You look at that empty corner in your living room or office and say to yourself, “I really could use a houseplant,” but then you don’t have time to grow it.
Don’t worry then; There are houseplants that grow quite quickly that will fill your indoor spaces with beautiful green (and not just green) foliage and sometimes even flowers!
There are many houseplants that grow fast, especially herbaceous houseplants, all you need to do is choose one that will receive the right light and conditions in the location you have in mind and of course one that looks good and is in harmony with your room. .
However, fast-growing flowers can give you that much-needed boost of indoor space if you’re in a hurry to grow things.
First of all, then, look at that corner that you want to brighten up with an indoor plant; Then look at this item’s images, description, and tips included and you’ll find the fast-growing houseplant your room desperately needs.
In addition to the fast growing habit, these houseplants are also extremely easy to care for!
How to make your houseplant go fast
Even if a houseplant grows quickly naturally, it doesn’t mean it will do its best. Here are some tips to make sure your plant grows as fast as possible.
- Give your plant the correct exposure to light; Be careful with direct light, as many plants do not like it and remember that full sun means more than 6 hours of bright light a day, partial shade between 6 and 3 and total shade less than 3.
- Make sure your plant has good ventilation; For many houseplants, a few weeks or months outdoors in the warm season is very invigorating.
- Feed them regularly and with the correct fertilizer.
- Check the roots regularly and make sure the plant doesn’t have stuck roots.
Things to avoid to make your plant grow fast
On the other hand, there are some factors that may prevent your houseplant from growing properly:
- Overwatering is one of the most common causes of plant diseases.
- Underwatering will also cause your plant’s growth to slow down.
- Small pots are another major cause of stunted plant growth. Check them and replace them if necessary, usually with one that is 25% larger in diameter.
- Shocks, including sudden and drastic changes in temperature, can easily cause your plant to stop growing.
Taking this into account, now get ready to choose the plant that will make your office, living room or kitchen a much more beautiful and livable place…
Easy-Care, Faster-Growing Indoor Plants
Chosen for their exceptional beauty, as well as their speed of growth, here are the top 15 fast-growing houseplants to add instant charm to your home:
1. Winterbourn (Filodendro Xanadú)
Philodendron Winterbourn, commonly known as Xanadu or cut-leaf philodendron, is a fast-growing classic houseplant loved for its beautiful waxy, deep-green leaves, but I challenge you to be original…
Winterbourn or Philodendron xanadu will brighten your office or living room with its long, glossy lobed leaves, deep emerald in color with brighter veins along the lobes. The leaves can reach 16 inches long (40 cm) and 12 inches wide (30 cm)!
This plant is very decorative, with upright stems and then long arching leaves in tufts, making it also suitable for large pots, where it will create an impressive exotic corner.
- Light: bright but indirect light.
- Size: 2 to 4 feet tall and spreading (60 to 120 cm)
- Soil Requirements: Rich, loose, well-drained potting soil with a pH between 5.6 and 7.5.
- Watering: Keep moist but allow the top 2 inches (5 cm) of soil to dry before watering.
- Watering: This plant is poisonous to people and pets.
2. Purple Passion Plant (Gynura Aurantiaca)
Get ready to wow your guests with the amazing deep purple color of the purple passion plant, so bright and strong it seems unreal, in fact!
With ruffled margins of the most striking violet-purple color and dark green midparts, this plant’s rich foliage will take center stage in any room you place it in.
Its texture is velvety, so it will add to the surprising “natural drapery” effect that you can have on your desk.
However, it does have some small drawbacks; You have to be careful with watering, since the root can rot, and sometimes it flowers… “How can this be an inconvenience?” you will ask yourself. Because the flowers have an unpleasant odor, you may want to remove them.
- Light: without direct light, in partial shade position.
- Size: 1 to 2 feet tall (30 to 60 cm) and 2 to 4 feet spread (60 to 120 cm).
- Soil Requirements: High quality potting mix or loam with perlite for drainage as it needs to be very well drained. The pH must be neutral.
- Watering: Keep moist but always allow 25% of the soil to dry before watering.
