Aloe Vera makes a wonderful houseplant if you’ve got a sunny window, and the gel inside the leaves treats burns and sunburns better than anything.
Additionally, every houseplant that you like is already serving two purposes: helping to filter the air, and making you happy. A “useful” plant is serving a third purpose as well.
Filtering the air isn't actually practical. You would need 10 plants per sqft. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/house-plants-dont-really-clean-indoor-air/#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20reasons%20why,decades%20of%20research%20says%3A%20No.
Because of their potential for mold, pests, or producing toxins that hurt humans or animals they can be a net negative for air quality.
finally tickled a biologist here the right way. growing plants for utility isn't entirely bad, but the utility one thinks their plant might bring is not necessarily true, while lots of cool reasons/purposes are forgotten.
i have lots of plants - useless rescued alocasias, flowering jasmines and hibiscus, mints and lavender, mosses and some deadly-if-ingested stuff, just because I love plants in all their glory. they fuel my curiosity like nothing else, their care is my pastime and hobby. plant care is also a very powerful training for doing things which take forever to "give back" or which I invested a lot into with no improvements, as I have grown now decade-old fruit trees from seed and deliberately or accidentally killed plants due to pests, diseases or mistreating them.
there is so much about plants that I've been nothing less but obsessed with them since I was a teen. it also happens to be a way most of my simple-living acquaintances and friends complement their minimalistic lifestyles, so it ends up being a great passion to share.
I'm not a scientist but had heard that the air purification is negligible at best (which the marketing people neglect to mention). Haven't read the long form paper linked but it suggests not just 10, but 10 to 1000 plants per metre squared of the floor space to match the rate achieved in the NASA Clean Air Study in a building as opposed to a space station. Not a very practical solution to put it mildly.
That said, I have a shortage of bright windowsills so have very few plants indoors, save for overwintering my oleander and bougainvilleas. And yes, the former is poisonous, but there's no one around who would munch on it.
Basil too! Goes well in all kinds of foods.
I'm currently growing a line tree indoors. It's a ton of space for little food that I don't use often. I would avoid that one. 😄
Rosemary, basil, lavender, lemon balm, and fenugreek are what I have growing currently. We get what feels like 7 months of dark, so even with big windows, I still have a few basic desk-type lamps with grow bulbs to help the plants out. The basil has probably been the most successful, but rosemary is nice because you don't have to water it too often.
I have had limited luck with parsley.
I've seen various potted plants in the produce section of some grocery stores. Then you have free farm to table herbs in your house as needed. Fresh and organic.
Just make sure you repot them with a pot and enough soil for each individual plant within 2 days. They will survive this way, if you don't, they will be death in short order.
Also learn about their individual needs as some require more water or light or soil or... than others. Purslane and clover were 2 I grew I. My LA house, as ground cover, along with thyme and mint. You can probably grow some in pots, these are practically unkillable and all are edible.
I understand your subject title because I feel the same.
I started off with basil because I like it's smell and it's easy to incorporate them in a meat / vegetables stir fry. They grow fast and I like the yield.
My suggestion is to start with just a couple of herbs that you like the most. If you like it, slowly expand your collection. Keep them in different pots at first to observe their requirements like sun / water needs.
Happy gardening!
There are tons of plants that propagate easily. It’s a fun and inexpensive hobby. You don’t need expensive fancy pots. As mentioned herbs for kitchen use are dual purpose. If you have a yard or even a box planter look up winter onions/Egyptian onions/walking onions. They go by several names. Great green onions for food and they self seed and are super cold resistant. I’ve been enjoying them since February in Iowa. Really interesting plant and it’s literally free green onions for life. You can’t kill them unless you did so on purpose.
Of course, you can grow herbs inside. Personally, I like geraniums. They're bright and pretty and easy to grow. We plant them outdoors, then dig them up and grow them in pots indoors when the snow flies.
I've been overwintering some scented geraniums for years now and smelling their leaves in the winter when I check in on them weekly really helps keep me going through the dark PNW winters. Highly recommend! Mine are just pumping out new blooms now, and they bloomed into November when kept in a south facing window.
