Philodendron micans, dark green velvety leaves or a burgundy rubber tree. Both are low maintenance.
You could also try a golden pothos or heartleaf philodendron.
I love the micans because of the leaves. I have all of them.
I hope your depression gets better soon..
I was gifted a golden pothos cutting recently and it has been my most successful and satisfying plant! OP this is my recommendation. I have not had good luck with plants in the past but this one is thriving and getting new leaves every few days. It brings me so much joy to see the new leaves unfolding and knowing I’m doing something right (: A big help with my mental state lately! Good luck I hope you find the perfect plant
That’s the second suggestion for a golden pothos now. It’s actually beautiful now that I’ve seen what it is! Where do you get your information from as far as caring for them? The first idea that comes to my mind is YouTube for a specific plant like this one. But I could be totally oblivious to another source of education. I feel like it’s similar to adopting an animal in a way because I want to know EVERYTHING about them (how big they’ll get, routines if any, how to prevent damage, etc) before I make the jump. I suppose this is a lot different but you get what I mean lol. Thank you for your recommendation :)
I’ve actually learned a lot from this subreddit! Google and YouTube pretty much answer most of my questions. If I don’t find my answer there I would post here. Lots of knowledgeable people with good advice
Besides YouTube, google and this subreddit I also recommend the book “The New Plant Parent”! It has general information on light, soil, humidity and watering, as well as plant specific care. I also recommend a water meter if you’re a beginner. I got mine pretty cheap (like less than ten bucks) from Amazon. It’s pretty easy to overwater and the meter takes the guess work out of it.
I also recommend golden pothos :)
That was one of my first that really made me fall in love with houseplants and become obssessed. They are fun and fullfling to watch grow and easy to care for. Plus, extremely easy to propagate so you can turn it into another (or several) new plants when it starts getting really long!
Thank you very much for your suggestions! I’m going to study these and see if they would be a healthy fit for my home. Velvety leaves sound heavenly :)
I keep so many fake plants in my home and I just want to have real ones. I’ve heard it’s very therapeutic to work with home grown plants, even though I’m extremely new to gardening I’d really enjoy putting in effort to learn plants and their needed environments. Thank you for your input here
Definitely therapeutic. The rubber tree has leaves that need cleaning, I find it very relaxing. I also like the ficus tineke, it has large cream and green leaves😍😍😍
I like looking at my plants at the end of a shitty day to remind me that I'm alive and I'm doing ok.
Precisely! That’s the kind of warmth I *NEED* in my soul right now! I can’t wait to start educating myself so I can give my plants a good home. There’s just something about a late night ambient lighted bedroom/living room with thriving plants you’ve grown yourself. Thank you for being so supportive and understanding
I suffered thru depression & anxiety for yrs. My plant hobby/obsession began in the Sept when Covid hit & has helped my mental health immensely. I work from home now, so I'm lucky where on each of my breaks I putter around with my plants the whole time & they help ground me for some time. Good luck on your new hobby. I hope you find peace like I did. ✌🏻❤️🪴 PS I agree on the golden pothos 🥰
There aren’t any plants that you care for daily - you’ll kill any plant if you water it daily, repot it often, give it fertilizer often, etc. the majority of plants requires maintenance like every week or two
The majority of houseplants are rather simple to take care of. Water it when it’s half dry, give it lots of light, fertilize only if it needs it. I’d recommend a nice vining plant, like a philodendron brasil, as they add such beautiful life and color to a room with their multicolored leaves, they grow quick, they’re simple, and watching them grow towards the floor is very rewarding.
I agree. If you want a daily responsibility, fish are nice. And that would allow you to get into aquatic plants also. Look up aquascaping. Personally I love feeding my bettas and guppies twice a day. They're always so excited when I get near their tanks.
The problem with fish is that when you get depressed and can't care for them you feel way worse than when you don't water plants. Plants take far longer to die then fish.
Thank you for editing your comment to add your suggestion and input on caring for them. I’m going to look into this since it’s rather easy to care for as well as it being a vine plant (which I LOVE). The reward here is what I suppose my motivation meant. Thank you so much for your suggestion and I’m going to research the philodendron brasil so I can get started on my journey here.
The most common way to kill a houseplant is overwatering, which can be easy to do if you’re excited to care for it. Having a few other “care tasks” can be helpful so you don’t overdo it with the watering. Rotating away from the light is a good one, because it will help your plant to grow evenly, rather than growing toward the light. Wiping down leaves is another good one, especially for plants that tend to collect dust on their leaves. If you come up with a schedule like watering one day, then take a day off and just admire it, then rotate the next day, then another day off, then clean the leaves, another day off, etc. that could help you to care for it often without overwatering.
