The best houseplants you can buy online that are super easy to grow

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

• Just because your thumb is a little less than green doesn’t mean you can’t grow houseplants. It just means you need to choose plants that are forgiving. We’ve gathered up a dozen houseplants that are hard to kill and look great in any home.

Few things manmade can match the natural beauty and peaceful vibe of a growing houseplant. But the benefits of plant ownership go far beyond just looking pretty. Houseplants have also been shown to have many positive effects on you and your home environment. Houseplants can:

• Remove indoor pollutants called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. These health-harming chemicals off-gas from a wide range of indoor products, including carpeting, paper, cleaning products, paint, and cigarette smoke. Many houseplants actually pull VOCs out of the air and then convert the chemicals into nutrients for the plant’s roots.
• Increase indoor humidity. It’s no secret that plants need water to survive, but just like animals, they also release water vapor from their cells. If you have several houseplants in a room, this “plant sweat” can help raise the humidity, making your skin, throat, and eyes more comfortable.
• Boost oxygen levels. In direct contrast to animals, plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then convert it to oxygen during photosynthesis before releasing it into the air. The result? More oxygen for you.
• Improve your career. Numerous studies have shown improved focus and memory abilities when people work near plants.
• Help you heal. In a Kansas State University study, houseplants in the hospital room helped post-op patients feel better and heal faster.

Growing houseplants, however, is a challenge for many people. Watering can be a mystery — too much water will kill your plant just as easily as too little. And what about light? Are there any plants you can grow in your dim bathroom or bedroom?

That’s why we’ve assembled this guide of 12 houseplants that are fairly easy to grow — even for those with a black thumb — and add not just beauty, but health benefits as well, to your home.

Read on in the slides below to learn why we chose Pothos, snake plant, Chinese evergreen, spider plant, dracaena, dieffenbachia, ZZ plant, arrowhead vine, Boston fern, cast iron plant, goldfish plant, and ponytail palm as the best simple houseplants you can buy.

Pothos

Why you'll love it: Probably the easiest houseplant to grow, pothos is a perennial favorite.

Pothos is a climbing plant, although it often forms a mound of heart-shaped leaves before spilling over into trailing vines. It’s also remarkably easy to train around topiary forms, such as hoops, stakes, pillars, and arches.

There are lots of varieties of pothos, which is sometimes called devil’s ivy. The most common is the golden pothos, which has yellow and green leaves. Another popular species is “Marble Queen,” which is attractively mottled in green and white. This Pothos comes from a seller on Etsy who lives in California. Shipping varies by your location.

Botanical name: Epipremnum aureum

Water: It’s easy to overwater pothos. Let the soil dry out slightly between each watering.

Light: Pothos isn’t too picky about light, but does best in a bright window without direct sun, which will scorch the leaves.

Size: A happy pothos routinely grows vining stems that are more than eight feet long, but you can easily clip the plant back to whatever size you’d like.

Toxic to pets? Yes, both cats and dogs.

Buy “Marble Queen” pothos in a 6-inch pot on Etsy for $16.90 plus shipping

Snake Plant

Why you'll love it: A snake plant will live on even if you forget to water it now and then.

Also called mother-in-law’s tongue, the snake plant has been popular since Victorian times. This super-easy-to-grow houseplant excels at removing toxins from the air, providing an extra bonus to its attractively upright, angular shape. The leaves are long and pointed. Most varieties have darker green mottling in the leaf centers and a yellow or white border around the edges of the leaves.

Botanical name: Sansevieria trifasciata

Water: The snake plant is fairly drought-resistant; in fact, it’s easier to kill by overwatering than underwatering. Still, it requires a drink whenever the soil starts to feel dry.

Light: One of the most forgiving plants when it comes to light, your snake plant will survive just about anywhere other than the darkest of rooms. But its preference is for bright light without direct sunlight.

Size: The upright leaves can reach four feet tall, although most remain shorter.

Toxic to pets? Yes, both cats and dogs.

Buy a snake plant in a 10-inch pot at Etsy for $39.95 plus shipping

Chinese evergreen

Why you'll love it: One of the best houseplants for purifying the air, Chinese evergreen is also very easy to grow. 

There are lots of beautiful varieties of the Chinese evergreen: “Silver Queen” is one of the most common, and has silvery leaves with darker green blotches and edging. A new, strikingly gorgeous variety is “Red Siam,” which has hot pink and green leaves.

Chinese evergreen grows in a mounded shape, and has long, somewhat pointed leaves.

Botanical name: Aglaonema sp.

Water: Chinese evergreen is a very tolerant plant; as long as you don’t let it dry out completely for long, it will tolerate fairly infrequent watering, although it will do best on a regular schedule.

Light: This is one of the best houseplants for low-light situations.

Size: Your Chinese evergreen can eventually reach around three feet tall and equally wide.

Toxic to pets? Yes, both cats and dogs.

Buy a Red Siam Chinese evergreen in a six-inch pot at Etsy for $24.95 plus shipping