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Every new houseplant arrives with hope and promise. Busy schedules and inconsistent indoor climate conditions often turn that bright greenery into a shriveled brown mess in months. For those who struggle with indoor plant cultivation and care, beginning with hardier plants will help stave off the inevitable heartbreak.
For success with indoor greenery, start with hardier houseplants. Olga Rolenko/Getty
There are plenty of stunning indoor plant varieties built to survive low light, full sun, infrequent watering and just about everything in between. We tapped two plant specialists to find the hardiest picks for beginner plant parents or anyone with a less-than-consistent routine.
Rebecca Sterling is the resident plant expert at Easyplant, a self-watering planter startup, and Puneet Sabharwal is the founder of Horti, a monthly plant subscription service. Both weighed in on why most houseplants don't make it -- and which ones are the easiest to keep alive.
The No. 1 reason houseplants die
Both plant experts point to overwatering as the No. 1 cause of plant death. Getty Images
Both experts call overwatering the most common mistake that kills houseplants.
As a guard against overwatering, Sabharwal recommends pots with drainage, especially if you are a new plant parent. "Excess water often gets clogged at the bottom of pots with no drainage and it can cause the plant roots to rot. With drainage holes, water your plants generously each time until water starts to trickle out the bottom. Let the plant absorb what's in its flow-through tray and after a few hours, discard the remainder."
Sterling touts EasyPlant's signature self-watering pot system as a natural fix. "Customers don't have to worry about overwatering." Besides that, Sterling points to a bad habit folks have of starving plants of light.
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