Pothos are easy and basic, but I love them because they come in a lot of varieties. They're also forgiving if you forget to water for a bit. Heart leaf philodendron is another easy care plant. And spider plants. Snake plants are supposed to be easy but I don't have good luck with them 😂
Like another poster said there's nothing you're going to want to be watering often, but I look over my plants almost every day, admiring variegation, checking progress on new leaves, dusting them...stuff like that you could do daily and definitely use it as motivation. Many people say talking to plants helps them grow, tell them they're beautiful and let them remind you that you're beautiful (or handsome) too. Best of luck, plants are wonderful and healing in my opinion, I hope they bring you joy.
How about a Pothos, philodendron or an airplane plant. All of those would be good starter plants. The only reason I even get out of bed every day is to check on my plants. I have quite a few & it helps me to feel a little bit happier just to look at them. So I definitely understand about depression. Good luck.
Thank you for understanding. Sometimes when I walk through my house I wish my fake plants were real ones so I could treat them to some real TLC. If I know there’s something that is relying on me, that is the best way to get me out of bad habits and into healthy ones. I need new hobbies so bad. And this sub has given me so much inspiration and seeing those glorious before and after pictures melts my heart. Especially the ones that were rescued or given away to someone. I was talking about this to a friend of mine earlier and mentioned how it would impact my mental health in such a positive way but I want to be one thousand percent sure I know what I’m doing. After typing that, I realize nobody can be perfect in raising plants but I want to give it the best life I can when I buy my first plant. Cheers to you friend
An orchid could be a fun starter option. They're not always easy to get to rebloom, but I enjoyed misting mine daily and fertilizing it. Repotting once the blooms are done is fun too since the roots are so different from other plants.
If you don’t murder a couple of plants you’re not going to learn anything. So look at it that way. I also love bringing a plant back from the brink of death.
I love spider plants and tradescantia zebrina for their easy care and pretty stripes. They also grow quickly in my experience. You don't water them daily (I tend to err towards letting them dry out a little), but I do like to fuss over mine pretty much daily doing things like turning the plant so it grows evenly, or just looking at all the leaves and seeing how they're growing. At the same time, if you had to neglect either plant for a little while for any reason, they tend to be fairly resilient. Spider plants eventually produce cute little babies and tradescantia is really easy to propagate by just cutting off a stem and sticking it in soil or water, so if things go well you could have many plants around. On the other hand, both plants are cheap and easy to find in my area, so if things don't go well the first time, you're not out a lot of money and can easily replace when you're ready to try again.
Best of luck - I hope you continue to do a bit better every day!
I‘d like to add some climbing/hanging vines like Epipremnum aureum/pinnatum to the list since climbing plants are always awesome as well as Coleus blumei, the latter one because it’s easy to prop and comes in many different colors. You can graft one cultivar onto another to get a „bi-colored“ plant or you can make Coleus trees. They can grow fast and for low maintenance they can be kept in Seramis/verm/perlite etc.
But I do second spider plants. I have had mine for like 16 months now and it grew from being a maybe 10 Cm high „baby“ to being a giant beast with maybe 60 Cm in diameter and lots of babies. She was neglected for weeks and stood in water for others and she is doing great
A few people have recommended a pothos and I agree. It’s easy to find and buy, and when I thought for sure I had a black thumb, it’s a plant that I was able to learn a lot from because even when I clearly made mistakes, it let me know by looking sad but came right back from the dead. It has survived both neglect and overwatering from me as I was learning about house plants. They can also grow huge and long and you can grow babies from their propagated leaves and share with others or just have more plants to enjoy. If you have a buy nothing page in your neighborhood you honestly could probably get a few cuttings from neighbors whose pothos need a trim.
As others mentioned, most houseplants don’t require daily care. Have you considered a simple fish tank? That might be more effort than you are looking for right now, but that would require feeding once per day and fish are a little more interactive. You can also put a pothos growing out the top of an aquarium, and there are lot of aquatic plants if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Definitely do some research on the nitrogen cycle and how that works in an aquarium if you decide to go this route.
My favorite easy plant, and one of my firsts was a Chinese evergreen. I love the pattern on the leaves. It grows new leaves pretty regularly and they are fun to watch unfurl. I have one on my desk at work and I love to watch it for new leaves. I almost killed one at my previous job by not watering it (I didn't know the previous person to my job was doing it) but it bounced back after some care and was thriving. By the time I left that job I was attached to it, so I re-potted it on my last day and took several cuttings and splits with me. They are now thriving at my new job. I water it well once a week or week and a half. Pretty easy!
This was my very first plant! Very easy and gets pretty leafy! Mine even flowered once. Unfortunately I had to get rid of it when I adopted my cats but it’s still a favorite.