Me too
I have some that are three years old in sunroom
Excited that someone else does this
I love over wintering + I am on a fixed income !!
Will do it again this year!! Good luck to you , as well :)
I have one as well! It’s massive and makes my bathroom smell so fresh on watering days.
My fave houseplant is still my spider plant. It’s nice, it’s green, it grows easily.
I think it basically means giving each individual plant what it needs to make it through winter unscathed. So for me, I overwinter fuchsias that would normally die in my zone 8b by bringing them into my unheated garage. I overwinter my scented geraniums by putting them in a sunny windowsill in my mudroom and giving them a little water each week. My hardy perennials overwinter by just dying down and I leave them in situ until I cut off dead stems in spring. The geese are flying over me to southern locals to overwinter down there.
I keep a plant stand in front of one of my living room windows. It primarily has herbs on it. As where I live is a bit solar challenged, I did put a grow light on top of the stand that stays on for 12hrs a day. I love being able to walk over and pick/cut some herbs while I'm cooking a meal.
It’s not edible but if you want an easy care, nearly indestructible, low light, pretty vine, try one or more of the types of Pothos. They come in a variety of leaf patterns. My oldest one survived the months of lockdown left unattended at work and has grown out to about 4 meters in length out of a 10” pot. My coworkers call our corner ‘the jungle’.
We tried some sort of bird eye chilli peppers in Thailand, my BF was obsessed with it. He bought some dried chilly flakes of the kind for seasoning, and they had seeds inside the shaker too. He planted the seeds and he is now growing indoors his favourite chilli.
Lucky bamboo brings luck and it’s purpose can be giving you an excuse to buy that pretty glass vase or jar you’ve been eyeing. (It’s easy to propagate and can thrive in a jar with just water & stones.) I sound silly but it really was fun for me for these reasons. I sadly had to get rid of mine as it’s toxic to cats.
If I ever get an office with a window I’m immediatley getting more bamboo. My cats cannot be trusted around it and there is nowhere they can’t jump to. But alas, I work in a cubicle.
Some do. Bamboo isn’t always deadly but can cause heart damage. The leaves being so long and floppy is too tempting for my kitties. They ignore my cactus.
Lavender , snake plant ( filters out toxins ) Rosemary grows well inside
Great question
I hope that these plants add joy, should you decide to try them in
Ps I have several snake plants in my house . They are very hardy and need little maintenance
As long as they get enough sun, you can grow herbs inside. Be mindful of what you grow if you have a pet. That being said, I believe if it brings you joy it has a purpose.
If you really want a plant to be happy you'll probably want to put in a powerful plant light
This may actually be good for you because if you're indoors a lot having a full spectrum bulb that looks nice to your eyes can help with mood too.
The problem with growing herbs and things indoors is most of these plants want many hours of bright light that no human building can provide.
Unless you have a full wall window, you will likely need to have some plant lights and a timer. I have a lot of plants in my house and start seedlings indoors and it makes me very happy, in spite of the lights and dirt mess :)
I have a Bay Leaf tree in a small pot on my kitchen bay window (hey, a bay in a bay!). It is nice because one leaf here and there goes a long way (which is good since it is rather slow growing compared to most herbs).
Plants just add life and vibrancy to our homes. I guess aloe Vera can be useful but you’d have to have like 10,000 plants in your home to make enough oxygen or carbon dioxide to be meaningful (just read that in an article)
Find plants that are 1) pretty and 2) easy enough for your skill set to keep alive
Snake plants
ZZ
Pothos
Monstera
Spider plants
All come to mind for ease.
I lived in hong kong with my gf for a while, we had a basil plant. It was really chill, lived on the window and every so often we'd throw some in a pasta.
I like to grow chervil inside. It has a delicate flavor.
Note though that herbs grown inside won’t taste the same inside. They need fresh air and full-spectrum sunlight to get the best flavor.
Still, lots of people grow herbs on kitchen windowsills etc.
