10 Best Small Indoor Plants for Beginners. (Easy & Slow Growing).
Small indoor plants that actually remain small for a long time, without growing too big, too fast, (and are easy to maintain!), are a limited selection.
In-fact, there aren’t that many tiny plants that remain tiny for a while without overgrowing their pots, or loosing their charm.
Lucky for you, I am obsessed with plants. I currently have 62 plant species in my home, for a total of 106 plants! I was able to round up 10 very charming, small indoor plants that, not only are low maintenance and hard to kill, but that are also quite slow at growing!
Such qualities, make these tiny plants ideal for small spaces, like desks, book shelves, book cases, window sills, or any other area within a small home or apartment.
Plants don’t need to be big to embellish a space. They simply need to be displayed properly.
Every plant’s characteristic can be emphasized by the way it is displayed; whether it’s the pot material or colour, or the way it is hung from the wall or ceiling.
Here are the 10 best small indoor plants with a big presence!
1. air plants, (Tillandsia)
Tillandsias are beautiful and graceful plants that don’t require soil to live.
These plants are able to draw their nutrients from water and the humidity in the surrounding air.
They are often puzzling to people and misunderstood.
Even their maintenance and display solutions are often puzzling and misunderstood.
Proper air circulation is critical for the health of these plants.
There are many varieties of Air Plants, with different types of care, but in general, all Air Plants require good air circulation, and cannot be trapped inside a closed container, such as a glass jar or terrarium.
Some Air Plants are watered by “bathing” them for a period of time, others only need to be sprayed.
All enjoy bright, indirect light.
Once you have acquired an Air Plant, I encourage you to seek more information on your specific Air Plant species from experts like Dave from Dave’s Air Plant Corner.
I’ve had my two Air Plants for over 3 years now and all I’ve been doing is spraying them both once a week with distilled water.
I even had the joy of watching my Bulbous Air Plant sprouting a pup!
Peach Air Plant, (Tillandsia Capitata)
Bulbous Air Plant, (Tillandsia Bulbosa)
2. zebra haworthia, (haworthiopsis fasciata)
The Zebra Haworthia is a small, non-toxic succulent, ideal for those with young children and pets!
Native to the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, this small indoor plant is extremely easy to care for and to propagate.
It thrives in bright, indirect light. It does quite well with even a few hours of direct morning sunlight, as long as it is not exposed to too many hours of direct sunlight.
I have four Zebra Haworthia and I keep them in three completely different light exposures; One on my desk, not too close to a source of natural light. Two are sitting by a South facing window and get a few hours of morning light. And one by a West facing window, screened by a sheer curtain.
This plant adapts well to any humidity conditions, as long as it is not trapped in a container without proper ventilation.
Like other succulents, it is important to not over-water this plant. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings.
Only fertilize once a month during the growing season.
Haworthia Fasciata.
3. living stones, (Lithops)
Living Stones are curious and intriguing succulents native to Southern Africa.
If you are looking for small indoor plants that remain small, these are it!
In-fact, Living Stones, will rarely grow bigger than 1″ above the topsoil!
This particular succulent thrives in bright, indirect light with a few hours of morning sunlight only. Southern and Eastern exposures are ideal for this plant.
Since the Living Stone goes dormant in Winter, it is important to be careful with its watering schedule! As a rule of thumb, water every two weeks from Spring to Fall, and stop watering completely from Fall to Spring.
The Living Stone, does not need fertilizer to thrive, however, you can fertilize it once when you resume watering in Spring to encourage and boost growth.
Photo Credit: Summertrain on Unsplash
4. hoya heart, (hoya kerrii)
The Hoya Heart, also known as Sweetheart Hoya, is a super cute small indoor plant that is often sold as a novelty item around Valentine’s Day.
Interestingly enough, this heart shaped leaf , rarely comes with roots, and never comes with nodes. It is a simple leaf taken from the trailing Hoya Heart Plant and potted as a whimsical Valentine’s gift.
If properly cared for, it can last a very long time as an individual leaf, and even grow roots, and eventually grow into a trailing plant.