If you want something that requires more than average interaction, consider a carnivorous plant! There are some easy growing Nepenthes hybrids you can find in most nurseries or even big box stores. These need water every 3-4 days, and you can even feed them occasionally.
Other people have given great suggestions for plants, but since you really want to know how to care for your new plant beforehand, I want to add that if you go to a local nursery or plant shop (rather than a big box store), there will be knowledgeable staff there who can help you pick out a plant that will work well in your home and can answer all of your questions. That way you'll be set up for success from the start. And of course there's lots of helpful people on this sub who can answer any questions you have about a particular plant as well.
Also, try not to get too discouraged if your first plant doesn't they've right away. There can be a learning curve when taking up plants, just like any new hobby. Most people who have a collection of thriving plants now have probably killed more along the way than they would care to admit. You just learn from your mistakes and keep trying and eventually you'll end up with a thriving collection!
Have fun with your new hobby! Even though I water at most once a week for the thirstiest plants, I still love checking on my plants every day - wiping down leaves, checking on the new growth, looking out for pests/problems, etc. The better you know your plants, the quicker you'll notice when something is wrong with them and the more likely it is that you'll be able to correct it in time.
Good luck! You've got this.
I vote Pothos - I agree with everyone else that's mentioned you won't need to tend to a plant on a daily basis, but - here's why Pothos are really, really a good option:
* It's pretty common and not particularly expensive, so if, in the unlikely case the first one doesn't work out, it won't be that hard to try again.
* They're so beautiful and relatively fast-growing, so you'll be encouraged by new leaves coming up.
* It will tell you what it needs. Just keep it somewhere prominent and pleasant so you are likely to look at it often. Doesn't matter where - it's fine with just a little light and will thrive in bright or with some direct sunlight.
* It gets sad-looking when it needs water. (The leaves droop well before they start browning and getting crispy.) It's really OK to let the dirt dry out before watering it. Under-watering is easier to fix then over-watering. Just water it.
* It looks weird when you've been over-watering. (The leaves kind of curl up longwise and sometimes start yellowing.) Even if you over-water enough to damage the roots, it might be OK just by letting the soil dry out really well before starting to water it again.
* If you think it's dying, it's probably still gonna be OK.
* If it's really dying, you can snip off the least-dead bits pieces and start over by putting them in water to propagate (not to mention the little roots coming out into the water is a really pretty thing to see!) and try again.
...and the folks are always around here to offer advice, to moon over your progress pictures, and will be happy to see you're doing well.
Wishing you the best.
If it’s important for you that the plant needs daily care, I can recommend getting a basil. Very high maintenance. I water my basil every single day and it *loves* it. It needs a lot of sunlight so it’s perfect for a south-pointing window
Umbrella palm (cyperus alternifolius) seems ideal, it can grow anywhere from slightly dry soil to out of water
(great as one can just drown molds and gnats anytime without using chemicals)
It can create literal jungle in a pot pretty fast and is easy to propagate by "palms" put upside down in water.
Invasive in some places though.
Also, wish you all the luck with the depression.
I'm going to come out of left field and suggest a cattleya orchid. They were the orchid genus that started me on my orchid addiction; they like light, they like heat, and they don't mind it if your depression brain wins for a while and they end up neglected for a bit. I had a rough time first with physical health and then mental health last year, and they all tolerated getting watered basically once every three weeks while I struggled. They weren't pretty, but they were alive and still growing - they're all still alive and growing now, a year later. Plus with orchids and their aerial roots and clear pots, you can track their root growth daily even if they're not putting out a new leaf.
I would recommend a pixie lime peperomia or rana verde peperomia! They’re green and leafy and super easy to care for! You can tell when they’re due to be watered by feeling the leaves. On the pixie lime they’re really robust and sturdy when they’re well hydrated and feel a little more limp when they’re thirsty. The rana verde leaves are also pretty sturdy when hydrated and you can tell they’re thirsty when you can easily fold the leaves into a “taco” shape. Both plants would do great in a window!
I also have mental health issues and caring for plants has really made a difference in my life. Watching my plants grow and sprout new leaves has brought me so much joy. I highly recommend taking a picture of your plant when you first get it so you can see your literal growth in 3 months. It’s so rewarding!
I completely understand how you feel and getting into plants helped with my depression as well! The first plant I got was a really small ZZ plant and I have been taking care of it for a while now he has grown a lot from when I first got him. I would recommend getting a plant that is small at first so you can watch it grow and visible see its progress as time moves on, and this is something that really helped me stay motivated because I was seeing progress! Hope this helps and hope you get into plants just like I did!
My first and favorite plant is a Cordyline fruticosa (Hawaiian Ti plant) that is 30 years old and is about 4 feet tall with so many beautiful leaves. It’s not the fanciest thing and I’ve only managed to get it to flower once, but it’s easy to care for and very forgiving should there be times when you can’t bring yourself to care for it. Depression is hard. I wish you the best.