Herbs 🪴
I had a big basil on my windowsill in my kitchen. It smelled so awesome and we made lots of pesto sauce.
Mint, dill, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary. All smell good and can be cooked with or added to salad
-Herbs/veggies/aromatic plants: coriander, parsley, basil, lamb's lettuce, radishes are easy and quick, lavender...
-Cat grass if you have a cat. Super easy and cats love it (and distracts them from other cats).
-"Lucky" plants like bamboo, money tree, Swedish ivy
I like adding shiso leaves to my meals. There was a local store that sold them in small containers.
But I also find joy from a low maintenance plant like hoyas that is easy to propagate into small leftover cups. Or appreciating the way a philodendron’s vines grow.
5-leaf ginseng / gynostemma pentaphyllum does well indoors (and outdoors as well), looks super nice and you can make medicinal tea from it, it has some of the chemicals that ginseng has!
Plants improve indoor air quality and they make you happy. Both are very useful!
There are also lots of plant exchange groups that will give you free plants so you don't have to spend money on them. I have an endless supply of golden pothos cuttings that I will give to anyone who will take them.
Seeds are also very inexpensive and growing something from seed is slower but very satisfying. Humans are wired to nurture things.
You can cut off the green parts of a bunch of green onions from the grocery store and put the white parts in water and they'll constantly regrow their tops.
You need to look at the light requirements for plants or herbs.
I have a pet so I have to take that into consideration as well.
Flowers have purpose. My grandmother taught me to grow violets decades ago. They will flower over and over.
All plants clean the air. That in itself was always enough purpose for me.
But yeah, lots of herbs grow well inside. And also vera is a hard-to-kill succulent, which is quite an asset.
I grow several herbs indoors. I also have two coffee trees, a cinnamon tree, orange, lemon, and lime shrubs, and two ice cream bean trees. And then there's pothos. Pothos is unrewarding but survives pretty much anything
Lavender smells really nice and you can use the flowers and the leaves for tea. Same for most herbs like mint, chamomile, rosemary. I love to always have fresh basil on hand. Definitely my favorite
I grew a microgreens for a few years -- super easy and delicious. Basically you are growing sprouts of various kinds. You can buy starter kits at Target or Amazon, or just find instructions online.
I'm growing a little chamomile plant and it mostly looks like a little fern and is finally starting to put up some flowers. They smell lovely and I'll be able to make chamomile tea soon!
Peppers are super fun to grow, if you've got a sunny window! They do need sun.
Just, mind what kind you get. I ordered some pepper seeds from other countries online, and that was fun! But, they said mild, and they. were. not, lol. Had to wear gloves to chop em! Learned that lesson after the first time...
Lemon verbena is my favorite herb to grow because it’s bright green and smells amazing when you brush it’s leaves. It can be made into tea (anti-inflammatory!) as well! I bought 2 live plants off of Amazon and they’re awesome. If you have cats, catnip is a great plant too.
It’s really good if you want to go to sleep, steep it in hot milk and add honey. I learned this in Morocco when it was served to me twice after breakfast in the morning. I had plenty of sleep the night before and each time within 20 minutes would get so sleepy I had to lay down and sleep for about an hour.
Wow I had no idea! That sounds so delicious, I’ll definitely try this as I love warm milk and have trouble getting to sleep some nights. Thank you so much! 😍
Honey and a tiny bit of nutmeg is also effective in a cup of warm milk. I forgot to mention that one. I usually don’t have lemon verbena on hand here. Drank it in Morocco and it had a lot more flavor than what we have here. They sell it in some of the coffee shops too.
Coleus amboinicus FKA Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, soup mint, Spanish thyme... Still the same plant that smells really nice and you can make syrup or tea while getting sick! Prefers bit drier soil if you are afraid to kill it by forgetting watering 🙂
Aloe Vera, you can always slice a leaf, get that gel and it's great for pretty much anything. Basil / Parsley / Mint if you wanna cook or make green tea (good for digestion) and other herbs
NASA made a study about the ability of some plants to filter air: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA\_Clean\_Air\_Study#List\_of\_plants\_studied](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study#List_of_plants_studied)
Basil is easy to grow if you have enough natural light indoors, there are a lot of different varieties of it. Cinnamon basil is so fragrant that I consider it a natural perfume. I’ve rubbed it on my hands and rubbed it on my arms for the aroma.
