How to Grow Indoor Plants on a Budget: Top Tips for Frugal Plant Parents
Want to know how to grow indoor plants on a budget? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered
with these top tips and tricks that will help you save money while providing your home with the benefits of indoor plant life. From how to have decorative pots for almost free, to how to start your own plants, you’ll discover new and inexpensive ways to care for your indoor plants!
The Top Plants You Can Get on a Budget
House plants are a wonderful way to inject life into your home and lower your carbon footprint, but many can be surprisingly expensive. Instead of succumbing to high prices for common indoor plants (including fiddle leaf figs and peace lilies), try these more affordable options:
Spider plant Also known as chrysanthemum bonsai or golden gate tree, it is one of the least expensive plants you can buy!
Peperomia obtusifolia is easy, low-maintenance, cute and so much better than plastic or silk.
Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’ (corn plant) requires very little light and thrives in areas that receive either indirect or little natural light.
The Best Places to Find Indoor Plants
If you’re looking to grow indoor plants on a budget, you might think about purchasing yours from your local plant store. However, many of these shops carry small potted plants that will quickly outgrow their pots.
Instead, consider visiting your local garden center or even a craft supply store like Michael’s; they tend to carry larger pots and often have sales at regular intervals throughout each year. You may also be able to find some of your favorite varieties at home improvement stores or large-scale garden centers and nurseries; these typically have both indoor and outdoor varieties available year-round.
A final option is to check with your friends or family members for plant clippings from their existing collection. Once the plant is healthy enough, it can live in its new pot and provide you with an instant houseplant!
Some Ideas If You Don't Have Pots for Your Plants
Even if you don't have any indoor pots lying around, it's still possible to grow indoor plants. And not just herbs—you can grow bigger houseplants (like orchids) indoors in unexpected places, too.
Before you try something new with your plants, make sure that you know exactly what kind of plant you're dealing with and which type of environment is best suited for its survival. A word of caution: be extra careful when working with live cuttings from larger plants. Some are poisonous!
Be sure to learn about their care before handling them—and watch out for bugs (like spider mites) that might be present as well. Before you get started, read up on the basics of how to care for houseplants by checking out our post How To Care For Houseplants. You'll find some general tips there that will apply to most plants
More Tips: How to Grow Indoor Plants Without Pots:
Old Pots
Do you already have an type of old pots laying around,flower pots, kitchen pots, bowls, or laundry jugs? Almost any container can be put to use as an indoor plant container. Just put stones at the bottom and fill with soil up to the rim.
Aquariums
If you want to really go all out, consider using your aquarium (in lieu of a pot) for an entire garden of your favorite plants. Even a cracked aquarium can be repaired to look very cool.
Freezer Bag Garden
Another DIY idea is making a freezer bag garden --this way if things start getting crowded in one area, you can easily move your plants so they're all getting enough light and air circulation where they need it most.
Paper Bag Garden
Place some soil into a paper bag and let your kids decorate it with stickers, pictures, anything they want to show off their creative side while also creating an inexpensive way to grow indoor plants.
Conclusion
If you want to add some greenery to your home but are worried about the cost, don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to grow indoor plants on a budget as we have shown,
If you don’t have pots for your plants, there are plenty of DIY options using materials you probably already have around the house. With a little creativity and effort, you can have a beautiful indoor garden that won’t break the bank.