7 Best Indoor Plants That Grow in Water; Tried and True
Indoor plants that grow in water are different from water plants, or aquatic plants.
It’s important to understand the difference.
Indoor plants that grow in water are houseplants that in nature grow in soil. However, some of these plants can also successfully grow in water; some require less TLC than others, (more on this later in the article).
Aquatic plants, on the other hand, are plants that have adapted to live in water; whether, emerging, submerged or floating. They provide oxygen, shelter and food for fish and wildlife.
The focus of this blog article is on indoor plants that grow in water.
The reason why I only list and describe 7 plants, rather than 26, is because I’ve personally grown these 7 plants in water and I can speak from experience, (hence my pictures of these plants growing in water!).
Almost any houseplant can develop roots in water, but not all of them can continue to successfully grow and thrive in water.
Some plants are capable of growing roots from just their leaves!
why growing indoor plants in water?
Good question!
Before I go into how to grow plants in water and which ones are good at it, I am going to tell you WHY I grow indoor plants in water.
The answer is simple!
By accident!
Or at least, it was for me!
It all started with the purpose of propagating plants for my own pleasure.
Then I noticed how some plants were better than others at growing in water.
Eventually, I realized I really liked the look of them in glass jars with exposed roots!
And, most importantly, they are so easy to care for!! All I have to do is to either top up their water level in the glass jar and/or replace the water in the jar once a week.
Besides, no dirt, no mess and no pests!!!!
Now, I had one of my Instagram followers telling me she had pests even in her LECA growing plants, so I cannot guarantee that this is a pest free system, but personally, based on my experience, I’ve had no pests compared to the plants in soil…
So, how do you even start growing plants in water?
How to grow plants in water
There are two main ways to grow plants in water;
- rinsing off the soil from the rootball of an existing potted houseplant.
- grow new roots from a plant’s cutting.
I have to say that all my indoor plants that grow in water came from cuttings.
I have never taken a plant from a pot, removed and rinsed the soil off to place it in water. I honestly think it would be a shock to the plant and the rate of success be low.
One thing is to gradually grow roots in water from a cutting, and another is to suddenly go from soil to water.
You’ll read each individual plant case here below, but in general, stem cuttings can be done for several reasons; regular pruning for maintenance purposes, propagating purposes, to mitigate damages to a particular stem, or accidental leaf drop.
I recommend you always try to cut your stems in Spring, unless you are trying to root a leaf or a stem that has accidentally been dropped and damaged. Many plants go dormant in Winter and slow their growth process down. It’s not a good idea to weaken the plant by cutting it during the cold months.
STEP #1 SELECT YOUR CONTAINER
The ideal containers to grow plants in water are glass. Glass will allow you to appreciate and observe the roots growth and also to keep an eye on the water levels!
You can literally use any glass container; from mason jars, to jam and sauce jars and used candle jars! For some plants that have long and heavy stems is best to have containers with tapered necks.
The beauty of growing plants in water is that you can create beautiful compositions with intriguing glass containers!
STEP #2 CHOOSE YOUR MEDIUM
Indoor plants can grow in water even when the vessel contains other media, such as glass and gel beads or LECA. I’ve never tried glass and gel beads because they don’t meet my taste and they don’t add nutrients to the plant. I have however been successfully growing one of my Monsteras in LECA for months!
What is LECA?
Leca are simply small clay balls, (Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate), that provides oxygen to the plant by retaining water and releasing it slowly without suffocating the plant.
STEP #3 CUT YOUR STEMS OR LEAVES
With a sharp knife or pruning scissors, cut your stems in between the nodes along the stems. The nodes are the swollen parts along the stems that have leaves attached to it and either have aerial roots, or small protrusions that will become roots.
Here you can see I am about to cut the Monstera stem in between the nodes.
STEP #4 PLACE YOUR CUTTINGS IN WATER
Once you’ve cut the stems you needed to cut for whatever purpose, place the best cuttings in water to root. Depending on the plant species, it will take more or less time for the roots to form. In average, you should start seeing the beginning of new roots within 2-3 weeks.
I recommend you either use distilled water or tap water that has been sitting for 24 hours. This way you can avoid excessive chlorine that can be damaging for certain plant species.
Replace your cuttings’ water at least once a week and top up the container every time you see the water level dropping below the root line.
It’s important to understand that depending on the plant species, some cuttings can go directly in water after being cut, while others need to form a callous before being placed in water to root!
(IF YOU ARE GROWING SUCCULENTS IN WATER)
Succulents leaves and stems need to form a callous before being placed in water to root.
To form a callous, simply means that the cutting needs to heal its “wound” before going into water. It generally takes 2-3 days.
Place your cutting in a darker room for 2 to 3 days before placing it in water!
STEP #5 ALLOW YOUR PLANT TO GROW
As the time goes by, you’ll notice that both your plant and roots will continue to grow, to the point that you may need to find a new vessel to contain the roots!