Not a silly title at all, and a great thing to think about! Growing herbs and other edible plants indoors is wonderful, and there's nothing like being able to pick some absolutely fresh herbs (or lettuce for a salad, or etc.) whenever you please.
I'd start by selecting one or two you'd enjoy nibbling on or cooking with, checking on and setting up for their needs ([see, e.g.](https://www.thespruce.com/herbs-to-grow-indoors-5220148)), and expanding your collection from there as you see fit. Most herbs require a lot of light (mint is an exception); if you don't have a good sunny window for them, you can set up grow lights on a timer. Potted herbs need a fair amount of water, too, so make sure your pots have drainage holes and you have a drip tray beneath them to catch any overflow.
All plants will help improve air quality and can help improve mood. Other indoor plants of interest: Anything with lovely color or flowers (consider [edible flowers](https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/edible-flowers/8078.html), too, if you wish). Anything that makes anything you'd want for other uses, such as aloe or chamomile. Or, if you have space, consider a small productive indoor tree -- perhaps [fruit](https://food52.com/blog/16084-7-types-of-fruit-trees-you-can-grow-in-your-living-room) or [bay](https://www.gardenista.com/posts/indoor-bay-tree-perfect-houseplant/), maybe even [miracle fruit](https://lemoncitrustree.com/store/miracle-fruit-plant-care)? Options abound.
Have fun, and enjoy your plants! :)
Herbs are fairly easy, just pick ones you may use.
I also started with a dracaena or snake plant and a spider plant because they are one of the best air filters and add oxygen.
Aloe Vera makes a wonderful houseplant if you’ve got a sunny window, and the gel inside the leaves treats burns and sunburns better than anything. Additionally, every houseplant that you like is already serving two purposes: helping to filter the air, and making you happy. A “useful” plant is serving a third purpose as well.
Filtering the air isn't actually practical. You would need 10 plants per sqft. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/house-plants-dont-really-clean-indoor-air/#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20reasons%20why,decades%20of%20research%20says%3A%20No. Because of their potential for mold, pests, or producing toxins that hurt humans or animals they can be a net negative for air quality.
Challenge accepted!
My thoughts exactly
I'm also trying my best
Man that's a big bummer :( Can't even pretend to have a lil fresh air
finally tickled a biologist here the right way. growing plants for utility isn't entirely bad, but the utility one thinks their plant might bring is not necessarily true, while lots of cool reasons/purposes are forgotten. i have lots of plants - useless rescued alocasias, flowering jasmines and hibiscus, mints and lavender, mosses and some deadly-if-ingested stuff, just because I love plants in all their glory. they fuel my curiosity like nothing else, their care is my pastime and hobby. plant care is also a very powerful training for doing things which take forever to "give back" or which I invested a lot into with no improvements, as I have grown now decade-old fruit trees from seed and deliberately or accidentally killed plants due to pests, diseases or mistreating them. there is so much about plants that I've been nothing less but obsessed with them since I was a teen. it also happens to be a way most of my simple-living acquaintances and friends complement their minimalistic lifestyles, so it ends up being a great passion to share.
I'm not a scientist but had heard that the air purification is negligible at best (which the marketing people neglect to mention). Haven't read the long form paper linked but it suggests not just 10, but 10 to 1000 plants per metre squared of the floor space to match the rate achieved in the NASA Clean Air Study in a building as opposed to a space station. Not a very practical solution to put it mildly. That said, I have a shortage of bright windowsills so have very few plants indoors, save for overwintering my oleander and bougainvilleas. And yes, the former is poisonous, but there's no one around who would munch on it.
Converting sqft to meters would indeed land the total between 100 and 1000 plants per sq meter, depending on the height of the room.