I’ve had mine for three years before I noticed a tiny sprout poking from the topsoil. It has now one stem with three new leaves and a fourth one growing.
It is important to keep the Hoya Heart in the right spot and water it at the right time in order to be successful with it.
I have been keeping my sweet little heart by a West facing window screened by a sheer curtain ever since I bought it.
I water it once a week no matter the season, because it is in a very bright spot, in a small terracotta pot.
In general, Hoya Hearts, thrive in bright, indirect light.
They do not like to be over-watered, as they are prone to root rot. It is recommended to water them every two weeks, even once a month, depending on how much light they get and the type of pot they are in.
The more light they get, the more water they will need.
The smaller the pot, the faster the soil will dry out.
To be sure, make sure the soil has dried out between waterings.
This plant is not a heavy feeder, keep fertilizing to a minimum.
I fertilize mine once a month from Spring to Fall with a liquid plant food.
This is how my Hoya Heart looked like when I first bought it.
This is the same Hoya Heart three years later. As you can see it hasn’t grown that much, but it did sprout a stem with a baby leaf!
5. Buddhist pine, (podocarpus)
The Buddhist Pine is a small indoor plant that doesn’t seem to grow.
Like, at all!
It is the only one plant I’ve had for a long time that I haven’t noticed growing at all. Perhaps because I see it every day, but I never needed to upsize its pot. And I have a couple of them!
In my opinion, this plant is not good as a stand alone potted plant.
This plant is meant for compositions; like Closed Terrarium and Zen Mini Gardens.
In-fact, I bought my two Buddhist Pines for my Closed Glass Terrarium, as this plant thrives in high humid conditions and it barely grows, requiring zero maintenance.
It is a very adaptable plant that grows well in any light conditions, preferring moderate light to bright, direct light.
I have one of this plants growing inside a Closed Terrarium, in a very warm and humid environment that I barely water.
I have another one in an open pot, with average home humidity, moderate light, that I water once a week.
They are both doing great and maintaining their small size.
The Buddhist Pine in the Pot
The Buddhist Pine inside the Closed Terrarium.
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6. fairy castle cactus, (acanthocereus Tetragonus)
Native to Central America, this prickly small indoor plant, will sloooowly grow its way to a 6′ high plant, (if properly cared for, of course!).
And when I say slowly, I mean it! I’ve had mine for over two years and I probably noticed a 1″ growth max!
The beauty fo this plant it’s not only in its spunky look, but in its ease of maintenance!
Like many other cacti, the Fairy Castle Cactus needs plenty of natural light to thrive.
This is a full sun plant!
Make sure it is planted in a terracotta pot with well draining soil and drainage holes.
This will ensure that your cactus does not retain any stagnant water that can lead to root rot.
Do not over-water this plant!
Water when the soil has completely dried out between waterings.
It doesn’t need to be fertilized often but it is good practice to give it a boost a couple of times during the growing season with a Succulent/Cacti fertilizer.
As you can see this Fairy Castle Cactus is planted into a terracotta pot, which is a porous material that allows the soil to dry out faster than plastic pots. You can also notice those white chips in the topsoil; that is the perlite I added to the mix in order to ensure soil drainage.
7. mini orchid, (mini phalaenopsis)
Mini Orchids, or Orchids in general, are very low maintenance plants that, not only last forever, but that also don’t grow much in size.
In-fact, their stems and overall size remains pretty much the same. What keeps growing are additional side stems off the main ones. New aerial roots will form over time as well.
Many people believe that once the Orchid flowers are spent, the whole plant is dead, and eventually toss it!
The biggest issue with Orchids is the lack of proper care knowledge.
These plants are epiphytes, which means that in their natural habitat, they grow on top of other plants and trees, without the need for soil. They feed off nutrients from moisture in the air and other organic matter from the host plant.
This is why Orchids are sold in special fenestrated plastic baskets, in which the roots are mixed with bark and sphagnum moss.
One of the biggest mistakes in caring for Orchids is over-watering them.
