The ficus trees leave a sticky residue on the floor as well as dropping lots of leaves. You do need to keep them dusted too, which is a pain. Every time I tried a small curly ivy plant in my house, it got mites. But caring for a few small potted plants isn't a big deal, imo.

Rubber plants are easy to care for and other plants like ivy and ferns, need regular applications of a systemic insecticide that contain Imidacloprid. These are serious chemicals and are not to be used where a pet might lap saucer water and not used on edibles. But used properly, carefully, they work well. Bayer has the most common available ones.
I use it on all my indoor plants along with plants on my screened in porch. It controls mites and aphids, the two biggies. Lets me have pansies, cabbages and ivy on my screened in porch without issues.
Don't use it outside it's toxic to many creatures.

There are different types of ficus. Some drop more leaves than others. There are also lots of other types of tall plants that might work better for you than ficus would. So I wouldn't rule out one or two large plants, but would do a little research to see what types of plants would work in your house, with your climate control and your available light from the windows.

I think a few plants can really warm up a space, and if your DH would like one and is willing to care for it, why not?

As for dust, I just put my larger plants in the shower a couple of times a year and rinse them off. They seem okay with that.

Umbrella plant can get to be a substantial size and seems to be made of iron. Snake plant is another tough one.

You probably know to check anything out if you have pets.

This is the umbrella plant I'm accustomed to seeing.

{{!gwi}}

I have a peace lily that seems to be thriving on neglect! I do water it every 10 days or so.

I've kept an aloe vera plant alive for over a year now! This is quite an accomplishment for me and my black thumbs. Most of the rooms in my house are to dark for plants or not frequently used so we forget to water. The aloe sits by the kitchen sink and window.

I have a mother-in-law tongue plant at work and its a tough one. I think other people keep watering and causing it to be overwatered.

That's about all I can handle plant wise. I feel bad getting more knowing I'll end up killing them.

I've had good luck with the plant that snookums has posted a photo of. I know it as a Schefflera.

The ficus plants I have had have been leaf droppers.

Putting plants in dark corners is not a good idea, so plan carefully. Almost all of them need to be near a window and get some sunshine to thrive or at least survive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schefflera arboricola

A jade plant, in a large container, is almost like a piece of sculpture with it's interesting bends and shapes. It requires very little care and watering only when it's dry. For our's that's about every 9 days. I have two and a large Boston fern plus some succulents all clustered together and they look wonderful. Plants make a room feel more lived in and organic.

I have a Parlor Palm that has grown in size....no care...just water and I have it in a low light area. Deffenbachia is another good tall plant with few problems with insects. Ficus is another one but it must like it's spot or it will drop leaves. Systemic insecticide works well with indoor plants. I would chose a parlor palm or a deffenbachia if you want no-care plants....just water and let grow. If needed, wash them outside with a hose in the summer time.....lay pot on its side so it doesn't get over soaked and wash the dirt away from the leaves.

I've always had indoor plants, always. This winter, I'd finally had it with sneezing and itching eyes, caused either by mold or spores or ?? and I traded out the two worse offenders for reasonably good looking silk/fake ones. I still have a couple of real ones mixed in; I'm weeding out the most likely offenders to see which real ones I can keep. We had such bad mosquitoes (well, bad for the PNW) this summer and I kept finding them in the house. I finally realized they had hatched in one of the houseplants and that's where they were coming from (maybe the saucer to catch the water).

I've babied and babied a ficus that my late husband gave me 30 years ago, but finally got sick of cleaning the sticky stuff off the floor and table it was on and I tossed it. It was emotionally hard, but I just had to do it. I resented it every time I cleaned up after it.

So, I say try some easy keep ones; you don't have much to lose.

Good looking indoor plants are great- crappy looking ones are ... crappy looking.
Depends entirely on the color of your thumb.

Before I had cats I had tons and they were gorgeous- sadly, now the only indoor plants I can gave are in the orchid room in the basement, far far away from my cats.

My house is full of plants large and small, hanging, clustered, flowering, but never had a ficus. I take the plants to the back yard and hose them in the spring and fall, add a little dirt when they need it, water them with ordinary tap water when they need it. I never fertilize with chemicals but I always crumple old leaves and put them back on the surface of the dirt. I don't think I've ever had mites or other critters, and I have had dozens and dozens of plants over the years - never had a home without them - and have at least 20 in the house at the moment.

One plant was given to us as a wedding gift in 1968. I have divided it, repotted it, forgotten to water it many times over the years until I noticed that it was limp and sagging, knocked it to the floor and shattered it a few times. It still thrives and multiplies. I wish I knew what it is!

I don't know if our indoor air is healthy or not, but we seem to be. Never had any of our kids, cats, dogs or gkids try to eat any of them, either, so no issues there. They can be a nuisance, but I couldn't live without them. Try one or two and don't worry about it. You may find yourself enjoying it.

I have a lot of plants in my house. Only thing is they need to be near windows to do well, so those rooms with northern exposures are plant free.