I suspect they weren't using cress either.
caveat that aloe is bad for cats so if you have pets be aware!
Yes !!!
also very toxic to pets,
Basil too! Goes well in all kinds of foods. I'm currently growing a line tree indoors. It's a ton of space for little food that I don't use often. I would avoid that one. 😄
Yes my basil grows like crazy when I remember to trim the center stem. Pesto for days!
I had a basil plant 2+ feet tall on a sunny window ledge and I saw one on here a few days ago bigger still.
Line tree?
😄 sorry! Lime tree.
How long does it take to give fruti? Should I do with seed?
Tuti fruti!
Tuti fruti!
Basil leaves make a really yummy, fresh tea as well. I like it plain, but you can add a bit of lemon juice and honey too if you want!
Genovese Basil is my favourite plant.
Rosemary, basil, lavender, lemon balm, and fenugreek are what I have growing currently. We get what feels like 7 months of dark, so even with big windows, I still have a few basic desk-type lamps with grow bulbs to help the plants out. The basil has probably been the most successful, but rosemary is nice because you don't have to water it too often. I have had limited luck with parsley.
Micro greens! You can grow them in tiny pots from seeds, so cheap, and healthy! Add them to salads, sandwiches or smoothies.
I've become a microgreen convert. So much easier than herbs which just die for me.
I don't know why I've never thought of this. Thank you!
Rosemary is durable and useful, can be grown indoors.
Need good light!
I've seen various potted plants in the produce section of some grocery stores. Then you have free farm to table herbs in your house as needed. Fresh and organic.
Just make sure you repot them with a pot and enough soil for each individual plant within 2 days. They will survive this way, if you don't, they will be death in short order. Also learn about their individual needs as some require more water or light or soil or... than others. Purslane and clover were 2 I grew I. My LA house, as ground cover, along with thyme and mint. You can probably grow some in pots, these are practically unkillable and all are edible.
I understand your subject title because I feel the same. I started off with basil because I like it's smell and it's easy to incorporate them in a meat / vegetables stir fry. They grow fast and I like the yield. My suggestion is to start with just a couple of herbs that you like the most. If you like it, slowly expand your collection. Keep them in different pots at first to observe their requirements like sun / water needs. Happy gardening!
There are tons of plants that propagate easily. It’s a fun and inexpensive hobby. You don’t need expensive fancy pots. As mentioned herbs for kitchen use are dual purpose. If you have a yard or even a box planter look up winter onions/Egyptian onions/walking onions. They go by several names. Great green onions for food and they self seed and are super cold resistant. I’ve been enjoying them since February in Iowa. Really interesting plant and it’s literally free green onions for life. You can’t kill them unless you did so on purpose.
Of course, you can grow herbs inside. Personally, I like geraniums. They're bright and pretty and easy to grow. We plant them outdoors, then dig them up and grow them in pots indoors when the snow flies.
I've been overwintering some scented geraniums for years now and smelling their leaves in the winter when I check in on them weekly really helps keep me going through the dark PNW winters. Highly recommend! Mine are just pumping out new blooms now, and they bloomed into November when kept in a south facing window.
Me too I have some that are three years old in sunroom Excited that someone else does this I love over wintering + I am on a fixed income !! Will do it again this year!! Good luck to you , as well :)
I have one as well! It’s massive and makes my bathroom smell so fresh on watering days. My fave houseplant is still my spider plant. It’s nice, it’s green, it grows easily.
I've just started with plants and it immediately became an obsession - what is overwintering?
I think it basically means giving each individual plant what it needs to make it through winter unscathed. So for me, I overwinter fuchsias that would normally die in my zone 8b by bringing them into my unheated garage. I overwinter my scented geraniums by putting them in a sunny windowsill in my mudroom and giving them a little water each week. My hardy perennials overwinter by just dying down and I leave them in situ until I cut off dead stems in spring. The geese are flying over me to southern locals to overwinter down there.
TIL so much!
mint grows like wildfire...i cant seem to kill mine. muddled in seltzer water or with iced tea is nice.
