Everything to keep your first houseplants alive: an easy plant, pots that drain, good soil, and a moisture meter so you stop overwatering.
Updated October 2026 · save to pinterest
best for: Your very first plant
Pothos is one of the hardest houseplants to kill. It handles low light and tells you it's thirsty by drooping.
best for: Repotting your first plants
Pots with drainage holes and saucers. Pots without holes are the #1 way beginners drown their plants.
best for: Most houseplants
An all-purpose organic mix with coconut coir for moisture and a slow-release fertilizer.
best for: An easy, cheap option
A mix made for indoor plants that's designed to be less appealing to gnats.
best for: Better drainage
Mix a handful into potting soil for plants that like to dry out fast, like succulents and snake plants.
best for: Bigger, greener leaves
A gentle liquid fertilizer you add to your watering can a few times a month in spring and summer.
best for: Knowing when to water
Stick it in the soil to see if the roots are wet or dry. It's the easiest fix for overwatering, the most common way houseplants die.
best for: Shelves and small apartments
A small stainless can with a narrow spout that pours at the soil without soaking the leaves.
best for: Reaching plants at the back
A classic long-spout can from a British company that's been making them since 1886.
best for: Dark rooms and winter
A light for dark apartments and winter. It gives plants in dim corners the light a window can't.
best for: Propagating cuttings
Small sharp snips for trimming dead leaves and taking cuttings to grow new plants.
best for: Gnat problems
Fungus gnats love damp potting soil. These traps catch the adults while you let the soil dry out.
Pothos, snake plants and ZZ plants are the classic hard-to-kill picks. They handle low light and forget-to-water weeks better than most plants.
Water when the soil is dry a couple of inches down, not on a fixed schedule. A moisture meter takes the guessing out of it. Overwatering kills more houseplants than underwatering.
Yes. Without holes, water collects at the bottom and rots the roots. If you love a pot without holes, keep the plant in a plastic nursery pot inside it.
Let the top of the soil dry out between waterings and put yellow sticky traps in the pot to catch the adults.