I love orchids as once they start blooming, they keep blooming for a month or more. I have 4 in bloom now...3 in the DR and one in the kitchen. I have a couple of african violets I keep going, a pathos which is nearly impossible to kill, a couple of spaths which do need a lot of water. I have a xmas cactus that I've had for over 30 years and another that I've had for about 20 years. The oldest plants are the ivies that were given to my MIL when DH was born...still going strong. The snake plant is about 30 years old and still doing well...it's huge.

I pretty much water everything once a week and feed everything once a month. And they all seem to be relatively happy. I will move them to different windows if they seem unhappy in one location or another until I find one they like.

Plants that are especially good at cleaning the air include pathos, spider plants and boston ferns.

Here is a link that might be useful: Air cleaning plants

Indoor plants are great. Yes, they are good for cleaning the air. They add life to a room IMHO. They grow and change and don't always look perfect. That's part of their charm. Do some research about plants that would do well in the conditions you have. Mine are situated near east, south and west facing windows. The only insect problems I've ever had were with some I put outside in the summer. Just as with outdoor plants, you also need to keep the growth rate and mature size in mind when choosing. Try some plants!

There are plenty of indoor plants that do not shed leaves. I had several ficus, but they are among the most aggravating for dropping leaves. Dracaenas are easy, and can live in moderate light. Dieffenbachias are my new love: trouble free, and capable of living in quite low light. Peace Lilies (spathyphyllum) and Chinese evergreen also thrive in low light. Crotons have colorful broad leaves: but need good sun. None of these are troubled much with pests, nor are they leaf shedders.

I love indoor plants, and I agree with rosestink, they make a room more livable. It is what I miss most in reveal pictures here on GW - no one seems to have living plants. They make such a huge difference in room. I don't have a green thumb, so I stick to easy tropicals, put them near a window (not direct light), water once per week, feed monthly. I have a living wall of plants in my dining room that I love too.

Wow! I have so much to learn. I love to garden and consider myself to have a greenish thumb. We cannot spray at all due to chemical sensitivities. No pets. I will look at all the links. Our living room is kind of dark but there is a big window.

Whatever you do don't let your indoor plant take over.
We had to raise the roof for this one! (LOL)

If you can't use chemicals then you must use the tropical plants- the common ones easily available. Orchids are very pest free but mine get bud blast each winter due to varying household temperature. Cold at night, blazing when the fire is on, etc.
They bloom very well on the second round in the summer and fall.
No ivy or gardenia for you but rubber plants (ficus elastica rubber plant) really are nice. I've had one in the same giant pot for three years and all it ever needs is dusting and very little water, no pests. They are not the most common either, usually not in the 9.99 truck load at the supermarket.

The one I have gets low light and is in the room with the fireplace.

Bumblebeeze, how do you use Imidacloprid indoors? It's labeled for residential outdoor use only. Does it need to be diluted more?

It's a very toxic chemical but no worse than many other things used in the house. I use minimal pesticides outside because they kill amphibians and the good insects along with the bad. I have no pest issues outside and in general practice Integrated Pest Management. I have tons of butterflies and bees and appreciate their benefits.
However, inside and on the screened in porch, it's not an issue and I keep all drainage water away from pets and we have no children.

Off hand, I think they are just trying to cover themselves in case it is used improperly inside- the living things outside is not their concern!

I've used it for years successfully.

Bayer all in one is good and for houseplants you want the one with the lower fertilizer amounts. The bottle will get crusty and I keep it, the measuring cup, pitcher in a bucket for it's own use.

Oh and just follow the directions for the amount. They have a chart for outside containers, I think. Don't dilute it. But better too little than too much.
If the pot is such that it doesn't get flushed out with water regularly, use less. you don't want build up.

This post was edited by Bumblebeez on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 10:53

I have a 20-year-old 8 foot ficus that has moved house twice, goes outside to a covered porch with eastern light in the early spring, and comes in to the LR bay window with southwestern light during the cold months. I water it sparingly when I move it, and it drops a few leaves, but then recovers. And it loves life on the porch, where I water it only in the driest seasons. It's never had a bug problem. It gets pruned into shape about every three years.

How large a plant are you wanting? If you want a tall one, then consider a palm or fiddle leaf fig. Just research the palms since some stay short and bush, and others get tall.

I've had lots of live plants in the past and currently have only faux plants. I have a 9' palm and an 8' plant I bought from a design house...and only 2 small table plants. There is no way a live plant would survive in the areas I have the trees.
If you don't have the environment, space and lighting for a live plant then don't hesitate to buy a quality faux plant.

Anyone have a norfolk island pine? I just bought one, and it's so beautiful and graceful. It's about 4 feet tall. I am doing my best to keep it humidified!

Unfortunately it has a bit of glitter on it- they (got it at the grocery store) were selling it as a Christmas-type tree.

Thanks, Bumblebeez. Unfortunately I do have to use it outside to save my hemlocks. But we're careful with it, and luckily our yard is still full of butterflies in the summer.

Haha, I know I am paranoid about the lizards and toads all over the place around here, M. But those poor hemlocks, good luck, you'll need it!