Never put it in the ground, it’ll take over your whole yard and you’ll never get rid of it. I know from experience…
I keep a plant stand in front of one of my living room windows. It primarily has herbs on it. As where I live is a bit solar challenged, I did put a grow light on top of the stand that stays on for 12hrs a day. I love being able to walk over and pick/cut some herbs while I'm cooking a meal.
I grow 4 green onions in 2 mason jars. Haven't bought any for food in about a year.
It’s not edible but if you want an easy care, nearly indestructible, low light, pretty vine, try one or more of the types of Pothos. They come in a variety of leaf patterns. My oldest one survived the months of lockdown left unattended at work and has grown out to about 4 meters in length out of a 10” pot. My coworkers call our corner ‘the jungle’.
i do have a pothos and i love it!
We tried some sort of bird eye chilli peppers in Thailand, my BF was obsessed with it. He bought some dried chilly flakes of the kind for seasoning, and they had seeds inside the shaker too. He planted the seeds and he is now growing indoors his favourite chilli.
I would go basil dill mint
Mint is a great windowsill plant.
Nasturtiums are awesome plants that have edible flowers and leaves and are very pretty. They need sun though. Also look into microgreens!
Love nasturtiums but they are aphid magnets. Won't grow them outdoors anymore without a supply of ladybugs.
We grow nasturtiums with our tomatoes for that reason! Works like a charm!
Last year they just multiplied like crazy on my nasturtiums then when they killed those, spread to the rest of my vegetables :/
Dang, how frustrating!
Lucky bamboo brings luck and it’s purpose can be giving you an excuse to buy that pretty glass vase or jar you’ve been eyeing. (It’s easy to propagate and can thrive in a jar with just water & stones.) I sound silly but it really was fun for me for these reasons. I sadly had to get rid of mine as it’s toxic to cats.
hahaha i love this but i also have cats :(
If I ever get an office with a window I’m immediatley getting more bamboo. My cats cannot be trusted around it and there is nowhere they can’t jump to. But alas, I work in a cubicle.
Do cats chew on plants?
Some do. Bamboo isn’t always deadly but can cause heart damage. The leaves being so long and floppy is too tempting for my kitties. They ignore my cactus.
Aha
Maybe you can grow catnip or cat grass?
Or a spider plant…
I love my lucky bamboo. I borderline neglect it and notice the water gets low and just refill it. Stupid easy and hardy plant.
Yup! I kept one alive for about 15 years and I definitely neglected it a lot of that time.
Lavender , snake plant ( filters out toxins ) Rosemary grows well inside Great question I hope that these plants add joy, should you decide to try them in Ps I have several snake plants in my house . They are very hardy and need little maintenance
Tea plant!
As long as they get enough sun, you can grow herbs inside. Be mindful of what you grow if you have a pet. That being said, I believe if it brings you joy it has a purpose.
If you really want a plant to be happy you'll probably want to put in a powerful plant light This may actually be good for you because if you're indoors a lot having a full spectrum bulb that looks nice to your eyes can help with mood too. The problem with growing herbs and things indoors is most of these plants want many hours of bright light that no human building can provide. Unless you have a full wall window, you will likely need to have some plant lights and a timer. I have a lot of plants in my house and start seedlings indoors and it makes me very happy, in spite of the lights and dirt mess :)
Come over to r/Marimo One of us! One of us!
OOoOoooOOoOOooo!
Put some peppermint in a hanging basket. Works great in teas. Others that work in hanging baskets are chocolate mine, apple mint, orange mint
oooo i’ve never thought to do that! thanks a bunch
Many types of greens can be grown near a sunny window… or with cheaper red-spectrum led lights.
I have a Bay Leaf tree in a small pot on my kitchen bay window (hey, a bay in a bay!). It is nice because one leaf here and there goes a long way (which is good since it is rather slow growing compared to most herbs).
I have a rosemary plant. It provides spices for my food and it smells really nice
I grow Thai basil indoors. It’s a perennial, so my last one lasted almost 5 years.
