Houseplants That Live

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum), snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata), spider plant, ZZ plant (Zamioculcas), monstera, or peace lily. All six tolerate the two classic beginner errors: erratic watering and imperfect light. Buy one, not six. A single plant teaches you more than a jungle you're guessing at. Small plants are cheaper, settle faster, and grow into big ones.

Non-negotiable. Water must be able to leave the pot. The standard setup is the plastic nursery pot the plant comes in, sat inside a decorative cover pot with no holes: lift the inner pot out to water, let it drain, put it back. A pretty pot with no drainage hole is an ornament, not a home.

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Multi-purpose garden compost holds too much water for pots indoors. Houseplant compost is a freer-draining mix; for succulents and snake plants, a cactus mix drains faster still. A small bag does your first plant and its first repot. Go peat-free: it works and the bogs stay where they are.

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A narrow spout puts water on the compost, not over the leaves and down the back of the sideboard. Half a litre to a litre is plenty for a flat's worth of plants. A jug works on day one, but the spout earns its keep the first time you water a plant on a shelf.

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A probe that reads moisture at root level, where your finger can't reach in a deep pot. Strictly optional: the pot-weight and finger tests in Step 02 do the same job for free. Useful if you'd rather see a number than trust your judgement for the first few months.