Indoor Gardening: Great Tips for Guys Afraid of Plants

Guys concerned about killing or being unable to grow plants in the home should select easy-growing, low-maintenance, hardy plants. If you know you may not be the best at indoor gardening, stack the deck in your favor by choosing these types of plants. That will improve your odds of growing indoor plants successfully.

Easy Growers

African violets can grow in just about any soil, survive on varying amounts of water and still flower even if you forget to set them in a sunny spot one day. But don't think that you don't have to do something to get plants to grow in your home. All plants require a little bit of maintenance. It is just that the African violet will be more likely to survive the uncertain gardener than more complicated flowers like roses or bonsai trees.

African violets even make it easy to know when you are doing something wrong. Their leaves become a darker green, and your plant will not flower much--or at all--if you have denied it enough sunshine. If your African violet is getting too much sun, leaves will turn pale or yellow.

Low Maintenance

Cactus plants are just right for guys afraid of plants. They will be like pets that don't really need daily attention. When you water a cactus, it will need deep watering. But when you don't, it will be OK, because this plant does better when the soil dries out between watering. Males who have to be away overnight or take frequent business trips don't have to worry about returning to dead plants when they choose cacti plants for their home.

Mammillaria is one of the easiest cactus to get to bloom indoors, so that should comfort unsure men. Cacti also need to be fed only once or twice a year. About the only thing that you absolutely have to do with your cactus is keep it in a sunny window spot.

Hardy Plants

Ferns are hardy plants. It will take quite a bit of neglect to kill a fern, so it is a natural for anyone afraid of plants. Rabbit's foot fern is one of the least-demanding ferns and offers guys the easiest way to know when it needs water: Just touch the soil and water if it is dry. Ferns need indirect light, so they won't compete with the sun-loving window cactus in the kitchen. You can put this fern in your bedroom or another less-sunny room. Like the cactus, this indoor plant doesn't need much feeding, only once a month.

Source
Univ. of Georgia: Growing African Violets
Univ. of Minnesota: Cacti and Succulents
Univ. of Rhode Island: Indoor Ferns