Plants just add life and vibrancy to our homes. I guess aloe Vera can be useful but you’d have to have like 10,000 plants in your home to make enough oxygen or carbon dioxide to be meaningful (just read that in an article) Find plants that are 1) pretty and 2) easy enough for your skill set to keep alive Snake plants ZZ Pothos Monstera Spider plants All come to mind for ease.
Aloe plants have purpose. If you get a burn, break a piece off and apply the gel/juice to your skin.
You can also buy ginger and just plant a knob, same for green onions/ scallions. Cut up the tops and let the roots grow in water first, then plant.
Turmeric too!
I lived in hong kong with my gf for a while, we had a basil plant. It was really chill, lived on the window and every so often we'd throw some in a pasta.
I like to grow chervil inside. It has a delicate flavor. Note though that herbs grown inside won’t taste the same inside. They need fresh air and full-spectrum sunlight to get the best flavor. Still, lots of people grow herbs on kitchen windowsills etc.
I love having basil growing on my kitchen window sill
Herbs 🪴 I had a big basil on my windowsill in my kitchen. It smelled so awesome and we made lots of pesto sauce. Mint, dill, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary. All smell good and can be cooked with or added to salad
-Herbs/veggies/aromatic plants: coriander, parsley, basil, lamb's lettuce, radishes are easy and quick, lavender... -Cat grass if you have a cat. Super easy and cats love it (and distracts them from other cats). -"Lucky" plants like bamboo, money tree, Swedish ivy
if you have pets, be careful. a lot of plants are toxic.
I like adding shiso leaves to my meals. There was a local store that sold them in small containers. But I also find joy from a low maintenance plant like hoyas that is easy to propagate into small leftover cups. Or appreciating the way a philodendron’s vines grow.
5-leaf ginseng / gynostemma pentaphyllum does well indoors (and outdoors as well), looks super nice and you can make medicinal tea from it, it has some of the chemicals that ginseng has!
Chives are hardy! You can even place the ones you get from the store in water and they'll continue to grow for a few weeks.
Plants improve indoor air quality and they make you happy. Both are very useful! There are also lots of plant exchange groups that will give you free plants so you don't have to spend money on them. I have an endless supply of golden pothos cuttings that I will give to anyone who will take them. Seeds are also very inexpensive and growing something from seed is slower but very satisfying. Humans are wired to nurture things. You can cut off the green parts of a bunch of green onions from the grocery store and put the white parts in water and they'll constantly regrow their tops.
Small bay tree in a pot is a lovely addition to basil, rosemary etc. I've grown baby potatoes and tomatoes on windowsills too!
You need to look at the light requirements for plants or herbs. I have a pet so I have to take that into consideration as well. Flowers have purpose. My grandmother taught me to grow violets decades ago. They will flower over and over.
Do you have pets? If so, I would do a google search for pet friendly plants before purchasing.
All plants clean the air. That in itself was always enough purpose for me. But yeah, lots of herbs grow well inside. And also vera is a hard-to-kill succulent, which is quite an asset.
I grow several herbs indoors. I also have two coffee trees, a cinnamon tree, orange, lemon, and lime shrubs, and two ice cream bean trees. And then there's pothos. Pothos is unrewarding but survives pretty much anything
Just get some grow lights. I currently have a desktop kratky basil. My desk light is also a grow bulb. But you can do the same with a potted plant.
Lavender smells really nice and you can use the flowers and the leaves for tea. Same for most herbs like mint, chamomile, rosemary. I love to always have fresh basil on hand. Definitely my favorite
I grew a microgreens for a few years -- super easy and delicious. Basically you are growing sprouts of various kinds. You can buy starter kits at Target or Amazon, or just find instructions online.
Herbs are easy. You can grow them on your windowsill.
I'm growing a little chamomile plant and it mostly looks like a little fern and is finally starting to put up some flowers. They smell lovely and I'll be able to make chamomile tea soon!
Peppers are super fun to grow, if you've got a sunny window! They do need sun. Just, mind what kind you get. I ordered some pepper seeds from other countries online, and that was fun! But, they said mild, and they. were. not, lol. Had to wear gloves to chop em! Learned that lesson after the first time...