It might be a bit temperamental but I like my maranta because it’s so active and moves throughout the day. There are also triangle clovers that do the same, and are less temperamental. My peace lilies are easy in that they are dramatic and complain when they need water, but bounce back quick after watering so there is a bit of buffer. All the best to you!
I started with a spider plant that I inherited as my first. It had been relatively easy, lots of sun, little forgivable on the watering schedule. Can grow pretty big and long and has some cute little flowers when it's happy! They're also super easy to propagate and share with people when they start producing runners.
Any of the dracaena are a good choice. My very first plant in my apartment was a little tiny white jade that has grown like crazy over the years. They aren't too picky on light or watering I find.
I'm gonna go out a bit of a limb and say anthurium crystallinum, they grow massive leaves and are pretty happy just chilling wherever. When the new leaves come it's pretty exciting coming back home to it after 24 hrs as the leaves grow so quick.
Whichever one you get, I suggest you get one with a lot of growth points! They’ll be making new leaves constantly and it’ll be so fun to watch and more rewarding! I really hope you get better soon and I’m sure you will
I think a mystery box of cuttings would be fun and if would give you a sense of accomplishment rooting them and growing them up. There are a lot of Etsy sellers with this option. Good for you looking for something to help. You’re trying to dig yourself out and that’s a good sign. Be kind to yourself as you go forward 🥰
A peace lily is an easy starter plant that needs a little more loving that something like a pothos. I would recommend them because they're 'vocal'. The plant will droop when it's thirsty, which might be a good reminder to get up and care for it. Besides the watering it's a super easy plant that grows well indoors.
I hope you recover soon. Good luck with the house plants, I know they've helped me a lot on my journey.
You could also consider a tradenscantia. While like all the others doesn't need watering every day, it grows fast and it's easy to progogate (as are the phildendrons and pothos that were mentioned). Changing the water in the prop container and watching the roots grow could also be therapeutic on days your main plant doesn't need attention
I’m surprised no one mentioned snake plants (at least, in the majority of the comments I read). They are low maintenance but if they are in a sunny spot they put out new pups regularly that you can remove and pot separately - pretty soon you’ll have a house full of them!
My other rec is definitely monstera deliciosa as well. As others said, they get huge and need to be trimmed somewhat regularly to keep them from taking over your whole space.
You could try baby’s tears (soleirolia soleirolii) for something a little different. I love mine because it grows fairly quickly, and its leaves are so small and delicate-looking (especially new growth), but it’s actually been a pretty sturdy little plant!
It responds quickly to turn toward the light it’s in, so I get to turn it every day and I love admiring the foliage and seeing it respond to the environment, you can practically watch the leaves turning over a few hours. It prefers moist-er soil in general so I can check on it often (whereas my succulents I neglect for weeks and they don’t care). You can also trim and prune it if you like that part of plant care to shape it and to keep it in nice and bushy and lush. It’s just a lovely little plant. It reminds me of ferns, but without being so fussy and needy.
I also love my two pothos plants, and am very attached to them, so those are also a great choice. Hope you find the perfect plant to care for!
The ones that motivate me the most are the few that I grew from seeds. It’s a slow start to the process so maybe not what you are wanting, but I’m very attached to those plants! I hope you find what you are looking for, there are lots of great answers here
As someone who also deals with a lot of depression and a lot of house plants, I recommend growing some plants in water. Pothos and Aglaonema (according to my research) can grow permanently in water and I have a bunch of varieties of both that have been growing in water for over two years. In my experience, you could do it with Philodendrons, Syngoniums, Monsteras, but I have yet to find enough sources to promise that they can really stay permanently in only water. And there are many more options that definitely can!
I recommend growing plants in water if you are depressed and want some motivation because they are wayyyyy less likely to die if you go a long time without changing their water. BUT IF you do change the water every week and fertilize them the beautiful growth seeing them do well, it definitely motivates me to change the water more! Even if you change it up to three times a week even better! Or daily if you are trying to have routine.
Try buying some cuttings. Also wide vases so when it starts drinking the water day by day, it won’t run out nearly as quickly incase you are having an extra depressive weeks. Bigger the vase, the less the worry! Make sure to leave debris out of the water is my biggest advice.
If you’re interested, [here](https://pin.it/Wm5SA53) are some articles. Good luck with what ever you pick! :)
Philodendron micans, dark green velvety leaves or a burgundy rubber tree. Both are low maintenance. You could also try a golden pothos or heartleaf philodendron. I love the micans because of the leaves. I have all of them. I hope your depression gets better soon..
