Dracaena masoniana. The single-leaved snake plant that is usually sold as one enormous paddle, why it grows so slowly, and why a whole plant can be one leaf.
Z
Zebra Alocasia
Alocasia zebrina
Practical guidance for growing zebra alocasia, Alocasia zebrina, including striped petioles, arrow-shaped leaves, humidity, watering, winter dormancy, mild toxicity, and pest control.
Zebra haworthia
Haworthiopsis fasciata
How to care for Haworthiopsis fasciata. The succulent that tolerates a shaded windowsill, watering it correctly, removing offsets, and telling it from Haworthiopsis attenuata.
ZZ Plant
Zamioculcas zamiifolia
How to care for Zamioculcas zamiifolia. Low light, dry compost, rhizomes, leaflet propagation and the false cancer claim.
Nothing here matches.
Clear a filter, or search every guide from the hub. The plant you are after may be filed under another category.
Search all plant guides