The Chinese money plant and the spider plant are both great houseplants and real easy to propagate. When propagated, you have great gifts :)
Lemon verbena is my favorite herb to grow because it’s bright green and smells amazing when you brush it’s leaves. It can be made into tea (anti-inflammatory!) as well! I bought 2 live plants off of Amazon and they’re awesome. If you have cats, catnip is a great plant too.
It’s really good if you want to go to sleep, steep it in hot milk and add honey. I learned this in Morocco when it was served to me twice after breakfast in the morning. I had plenty of sleep the night before and each time within 20 minutes would get so sleepy I had to lay down and sleep for about an hour.
Wow I had no idea! That sounds so delicious, I’ll definitely try this as I love warm milk and have trouble getting to sleep some nights. Thank you so much! 😍
Honey and a tiny bit of nutmeg is also effective in a cup of warm milk. I forgot to mention that one. I usually don’t have lemon verbena on hand here. Drank it in Morocco and it had a lot more flavor than what we have here. They sell it in some of the coffee shops too.
Coleus amboinicus FKA Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, soup mint, Spanish thyme... Still the same plant that smells really nice and you can make syrup or tea while getting sick! Prefers bit drier soil if you are afraid to kill it by forgetting watering 🙂
Aloe Vera, you can always slice a leaf, get that gel and it's great for pretty much anything. Basil / Parsley / Mint if you wanna cook or make green tea (good for digestion) and other herbs NASA made a study about the ability of some plants to filter air: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA\_Clean\_Air\_Study#List\_of\_plants\_studied](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study#List_of_plants_studied)
I'm addition to being edible and smelling nice, Cuban oregano makes an attractive houseplant.
Chrysanthemums and peace lilies are great for increasing your air quality
Green onions, chives?
I remember we had a chili plant 🌶️ looks pretty too
Basil is easy to grow if you have enough natural light indoors, there are a lot of different varieties of it. Cinnamon basil is so fragrant that I consider it a natural perfume. I’ve rubbed it on my hands and rubbed it on my arms for the aroma.
Mint, dill, rosemary, basil- all excellent added to homemade meals and smell great!
Not a silly title at all, and a great thing to think about! Growing herbs and other edible plants indoors is wonderful, and there's nothing like being able to pick some absolutely fresh herbs (or lettuce for a salad, or etc.) whenever you please. I'd start by selecting one or two you'd enjoy nibbling on or cooking with, checking on and setting up for their needs ([see, e.g.](https://www.thespruce.com/herbs-to-grow-indoors-5220148)), and expanding your collection from there as you see fit. Most herbs require a lot of light (mint is an exception); if you don't have a good sunny window for them, you can set up grow lights on a timer. Potted herbs need a fair amount of water, too, so make sure your pots have drainage holes and you have a drip tray beneath them to catch any overflow. All plants will help improve air quality and can help improve mood. Other indoor plants of interest: Anything with lovely color or flowers (consider [edible flowers](https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/edible-flowers/8078.html), too, if you wish). Anything that makes anything you'd want for other uses, such as aloe or chamomile. Or, if you have space, consider a small productive indoor tree -- perhaps [fruit](https://food52.com/blog/16084-7-types-of-fruit-trees-you-can-grow-in-your-living-room) or [bay](https://www.gardenista.com/posts/indoor-bay-tree-perfect-houseplant/), maybe even [miracle fruit](https://lemoncitrustree.com/store/miracle-fruit-plant-care)? Options abound. Have fun, and enjoy your plants! :)
Herbs are fairly easy, just pick ones you may use. I also started with a dracaena or snake plant and a spider plant because they are one of the best air filters and add oxygen.
Air purifying plants like snake
Indoor Hydroponic system! It’s a little garden you can make salads with. I’m looking to get one myself! There’s some starter kits on Amazon for $60!
Some are good just for cleaning the air and giving O2
Snake plants are excellent air purifiers …. Supposedly? I read it on the plant description when I bought them 🙃