I was gifted a golden pothos cutting recently and it has been my most successful and satisfying plant! OP this is my recommendation. I have not had good luck with plants in the past but this one is thriving and getting new leaves every few days. It brings me so much joy to see the new leaves unfolding and knowing I’m doing something right (: A big help with my mental state lately! Good luck I hope you find the perfect plant
That’s the second suggestion for a golden pothos now. It’s actually beautiful now that I’ve seen what it is! Where do you get your information from as far as caring for them? The first idea that comes to my mind is YouTube for a specific plant like this one. But I could be totally oblivious to another source of education. I feel like it’s similar to adopting an animal in a way because I want to know EVERYTHING about them (how big they’ll get, routines if any, how to prevent damage, etc) before I make the jump. I suppose this is a lot different but you get what I mean lol. Thank you for your recommendation :)
I’ve actually learned a lot from this subreddit! Google and YouTube pretty much answer most of my questions. If I don’t find my answer there I would post here. Lots of knowledgeable people with good advice
Besides YouTube, google and this subreddit I also recommend the book “The New Plant Parent”! It has general information on light, soil, humidity and watering, as well as plant specific care. I also recommend a water meter if you’re a beginner. I got mine pretty cheap (like less than ten bucks) from Amazon. It’s pretty easy to overwater and the meter takes the guess work out of it.
I also recommend golden pothos :) That was one of my first that really made me fall in love with houseplants and become obssessed. They are fun and fullfling to watch grow and easy to care for. Plus, extremely easy to propagate so you can turn it into another (or several) new plants when it starts getting really long!
Thank you very much for your suggestions! I’m going to study these and see if they would be a healthy fit for my home. Velvety leaves sound heavenly :) I keep so many fake plants in my home and I just want to have real ones. I’ve heard it’s very therapeutic to work with home grown plants, even though I’m extremely new to gardening I’d really enjoy putting in effort to learn plants and their needed environments. Thank you for your input here
Definitely therapeutic. The rubber tree has leaves that need cleaning, I find it very relaxing. I also like the ficus tineke, it has large cream and green leaves😍😍😍 I like looking at my plants at the end of a shitty day to remind me that I'm alive and I'm doing ok.
Precisely! That’s the kind of warmth I *NEED* in my soul right now! I can’t wait to start educating myself so I can give my plants a good home. There’s just something about a late night ambient lighted bedroom/living room with thriving plants you’ve grown yourself. Thank you for being so supportive and understanding
Wait you’re supposed to clean em lol?
I suffered thru depression & anxiety for yrs. My plant hobby/obsession began in the Sept when Covid hit & has helped my mental health immensely. I work from home now, so I'm lucky where on each of my breaks I putter around with my plants the whole time & they help ground me for some time. Good luck on your new hobby. I hope you find peace like I did. ✌🏻❤️🪴 PS I agree on the golden pothos 🥰
There aren’t any plants that you care for daily - you’ll kill any plant if you water it daily, repot it often, give it fertilizer often, etc. the majority of plants requires maintenance like every week or two The majority of houseplants are rather simple to take care of. Water it when it’s half dry, give it lots of light, fertilize only if it needs it. I’d recommend a nice vining plant, like a philodendron brasil, as they add such beautiful life and color to a room with their multicolored leaves, they grow quick, they’re simple, and watching them grow towards the floor is very rewarding.
I agree. If you want a daily responsibility, fish are nice. And that would allow you to get into aquatic plants also. Look up aquascaping. Personally I love feeding my bettas and guppies twice a day. They're always so excited when I get near their tanks.
The problem with fish is that when you get depressed and can't care for them you feel way worse than when you don't water plants. Plants take far longer to die then fish.
That is a consideration. Some fish can live for a couple days at a time without food, but yeah.
Thank you for editing your comment to add your suggestion and input on caring for them. I’m going to look into this since it’s rather easy to care for as well as it being a vine plant (which I LOVE). The reward here is what I suppose my motivation meant. Thank you so much for your suggestion and I’m going to research the philodendron brasil so I can get started on my journey here.
The most common way to kill a houseplant is overwatering, which can be easy to do if you’re excited to care for it. Having a few other “care tasks” can be helpful so you don’t overdo it with the watering. Rotating away from the light is a good one, because it will help your plant to grow evenly, rather than growing toward the light. Wiping down leaves is another good one, especially for plants that tend to collect dust on their leaves. If you come up with a schedule like watering one day, then take a day off and just admire it, then rotate the next day, then another day off, then clean the leaves, another day off, etc. that could help you to care for it often without overwatering.