Some plants, (like Monsteras), will require an extra nutrients boost to their water, but you can use it with all your indoor plants that grow in water.
I use the Marphyl Soil Enhancer. I simply dilute 5ml of soil enhancer in 1L of water and pour it in all my indoor plants that grow in water containers, whether they just grow in water or LECA. I do this once a week.
Let’s now take a look at these 7 indoor plants that grow in water.
Please notice that I meant to list these plants in this order, with the first one being the easiest one to grow roots and care for in water!
So, if you were to ask me which one is the easiest indoor plant that grows in water, I would tell you that, based on my experience, the Devil’s Ivy, (Golden Pothos) is the easiest one of all!
6 Pups of Pilea Peperomioides just cut and placed in water. They are in very small containers in this picture. As the plant and roots grow, they will be moved to a larger container.
These cute containers are available on Amazon.
1. Devil's Ivy, (epipremnum aureum)
The Devil’s Ivy is not only an impossible to kill plant, it’s a stunning plant with beautiful leaves! (The one I have and is shown in this picture is a Marble Queen variety).
Devil’s Ivies are incredibly hardy plants that can thrive in any condition, no wonder they do so well in water!
The rootball of my mother plant was originally wrapped inside a Kokedama moss ball!
Anyway, the Devil’s Ivy does well in moderate to bright light conditions, but it definitely thrives in bright, indirect light conditions.
I saw the difference in its foliage colours and variegation when I moved it from a medium light to a bright light spot.
The leaves went from mildly variegated with yellow and pale green tones to stark contrasts of deep green and bright white.
Its stems grow quite fast and it is a good idea to prune them off in early spring to encourage new growth.
It is exactly when you prune off these long stems that you can create your cuttings to root in water!
In-fact, I pruned a long stem of my Devil’s Ivy and I divided it into 4 stems I rooted in water.
The mother plant grew so many new stems in place of the one long stem I cut off.
I suggest you read more about the advantages of pruning indoor plants. It’s unbelievable what plants can do when they get a trim!
Here below you can see the 10 months progress on the Devil’s Ivy cuttings; from 4 cuttings to fully developed trailing plant growing in water.
These are the 4 cuttings I made from pruning one long stem from the mother plant.
3 weeks later you can see not only roots growing, but also the beginning of new stems under water.
10 months later the 4 stems have developed into a beautiful trailing plant growing in water. You can see how big the roots are. I will soon have to replace the container.
2. pencil cactus, (euphorbia tirucalli)
It’s hard to believe that this spunky looking plant can actually grow in water!
Don’t let its name fool you though. This plant is not a cactus; it’s a shrub or small tree with succulent stems.
I came to grow one of them in water by accident.
When I took home the mother plant I noticed that one of its side stems was bent and damaged, so I cut it off!
**WARNING** Its milky sap is highly toxic to humans and pets. So, if you have young children and pets, I strongly recommend you keep it out of their reach!
When cutting this plant you need to be wearing gloves and protect your eyes.
(Click here to read more about this intriguing plant!)
Anyway, back at growing the pencil cactus in water!
Since this plant has succulent stems, I allowed its cutting to form the callous in the dark laundry room for a couple of days before placing it in water.
Once in water, I noticed that this plant is definitely slower compared to others to form roots. It is also slower in its plant growth compared to the mother plant is soil.
However, it kept growing both roots and stems and it has been in water for now 3 years.
I add the soil enhancer every time I replace its water once a week.
Keep this plant in bright, direct light. No full sun!
It is important to know that this same plant growing in a pot will thrive in full sun. However, this same plant in water cannot be placed in full sun as the glass container in the sun will work as a magnifying lens and heat the water excessively.
The propagated stem with the mother plant.
The Pencil Cactus that has been growing in water for 3 years.
3. monstera deliciosa
I’ve been growing my Monsteras in water for a year now and not only they have been growing an insane amount of roots, they’ve also grown beautiful new leaves!
These plants definitely need the soil enhancer in their water in order to thrive!
I have a couple of Monsteras growing in just water and one growing in LECA. In both instances I use the same water with the soil enhancer.
All of my Monstera cuttings are the result of a major pruning, repotting and training session of my big, mother Monstera!
Pruning Monsteras is not only beneficial in order to obtain new plants, it actually does wonders for the mother plant!
Ever since I pruned my Monstera, I saw an incredible amount of new leaves!
Even though Monsteras are known to be tolerant to moderate light conditions, I keep mine in bright, indirect light, and they are thriving!
You can see all the roots, (including the aerial ones), spiralling around the glass jars.
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.
4. wax plant, (Hoya carnosa)
The Wax Plant, in addition to being one of the best indoor plants for beginners, is also an excellent non-toxic plant, safe for children and pets despite its succulent leaves.