The best way to water Mini-Orchids is to provide them with one ice cube of water per week.
(Bigger Orchids will require 3 ice cubes once a week).
Watering Orchids with ice cubes guarantees the right quantity of water required by the plant and it allows slow water absorption.
Because in nature Orchids grow under the canopy of other trees in the tropical forest, they thrive in bright, indirect light. Direct light is damaging to them.
This beautiful plant will bloom approximately once or twice a year!
And remember! Do not prune your Orchid! Any stem that your will cut off, will not grow back!
I kept my Mini-Orchid in its original plastic cup with bark and sphagnum moss and placed it inside this pot filled with pebbles for decoration.
8. Pincushion cactus, (mammillaria)
The Pincushion Cactus is another lovely, small indoor cactus.
I don’t think I would even have this cactus if it wasn’t for my daughter, who picked it out among the many other plants available at the greenhouse.
You see, when she picked this cactus, it didn’t even have any of the pretty flowers you see in the picture. It was just one prickly ball!
But what can I say? Kids seem to be attracted by cacti and who am I to say no to a child wanting a plant???
It was with my greatest surprise that only after a few months, the Pincushion Cactus marvelled us with these gorgeous, bright pink flowers!
This Cactus thrives in a lot of bright, natural light. West and South facing windows are ideal.
Keep your plant away from any cold drafts and make sure it is not placed in a humid area of your home like a Kitchen or a Bathroom. The drier, the better.
Ideally, your little Cactus is planted in a well draining soil within a terracotta pot with draining holes. The porosity of terracotta allows the soil to dry out faster between waterings.
Make sure the soil of your Pincushion Cactus has completely dried out before watering.
You can fertilize this Cactus twice during the growing months using a liquid cactus/succulent plant food.
Pincushion Cactus in bloom.
9. bird's nest snake plant, (Dracaena Hahnii)
The Snake Plant is one of the most popular plants on the planet.
I believe its popularity popularity is due to the fact it’s extremely easy to care for, it’s a great plant for spaces with low natural light, and it’s a great air purifier.
There are many different varieties of Snake Plants on the market, but for the purpose of this Blog I picked two: the Bird’s Nest Snake Plant and the Starfish one, (see Plant #10).
Both plants are slow growing and highly decorative.
The Bird’s Nest Snake Plant is also amazing at producing offsets, and for this reason, it can easily be propagated.
I have two of these plants, and I haven’t bought neither one of them. They are both gifts from my friends who have divided their plants.
This incredibly adaptable plant does well in low light, as well as bright, indirect light, as long as it is not exposed to direct sunlight.
It does not need a lot of watering. The amount of water depends on how much light it gets. The more natural light it is exposed to, the more water it will need.
A plant in low light can be watered once a month.
A plant in bright, indirect light can be watered even once a week.
You can fertilize this plant once a month with a liquid plant food from Spring to Fall.
One of my two Bird’s Nest Snake Plants gifted to me.
10. starfish snake plant, (Dracaena cylindrica boncel)
This bizarre looking small indoor plant is for sure going to keep you distracted if you place it on your work desk. Or at least, it will make for a conversation item with your colleagues!
The Starfish Snake Plant is kind of a novelty plant these days, and it is quite pricey if you find one in a plant shop or a greenhouse. I found mine at a Farmers’ Market and I paid good coins for it too!
(Just watch, and in a couple of weeks you’ll be able to find it at IKEA!!)
Anyway, it is a super cool plant! There is no doubt about that!
And it is also very easy to care for.
Differently from other Snake Plants, this one will actually thrive in bright, natural light, even direct sunlight! It can do well in moderate light conditions, but the bright light it’s ideal for it.
Like the other Snake Plants it enjoys dry environments but it’s adaptable to the average humidity of any home.
Do not over-water it, in order to avoid root rot.
Only water when the soil has completely dried out.
Once again, the watering depends on the light exposure, size and material of the pot.
My awesome Starfish Snake Plant. Sometime I feel like she’s giving me the finger…
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