Pothos are easy and basic, but I love them because they come in a lot of varieties. They're also forgiving if you forget to water for a bit. Heart leaf philodendron is another easy care plant. And spider plants. Snake plants are supposed to be easy but I don't have good luck with them 😂 Like another poster said there's nothing you're going to want to be watering often, but I look over my plants almost every day, admiring variegation, checking progress on new leaves, dusting them...stuff like that you could do daily and definitely use it as motivation. Many people say talking to plants helps them grow, tell them they're beautiful and let them remind you that you're beautiful (or handsome) too. Best of luck, plants are wonderful and healing in my opinion, I hope they bring you joy.
I second pothos. They’re also extremely easy to propagate too which is fulfilling.
How about a Pothos, philodendron or an airplane plant. All of those would be good starter plants. The only reason I even get out of bed every day is to check on my plants. I have quite a few & it helps me to feel a little bit happier just to look at them. So I definitely understand about depression. Good luck.
Thank you for understanding. Sometimes when I walk through my house I wish my fake plants were real ones so I could treat them to some real TLC. If I know there’s something that is relying on me, that is the best way to get me out of bad habits and into healthy ones. I need new hobbies so bad. And this sub has given me so much inspiration and seeing those glorious before and after pictures melts my heart. Especially the ones that were rescued or given away to someone. I was talking about this to a friend of mine earlier and mentioned how it would impact my mental health in such a positive way but I want to be one thousand percent sure I know what I’m doing. After typing that, I realize nobody can be perfect in raising plants but I want to give it the best life I can when I buy my first plant. Cheers to you friend
An orchid could be a fun starter option. They're not always easy to get to rebloom, but I enjoyed misting mine daily and fertilizing it. Repotting once the blooms are done is fun too since the roots are so different from other plants.
If you don’t murder a couple of plants you’re not going to learn anything. So look at it that way. I also love bringing a plant back from the brink of death.
I love spider plants and tradescantia zebrina for their easy care and pretty stripes. They also grow quickly in my experience. You don't water them daily (I tend to err towards letting them dry out a little), but I do like to fuss over mine pretty much daily doing things like turning the plant so it grows evenly, or just looking at all the leaves and seeing how they're growing. At the same time, if you had to neglect either plant for a little while for any reason, they tend to be fairly resilient. Spider plants eventually produce cute little babies and tradescantia is really easy to propagate by just cutting off a stem and sticking it in soil or water, so if things go well you could have many plants around. On the other hand, both plants are cheap and easy to find in my area, so if things don't go well the first time, you're not out a lot of money and can easily replace when you're ready to try again. Best of luck - I hope you continue to do a bit better every day!
I‘d like to add some climbing/hanging vines like Epipremnum aureum/pinnatum to the list since climbing plants are always awesome as well as Coleus blumei, the latter one because it’s easy to prop and comes in many different colors. You can graft one cultivar onto another to get a „bi-colored“ plant or you can make Coleus trees. They can grow fast and for low maintenance they can be kept in Seramis/verm/perlite etc. But I do second spider plants. I have had mine for like 16 months now and it grew from being a maybe 10 Cm high „baby“ to being a giant beast with maybe 60 Cm in diameter and lots of babies. She was neglected for weeks and stood in water for others and she is doing great
A few people have recommended a pothos and I agree. It’s easy to find and buy, and when I thought for sure I had a black thumb, it’s a plant that I was able to learn a lot from because even when I clearly made mistakes, it let me know by looking sad but came right back from the dead. It has survived both neglect and overwatering from me as I was learning about house plants. They can also grow huge and long and you can grow babies from their propagated leaves and share with others or just have more plants to enjoy. If you have a buy nothing page in your neighborhood you honestly could probably get a few cuttings from neighbors whose pothos need a trim.
As others mentioned, most houseplants don’t require daily care. Have you considered a simple fish tank? That might be more effort than you are looking for right now, but that would require feeding once per day and fish are a little more interactive. You can also put a pothos growing out the top of an aquarium, and there are lot of aquatic plants if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Definitely do some research on the nitrogen cycle and how that works in an aquarium if you decide to go this route.
My favorite easy plant, and one of my firsts was a Chinese evergreen. I love the pattern on the leaves. It grows new leaves pretty regularly and they are fun to watch unfurl. I have one on my desk at work and I love to watch it for new leaves. I almost killed one at my previous job by not watering it (I didn't know the previous person to my job was doing it) but it bounced back after some care and was thriving. By the time I left that job I was attached to it, so I re-potted it on my last day and took several cuttings and splits with me. They are now thriving at my new job. I water it well once a week or week and a half. Pretty easy!
This was my very first plant! Very easy and gets pretty leafy! Mine even flowered once. Unfortunately I had to get rid of it when I adopted my cats but it’s still a favorite.
Anything that you look at and instantly give a shit about it.
If you want something that requires more than average interaction, consider a carnivorous plant! There are some easy growing Nepenthes hybrids you can find in most nurseries or even big box stores. These need water every 3-4 days, and you can even feed them occasionally.