3. Dieffenbachia (Dieffenbachia Oerstedii)
With the glossiest, waxiest dark green elliptical leaves you can imagine, dieffenbachia has become a very popular houseplant, perhaps because it even looks like an artificial plastic plant thanks to its incredibly soft texture.
There is a light-colored vein in the center of the leaf that draws the eye along the long, large leaves toward the tip, then regular ribbed veins that give it a slightly wavy shape as they grow in opposite pairs on stems. greens with an upright habit. The effect is very lush and exotic, perfect for an office.
- Light: Lots of diffuse light but absolutely no direct light, as it will damage the leaves.
- Size: 5 feet high (1.5 meters) and 3 feet spread (90 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Good quality potting compost with a slightly acidic pH and plenty of organic matter (leaves, etc.) with drainage such as pumice or perlite.
- Watering: regular but limited watering, about half a liter every week in summer and half a liter every 2 or 3 weeks in winter.
4. Spider plant (Chlorophytum Comosus)
Add a touch of elegance to your living room with the spider plant, which, with its long, pointed leaves emerging in tufts from a central rosette and hanging from the margins of pots and containers, also looks great on shelves and baskets pendants.
The long, blade-like leaves are light lime green in the middle and cream on the margins, giving them a good architectural and sculptural presence.
- Light: lots of bright but indirect light. It will also grow in shade, but will lose the cram stripes.
- Size: 1 foot height and spread (30 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Regular potting soil or a peat-clay mixture, well-drained and with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
- Watering: Water regularly when the top inch of soil is slightly dry.
5. Wandering Jew (Tradescantia Pallida)
Super fast and easy growing, the Wandering Jew is an excellent houseplant with lots of character. In fact, its long, partially creeping branches will have beautiful lanceolate leaves with the most amazing stripes of colors: cream, green, magenta and purple!
Coloration may depend on lighting, but this plant will always attract attention and can grow even in shallow pots or hanging baskets. And if you want, you can even grow it on your terrace.
- Light: Bright but indirect light, partial shade is fine.
- Size: 1 to 2 feet in height and spread (30 to 60 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Very easy as long as it drains well, any good potting soil with some perlite will do, but even clay or sand with a pH between 6.0 and 8.0.
- Irrigation: it needs very little irrigation, and you must let all the soil dry before watering; drought resistant, should not leave water in the saucer.
6. Camille tonta (Dieffenbachia Sanguine Var. Sanguine ‘Camille’)
An original variety of dieffenbachia, the silly Camille has a very special quality: the leaves are snow white with green edges! You can imagine how eye-catching it will be if you have a stylish, even minimalist office or living room.
Coloration can change depending on the specimen and lighting, from white stripes or even “shards” to leaves that are almost entirely white with only a thin border of green around it.
- Light: lots of diffuse light but under no circumstances expose it to direct light or the leaves will burn.
- Size: 5 feet high (1.5 meters) and 3 feet spread (90 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Use good quality potting compost with a slightly acidic pH; Add pumice or perlite for drainage.
- Watering: regular watering but never excessive, give dumb Camille half a liter every week in summer and half a liter every 2 or 3 weeks in winter.
7. Asparagus fern (Asparagus Setaceus plumosus)
Incredibly lacy in texture, elegant and very fast growing, the asparagus fern is a delicate-looking plant with leaves as light as butterfly wings that will float in the air of your living room like candles bending and fluttering gently over thin and slender vertical stems.
The feathery leaves can also partially trail down the sides of pots, forming silken veils of rich emerald green.
This is a plant that expresses a refined and sophisticated flavor, not intrusive in its appearance, and yet always regaling you with a complexity of shapes and textures to keep your guests staring for hours.
- Light: lots of bright but indirect light; If the light is too strong, the leaves will burn, while if it is too little, they will turn yellow. Therefore, be careful with your position.
- Size: about 4 to 5 feet tall (120 to 150 cm) and 2 to 3 feet spread (60 to 90 cm). This plant, however, in a large pot can grow to a whopping 10 feet tall (3 meters)!
- Soil Requirements: Rich, well-draining potting compost, preferably on the slightly acidic side, although it will tolerate a pH between 5.6 and 7.8.