Native to Eastern Asia and Australia, The Hoya Carnosa isn’t technically a succulent. It’s a succulent-like plant.
This plant thrives in bright light conditions. The brighter the surrounding area, the more likely it will produce the sweet fragrant porcelain looking flower.
Wax Plants are extremely easy to propagate by simply cutting the stems and allowing them to grow roots into water. In-fact, my plant is the result of three stems I cut off from my friend’s plant!
Like for many other trailing and climbing plants, there are so many different ways to display a Hoya Carnosa; from ceiling hung, to arranged on special trellises.
Its trailing stems won’t grow terribly fast but the more bright light you provide, the faster it will grow.
Just a heads up…Once the plant takes off and starts growing into a lush and beautiful trailing plant, make sure you move it into a bigger vessel that can contain enough water to counter-balance the weight of its many stems and leaves!
This is just a few weeks into what is now a two year old Wax Plant growing in water.
5. prayer plant, (Maranta leuconeura)
The Prayer Plant is a finicky plant in my opinion.
Not because it is a hard plant to keep alive. On the contrary, it actually grows quite fast with little effort.
My biggest struggle with this plant is the way its leaves crisp, no matter the amount of humidity I provide. It is clear that I don’t live in the right environmental conditions for this plant to thrive!
Anyway, I’ve done a bunch of experiments with my Prayer Plant.
Tired of seeing its leaves going crispy, I completely chopped off the stems that had remained healthy looking and placed them in water to root in an attempt to start from scratch…
The stems formed roots beautifully in very little time, but to my disdain, even in water its leaves started crisping at the edges…
After a few weeks I decided to plant 2 of the 3 stems in soil and to keep one stem in water to see if there was a difference in the growth of the plants and if by being in water the crisping situation was somehow mitigated…
It was interesting to see how the Prayer Plant growing in water developed one long stem at the end of which a new plantlet was formed. Then, another long stem formed at the end of this new plantlet, creating yet again another plantlet and so on, in a vertical series of plants. And it’s still going after two years!
Keep your plant in bright, indirect light.
With this particular plant that is prone to crispy edges, I recommend you use distilled water.
Here are the fresh Maranta cuts in water.
After a couple of weeks you can already see the roots growing.
This is the Maranta I have been growing in water for 2 years.
6. chinese money plant, (pilea peperomioides)
I’ve rooted over 30 Pileas in water in the last 3 years!
This gotta be the easiest plant to propagate ever!! I run out of friends to give this plant to!
I’ve had so many pups from my one plant that I have been able to give second pups to the friends that managed to kill their first! (You gotta have a pretty dark shade of grey thumb to kill this plant! 😜).
One thing is to root a plant in water, another is to continue to make it thrive in it.
All Pilea pups are pretty small when removed from the mother plant so I place them in small jars , (also because I remove them in bulk, rather than one by one).
To start a Pilea in water, you need to cut a pup, (a new shoot), from the mother plant.
Simply dig a bit in the soil to be able to find as close as stem connection to the mother’s main trunk. Cut it off and rinse the dirt off. (By doing this you’ll be able to get some already formed roots).
Place your cutting in water for a few weeks until you’ll notice it’s time to change to a bigger container.
Pileas are big feeders, so I recommend you do add the soil enhancer to your water.
Keep your plant in bright, indirect light.
Click here for more info on Pilea care and propagation.
Pilea pups rooting in water.
7. String of hearts, (ceropegia Woodii)
The String of Hearts, or Rosary Vine is a dainty, lovely plant that is quite easy to grow in water.
I personally think it’s easier to grow this plant in water than to actually regulate the amount of water it needs when planted in soil!
I’ve rooted the Rosary Vine is water many times and for many reasons; I’ve accidentally stepped over one of its very long strings breaking it off from the mother plant, I intentionally pruned the strings because they were too long, and I have even rooted one single tiny leaf!
The trick with this plant is to cut the string in between the nodes, which are very evident along the strings of this plant. Basically, everywhere you see the leaves, there is a node; so cut in between the two sets of leaves.
Then simply place your string(s) in water. Within a few weeks you’ll see the roots!
It’s quite interesting what you can do from a creative perspective with String of Hearts in water.
You can have one single string in one long and tall tube, (see picture below), to create a simple, yet elegant composition, or, you can gather a few strings together and place them in a glass container.
What’s worth knowing is that with time, the roots and the strings are not the only parts of the plant growing! The nodes, (in this case called tubers) will enlarge as well. So, if you are using a tapered container, be careful, as you may not be able to take tubers out once they grow!
Click here to learn more about the String of Hearts.
Notice how the nodes have enlarged in water! I will have to pull out one string at a time to clean the container and wash the roots!
Even one single string in water can make such a beautiful composition!
I found this gorgeous propagating tube on Amazon.
And that’s a wrap!
I hope I was able to provide you with the information you needed to get you started growing indoor plants in water!
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Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.