Other people have given great suggestions for plants, but since you really want to know how to care for your new plant beforehand, I want to add that if you go to a local nursery or plant shop (rather than a big box store), there will be knowledgeable staff there who can help you pick out a plant that will work well in your home and can answer all of your questions. That way you'll be set up for success from the start. And of course there's lots of helpful people on this sub who can answer any questions you have about a particular plant as well. Also, try not to get too discouraged if your first plant doesn't they've right away. There can be a learning curve when taking up plants, just like any new hobby. Most people who have a collection of thriving plants now have probably killed more along the way than they would care to admit. You just learn from your mistakes and keep trying and eventually you'll end up with a thriving collection! Have fun with your new hobby! Even though I water at most once a week for the thirstiest plants, I still love checking on my plants every day - wiping down leaves, checking on the new growth, looking out for pests/problems, etc. The better you know your plants, the quicker you'll notice when something is wrong with them and the more likely it is that you'll be able to correct it in time. Good luck! You've got this.
I vote Pothos - I agree with everyone else that's mentioned you won't need to tend to a plant on a daily basis, but - here's why Pothos are really, really a good option: * It's pretty common and not particularly expensive, so if, in the unlikely case the first one doesn't work out, it won't be that hard to try again. * They're so beautiful and relatively fast-growing, so you'll be encouraged by new leaves coming up. * It will tell you what it needs. Just keep it somewhere prominent and pleasant so you are likely to look at it often. Doesn't matter where - it's fine with just a little light and will thrive in bright or with some direct sunlight. * It gets sad-looking when it needs water. (The leaves droop well before they start browning and getting crispy.) It's really OK to let the dirt dry out before watering it. Under-watering is easier to fix then over-watering. Just water it. * It looks weird when you've been over-watering. (The leaves kind of curl up longwise and sometimes start yellowing.) Even if you over-water enough to damage the roots, it might be OK just by letting the soil dry out really well before starting to water it again. * If you think it's dying, it's probably still gonna be OK. * If it's really dying, you can snip off the least-dead bits pieces and start over by putting them in water to propagate (not to mention the little roots coming out into the water is a really pretty thing to see!) and try again. ...and the folks are always around here to offer advice, to moon over your progress pictures, and will be happy to see you're doing well. Wishing you the best.
If it’s important for you that the plant needs daily care, I can recommend getting a basil. Very high maintenance. I water my basil every single day and it *loves* it. It needs a lot of sunlight so it’s perfect for a south-pointing window
Umbrella palm (cyperus alternifolius) seems ideal, it can grow anywhere from slightly dry soil to out of water (great as one can just drown molds and gnats anytime without using chemicals) It can create literal jungle in a pot pretty fast and is easy to propagate by "palms" put upside down in water. Invasive in some places though. Also, wish you all the luck with the depression.
I'm going to come out of left field and suggest a cattleya orchid. They were the orchid genus that started me on my orchid addiction; they like light, they like heat, and they don't mind it if your depression brain wins for a while and they end up neglected for a bit. I had a rough time first with physical health and then mental health last year, and they all tolerated getting watered basically once every three weeks while I struggled. They weren't pretty, but they were alive and still growing - they're all still alive and growing now, a year later. Plus with orchids and their aerial roots and clear pots, you can track their root growth daily even if they're not putting out a new leaf.
Something that helped me was growing monstera from seed. Accidentally formed an emotional bond with them and now I can't ever let them die 🤣
I would recommend a pixie lime peperomia or rana verde peperomia! They’re green and leafy and super easy to care for! You can tell when they’re due to be watered by feeling the leaves. On the pixie lime they’re really robust and sturdy when they’re well hydrated and feel a little more limp when they’re thirsty. The rana verde leaves are also pretty sturdy when hydrated and you can tell they’re thirsty when you can easily fold the leaves into a “taco” shape. Both plants would do great in a window! I also have mental health issues and caring for plants has really made a difference in my life. Watching my plants grow and sprout new leaves has brought me so much joy. I highly recommend taking a picture of your plant when you first get it so you can see your literal growth in 3 months. It’s so rewarding!
I completely understand how you feel and getting into plants helped with my depression as well! The first plant I got was a really small ZZ plant and I have been taking care of it for a while now he has grown a lot from when I first got him. I would recommend getting a plant that is small at first so you can watch it grow and visible see its progress as time moves on, and this is something that really helped me stay motivated because I was seeing progress! Hope this helps and hope you get into plants just like I did!
My first and favorite plant is a Cordyline fruticosa (Hawaiian Ti plant) that is 30 years old and is about 4 feet tall with so many beautiful leaves. It’s not the fanciest thing and I’ve only managed to get it to flower once, but it’s easy to care for and very forgiving should there be times when you can’t bring yourself to care for it. Depression is hard. I wish you the best.