- Watering: Water regularly when the top of the soil is dry, but never allow it to stand in water; reduce watering in winter.
8. Ti Leaf (Cordyline Fructose)
Also called the Hawaiian ti plant, the ti leaf resembles a palm with long, broad leaves, spirally arranged around the stem, extremely smooth in texture, shiny and lustrous. Each leaf can be up to 24 inches long (60 cm) and has a beautiful vein in the middle.
The color is also very attractive; usually dark emerald green, they can also turn purple! This is also a flowering plant, producing long panicles of pink to purple flowers that later produce shiny, round, red fruit.
- Light: Lots of bright light but no direct light, or it will burn the leaves.
- Size: Inside, it will stand within about 4 feet high (120 cm) and 3 feet wide (90 cm). However, in the wild it grows to about 4 meters (13 feet).
- Soil Requirements: Good potting soil with excellent drainage; 2/3 peat moss and 1/3 sand should be ideal with a neutral pH between 6.0 and 6.5.
- Watering: Only water when the top of the soil has dried out and reduce watering in winter.
9. Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
Called “lucky bamboo”, it’s not actually a species of bamboo, but a relative of the dragon plant, and it’s becoming very common as a houseplant, as you can grow it in beautiful glass vases with just water! in them!
Lucky bamboo has been grown as a houseplant in Asia for centuries as it is said to bring good luck. While you may be skeptical of this, you can’t be of its impressively elegant oriental look!
In fact, it has large green stems (like bamboo, in fact) from which grow beautiful tufts of long, pointed, bent, waxy-textured, shiny, light-green leaves.
The stems can also be trained to grow in a spiral, making it ideal for a very elegant and elegant interior space.
- Light: does not support direct light; so find a spot with bright but indirect light.
- Size: up to 5 feet tall (150 cm).
- Soil requirements: can grow in water, which you need to keep clean; If in soil you want a well-aerated and rich soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
- Watering: in water, change and refill water regularly. On land, water frequently and do not let it dry out.
10. Chinese Perennial Trees (Aglaonema Commutatum)
Why not liven up your room with long, glossy elliptical leaves that grow in two colors from a central stem and then bend downward?
The Chinese evergreen is, in fact, a popular, fast-growing houseplant because its leaves are pale green with decorative touches of darker greens along the veins that can become a beautiful outline that defines the shape of the foliage of this plant.
There are also other varieties of Aglaonema, if you want a variety with color; for example, ‘Serena’ has pink to purple midribs, then a cream center, and light green spots around the margins, while ‘Prestige’ starts with a light red in the center, then turns yellow on the medium and deep emerald green around the edges…
- Light: bright, indirect light; As with many similar houseplants, Aglaonema leaves are at risk of burning in strong light.
- Size: 4 feet tall and at maximum extension (120 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Normal, well-drained potting soil with a pH between 5.6 and 6.5.
- Watering: Water thoroughly, even soak in water during the summer, and never allow the soil to dry out completely. You should also plant in summer, as it likes high humidity. Reduce watering in winter, but never allow the soil to dry out completely.
11. Chain of hearts (Ceropegia Wodii)
If a hanging basket is what you want for your interior space, take a look at the string of hearts. This semi-succulent houseplant with long, drooping branches with fleshy, glossy, heart-shaped leaves is a natural display of beauty, elegance, color and romance!
The leaves, in fact, are usually silvery-green with cream veins and often the edges, but in bright light, they can even turn yellow and even magenta pink, while the underside of the leaves, which will be very visible if you hang one rope if it is hearts. above your head, they are a delicate purplish-pink color.
- Light: Lots of bright, diffuse or indirect light, but this plant will also not tolerate direct sunlight.
- Size: Branches can grow to about 12 inches long (30 cm).
- Soil requirements: needs light soil with excellent drainage, potting soil 1/3 sand should be good; prefers a slightly acidic to neutral pH, between 6.1 and 6.5.
- Watering: Water it well only when the soil has completely dried out. Never allow standing water in the pot with the string of hearts.
12. Helecho de doncella del sur (Adianthum Capillus-Venus)
The maidenhair fern is not “one” houseplant, but rather a genus of about 250 species, many of which are fast-growing and popular houseplants. But one in particular has become a huge hit with indoor gardeners, the southern maidenhair fern, or “Venus, hair” in Latin.