So that people new to indoor plants don't get scared off by the talk of insecticides: Not everyone needs to use them. I don't. Maybe it depends on where you live but, as I said before, my plants don't have insect problems. On the rare occasion of having a problem with a plant I've had outdoors I isolate it from other plants and use environmentally friendly methods of control. If the infestation cannot be easily controlled the plant is discarded because of the risk of infestation of other plants in the house.

Plant care does not have to scary.

We have several houseplants and have never used anything but WATER on or in any of them. Our rule of thumb is that we don't deal with any plant that needs maintenance involving anything more than a weekly watering! We have a great jade plant that has survived many years. We also have a "lucky bamboo," three Christmas cacti (one of which is 6 years old), a wandering jew, two African violets, and a pathos (pothos?) plant that is very happy nowhere near a window. All of these plants must thrive on neglect so I'd recommend any of them for a beginner! Those peace lilies are hard to kill, too.

Well, the whole thing is I can't begin to tell you how many times I've read someone say they have a brown thumb/kill all plants/oh, the ivy/fern/begonia/gardenia got all buggy.....

Yes, many plants don't need insecticides but some definitely do. The key is to buy the ones that are considered pest free and if you do see bugs, deal with it before they kill the plant.

many common houseplants are toxic if eaten by pets. make sure yours are not harmful to animals before you buy.

To me, indoor plants look very 70s. I think macrame holders and hanging pots and spider plants.

I think most people's indoor plant collections look like heck. There are always stragglers and half dead things. I am not saying I need perfection, but people don't like to edit living things, even when needed.

I love white orchids, but they are so cheap now I buy them and just replace them when they disappoint. It costs a lot less than good cut flowers, and I don't burden myself with wimpy , sad looking non bloomers lined up in a sick bay in the window. I just ditch 'em. Hey, they are biodegradable!

I also like succulents in little pots --- they are kind of "in" now and there are some lovely varieties.

I have seen very few people able to keep a ficus tree alive and healthy and full. And most other tree-like plants, IMHO, only look right in tropical settings. I say no.

How was your trip, mtn?

I live in the deep South so ymmv but I have had great luck with inexpensive dieffenbachia purchased at Home Depot.

They grow pretty large so they are a great space filler. They don't have many leaves so they never get scraggly. They are toxic to pets.

I also have had good luck with indoor palms. I have one right now that is about 15 years old. I've divided it every five years or so. Palms require a little more upkeep and I am pretty ruthless about snipping off any fronds that start to turn.

Based on my experience, run from ficus trees.

This post was edited by deee on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 11:00

Rather than pesticides, you can always use plain soap and water. When I had houseplants, I would wash them and rinse them before bringing them in (including letting the soap and water soak the soil). I do still have a gardenia that stays out from March until November and it has never needed any pesticides and I always buy several orchids this time of year. Having a husband and many friends who worked for the EPA (DH was in pesticides and groundwater for many years), I do not use anything toxic outside or inside. There is a very good reason to follow the directions on the label when something is registered. The manufacturer may be concerned with possible lawsuits, but the guidelines from the EPA are concerned with human and environmental health.

Welcome back mtn! I have been thinking about you as you traveled and can't wait to hear about the trip!

"Yes, many plants don't need insecticides but some definitely do."

That's kind of an absolute statement, don't you think?
I haven't used an insecticide on anything since 1996, and that includes indoors and out while gardening in both tropical and midwest climates. I have tropicals now that summer outdoors and come in for the winter and they get nothing aside from a strong blast of water or soaked in a bucket before I bring them in.

I believe that it is more about prevention and observational skills than anything else.
If you see scale or mealybugs while there are just a few of them it is easy to get them off. If you wait until there are swarms of the things it will be more difficult.

I think the best plan for indoor plants is to place them in cache pots so you can switch them out easily if one gets too bedraggled or looses its appeal. Keep the less than perfect in another area until you get them back in shape.

And all youse guys with 'disposable orchids' can send them to me! It pains me to think of plants being destroyed just because their blooming period is over.

I keep small ones, scattered in my shelves and bookcases. The fresh live look is worth picking up a leaf every now and then.

(My floors are so ugly! Still working on new ones!)

I like indoor plants, they add nature to the home. It's very important to choose suitable types of course - for the light, look and ease of keeping. I have had success with pepperomia types, I chose them because they tolerate low light and they are not toxic to cats (most house plants are!). I had very bad luck with an initially-pretty money tree (pachira) a non toxic tree - I think it didn't get enough light, it prefers lots of light.

Right now I just have a small "zigzag" pepperomia on the mantle, it is thriving does not drop leaves and drapes interestingly over the mantle. I also have 2 small pots of Scandens pepperomia, it looks a lot like philodendron but it is not toxic to cats. These are on my bookshelf draping down.

If you don't have kids or pets the ficus family make very nice houseplants - They don't all have sticky residue. I like Benjamina, myself, and would have one if it was not toxic to my cats.

My mother had over 75 or 80 plants in our house growing up, I probably have about 50, including the living wall. We've always had cats. Most of the plants (tropicals) are toxic to cats, but we've never had a problem. I try to keep the toxic ones out of the way (like that is possible with a cat), but the cats just figure it out I guess. Or perhaps we've been lucky.

G.A.S.P!

Throwing orchids out just because they stop blooming!??!

I'm dying!