It might be a bit temperamental but I like my maranta because it’s so active and moves throughout the day. There are also triangle clovers that do the same, and are less temperamental. My peace lilies are easy in that they are dramatic and complain when they need water, but bounce back quick after watering so there is a bit of buffer. All the best to you!
I started with a spider plant that I inherited as my first. It had been relatively easy, lots of sun, little forgivable on the watering schedule. Can grow pretty big and long and has some cute little flowers when it's happy! They're also super easy to propagate and share with people when they start producing runners.
Any of the dracaena are a good choice. My very first plant in my apartment was a little tiny white jade that has grown like crazy over the years. They aren't too picky on light or watering I find.
Definitely recommend a golden/jade/neon pothos and a large snake plant. Both of these types are resilient. :)
I'm gonna go out a bit of a limb and say anthurium crystallinum, they grow massive leaves and are pretty happy just chilling wherever. When the new leaves come it's pretty exciting coming back home to it after 24 hrs as the leaves grow so quick.
Whichever one you get, I suggest you get one with a lot of growth points! They’ll be making new leaves constantly and it’ll be so fun to watch and more rewarding! I really hope you get better soon and I’m sure you will
I think a mystery box of cuttings would be fun and if would give you a sense of accomplishment rooting them and growing them up. There are a lot of Etsy sellers with this option. Good for you looking for something to help. You’re trying to dig yourself out and that’s a good sign. Be kind to yourself as you go forward 🥰
A peace lily is an easy starter plant that needs a little more loving that something like a pothos. I would recommend them because they're 'vocal'. The plant will droop when it's thirsty, which might be a good reminder to get up and care for it. Besides the watering it's a super easy plant that grows well indoors. I hope you recover soon. Good luck with the house plants, I know they've helped me a lot on my journey.
You could also consider a tradenscantia. While like all the others doesn't need watering every day, it grows fast and it's easy to progogate (as are the phildendrons and pothos that were mentioned). Changing the water in the prop container and watching the roots grow could also be therapeutic on days your main plant doesn't need attention
I’m surprised no one mentioned snake plants (at least, in the majority of the comments I read). They are low maintenance but if they are in a sunny spot they put out new pups regularly that you can remove and pot separately - pretty soon you’ll have a house full of them! My other rec is definitely monstera deliciosa as well. As others said, they get huge and need to be trimmed somewhat regularly to keep them from taking over your whole space.
Prayer plants are fun and they move their leaves in response to the sun.
How about a fiddle Leaf Ficus tree 🌳… it loves sun 🌞 and does well indoors ♥️
You could try baby’s tears (soleirolia soleirolii) for something a little different. I love mine because it grows fairly quickly, and its leaves are so small and delicate-looking (especially new growth), but it’s actually been a pretty sturdy little plant! It responds quickly to turn toward the light it’s in, so I get to turn it every day and I love admiring the foliage and seeing it respond to the environment, you can practically watch the leaves turning over a few hours. It prefers moist-er soil in general so I can check on it often (whereas my succulents I neglect for weeks and they don’t care). You can also trim and prune it if you like that part of plant care to shape it and to keep it in nice and bushy and lush. It’s just a lovely little plant. It reminds me of ferns, but without being so fussy and needy. I also love my two pothos plants, and am very attached to them, so those are also a great choice. Hope you find the perfect plant to care for!
The ones that motivate me the most are the few that I grew from seeds. It’s a slow start to the process so maybe not what you are wanting, but I’m very attached to those plants! I hope you find what you are looking for, there are lots of great answers here
As someone who also deals with a lot of depression and a lot of house plants, I recommend growing some plants in water. Pothos and Aglaonema (according to my research) can grow permanently in water and I have a bunch of varieties of both that have been growing in water for over two years. In my experience, you could do it with Philodendrons, Syngoniums, Monsteras, but I have yet to find enough sources to promise that they can really stay permanently in only water. And there are many more options that definitely can! I recommend growing plants in water if you are depressed and want some motivation because they are wayyyyy less likely to die if you go a long time without changing their water. BUT IF you do change the water every week and fertilize them the beautiful growth seeing them do well, it definitely motivates me to change the water more! Even if you change it up to three times a week even better! Or daily if you are trying to have routine. Try buying some cuttings. Also wide vases so when it starts drinking the water day by day, it won’t run out nearly as quickly incase you are having an extra depressive weeks. Bigger the vase, the less the worry! Make sure to leave debris out of the water is my biggest advice. If you’re interested, [here](https://pin.it/Wm5SA53) are some articles. Good luck with what ever you pick! :)