The name is very apt, as it is very lacy in appearance with many bright green, lobed leaflets that grow filigree-like on very slender, arching stems, which also trail along the sides of your containers.
- Light: It is a perfect plant for the shady corners of your rooms, since it likes complete shade and does not tolerate direct light.
- Size: 1 to 2 feet in height and spread (30 to 60 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Adaptable to most soil types, from clay to limestone, but you want it to be well-drained, and a good loose potting soil would be best; It will also thrive in a wide range of pH levels, from 4.0 to 8.0!
- Watering: Water thoroughly once the top soil has dried, but do not allow the soil to become soggy at any time.
13. Benjamin Fig (Ficus benjamina)
How can we forget the most iconic indoor tree in the world? Benjamin ficus is, in fact, a small, fast-growing tree that has filled offices, hallways and living spaces with its beautiful bright green lanceolate leaves hanging from elegant branches for decades!
With an oval growth habit and suitable for fairly small pots (for its size), it’s no surprise that this plant should make the final cut for the best fast-growing houseplants for your home or office.
- Light: This little tree also doesn’t like direct light, but it wants plenty of indirect light.
- Size: Indoors they will grow up to 6 feet tall (2 meters) and 4 feet wide (120 cm), although in the wild they can reach 60 feet (20 meters)!
- Soil Requirements: What you need is good, loose, rich, excellent-draining potting soil; the best pH is between 6.0 and 6.5.
- Watering: water moderately from spring to summer, waiting for the topsoil to dry; in winter, water sparingly.
14. Watermelon Rubber Plant (Peperomia Argyreia)
And if you want a living statue for your desk, coffee table or shelves, then the watermelon peperomia, or rubber plant, with its large, round, pointed leaves, with the glossiest texture you will ever find, artistically arranged on elegant stems vertical will make a wonderful centerpiece!
And… the leaves are of two colors, light green and dark green, in swirling stripes that remind us, in fact, of watermelons, and turn this wonderful plant into a living work of art!
- Light: Find a shady spot in a bright room for this plant; It also does not tolerate direct light and prefers diffused sunlight.
- Size: maximum 1 foot in height and spread (30 cm).
- Soil Requirements: Good, well-drained potting soil, such as 2 parts peat moss to 1 part perlite will be good; pH should be between 6.0 and 7.0.
- Watering: Water thoroughly only when the topsoil has dried out, and reduce significantly in winter. Be careful not to over water or under water.
15. Potos dorados (Epipremnum aureum)
Pothos is one of the most popular fast-growing houseplants as it is beautiful, requires little care and many people even grow it in water jugs or vases.
Its trailing branches with beautiful wide, round, pointed leaves covering shelves hanging from its wavy trailing branches have now made history in indoor collecting.
But the golden pothos has an additional “beauty point” compared to other trailing houseplants; The leaves are two colors, green and yellow, although the exact palette can change with light and season.
- Light: likes a mix of some shade and indirect, moderate and diffuse light. Too much light will ruin your leaves.
- Size: Its branches can grow up to 6 or even 10 feet long (1.8 to 3 meters) indoors, making it excellent for hanging baskets very high, near the ceiling.
- Soil Requirements: Well-drained regular potting soil is perfectly fine for golden pothos. It prefers a pH between 6.1 and 6.5.
- Watering: be careful! You should always allow the soil to dry completely before watering, too much water will cause leaf rot.
Fast-growing houseplants for every corner of your home (or office)!
Now, look again at that sad empty corner of your home or office… Can you imagine it now with one of these fast-growing beauties in it? A fast-growing plant like these can breathe life into even the ugliest spot indoors, and in no time!
After many years as an academic in London, Adriano Bulla became a writer, publishing books such as A History of Gardening, Organic Gardening and Elements of Garden Design; then he decided to become a gardener, following his childhood dream, and has been following his dream by writing and gardening professionally in southern Europe, where he has specialized in new and innovative organic gardening fields and techniques, such as permaculture, regenerative agriculture , food forests and hydroponics.