The 10 Best Houseplants for your Dorm Room

Although Aloe Vera plants are commonly loved for their gel, they are much more than just their health and beauty benefits, as they make for a super minimalist and forgiving houseplant! Like most other succulents, Aloe Vera plants don’t need much tending to as they thrive in dry coarse potting mix. But it is really important that they get a good amount of bright light or will become quite straggly. A sunny windowsill or desk will make the perfect spot.

As they mature a little, you’ll see lots of little Aloe pups popping up which can be very easily removed from the mother plant and propagated! Aloe plants are super affordable and you can pick them up basically anywhere that sells plants, even supermarkets will often sell them in the summer months.

Find out more in our Aloe Vera care guide.

If you find that you are often killing your houseplants and you can’t seem to figure out why, then the Chinese Evergreen is a great choice for your dorm room. Native to South-East Asia, they are so hardy that they’ll grow and thrive in basically any home so it’s the perfect beginner plant.

Chinese Evergreens have incredible leaves, full of splashes of white, silver or pink depending on the particular variety. They are quite slow growing though (as most hardy plants are), so don’t expect a lot of new growth every year.

Find out more in our Chinese Evergreen care guide.

These are pretty unique houseplants because they actually prefer lower-light conditions over anything else! That’s where the name comes from, as they are well acquainted with the darkness. If you have a variegated variety, it will actually start to lose its pattern if placed in too much sunlight. So it’s a good idea to scope out the light levels in your dorm before buying one of these.

They are also pretty hardy plants in terms of their other care requirements. They don’t need complicated watering schedules or specific pruning so are perfect for any new plant parents. You can’t really go wrong with these at all!

When it comes to styling the Devil’s Ivy plant, shelving is where they thrive as it gives it room to cascade dramatically out of the pot. They can be trained to grow upwards by a wall or moss pole so the option is yours and depends on the space you have.

Find out more in our Devil's Ivy care guide.

The Dragon Tree was actually our first ever houseplant and ignited our initial love for caring for indoor plants many years ago. Native to Madagascar, it’s a timeless plant that’ll bring elegance and style to your dorm. They are also super easy to care for and are great at purifying the air which makes them the perfect entry-level houseplant.

You’ll have a hard time trying to kill a Dragon Tree as they are pretty drought-tolerant and forgiving when it comes to light, temperature levels and humidity so it’ll adapt well to every spot in your home.

Although they can reach up to 6 metres in their natural outdoor habitat, they’ll only ever get to about 1.5/2 metres when grown indoors (and even this will take years and years) so you don’t need to worry about it getting too big to handle in the time you’re in college.

Find out more in our Dragon Tree care guide.

Although they are most commonly known as outdoor plants, you can very successfully grow an English Ivy indoors as long as you give it enough light. We are obsessed with the white variegated English Ivy but if not given enough sunshine, the new leaves will lose all of that variegation.

Included in the NASA Clean Air Study, the English Ivy is great at removing toxins from the air so it’s great to have in the bedroom as they’ll help with sleep and concentration. They are also believed to sometimes be able to improve allergy symptoms so as well as looking lush, they have great benefits for us too. They are also super fast-growing plants so you want to place them on a high shelf making sure they have enough space to cascade downwards.

Find out more in our English Ivy care guide.

Believed to bring luck, Jade Plants are one of the most popular succulent varieties. They are best known for their oval-shaped leaves and strong stems which become quite woody as they mature.

When it comes to caring for your Jade Plants, the top two things to remember is to give it a spot that gets ample sunshine throughout the day as well as making sure the potting mix has fully dried out before watering again as they are susceptible to root rot if you’re not careful. Jade Plants are quite slow growers though, so even if the environment and care routine are perfect, they may only grow a few inches per year.

Find out more in our Jade Plant care guide.

This is a Palm with a personality! The Ponytail Palm is loved for its long curly leaves which will instantly bring the tropical beach vibes to your dorm room!

Interestingly, the Ponytail Palm is neither a palm nor a tree, it’s actually a succulent which is why they are super low maintenance. All they need is a spot with ample light and warmth and they’ll be happy. They don’t need much water either as they are able to store it in their trunk. The only drawback of the Ponytail Palm is that it’s quite slow-growing so don’t expect it to be constantly growing new leaves.

Find out more in our Ponytail Palm care guide.

The bold and striking leaves of the Snake Plant make it stand out wherever you put it! Not only are they slow-growing, but they transcend upwards so are great for small spaces such as dorm rooms where every centimeter counts! They have some of the sturdiest leaves or any houseplant, and their sharp leaf tips have given the plant the nickname of mother-in-laws-tongue!

When it comes to care, Snake Plant are super easy to look after, they can adapt to a range of light levels (are great low light plants), prefer dry soil and don’t need much attention in the way of misting or repotting etc. So if you want a low maintenance, sturdy houseplant, then the Snake Plant is your perfect match!

Find out more in our Snake Plant care guide.

Spider Plants are the perfect plant for a houseplant beginner as they are super easy to care for, grow pretty quickly, and produce an abundance of spider babies which can be propagated in seconds.

The best thing about Spider Plants is that you would really have to try to kill them as they adapt to and survive in most environments and don’t mind being a little neglected. They even show you when they need more water by going quite light green. But after a little bit of water, they spring back to full health in minutes.

As your plant matures, you’ll start to see it sprouting little spiderettes which you can choose to remove from the plant to create new Spider Plants. Soon enough all of your friends can grow these in their rooms too!

Find out more in our Spider Plant care guide.

Also known as the Zanzibar Gem, the ZZ Plant is a great low-maintenance minimalist houseplant. Loved for their dark green glossy oval leaves, we recommend this one for those without a fantastic track record of keeping plants alive, but also for anyone looking for something smart and stylish to spruce up their home. They are very adaptable and will deal well with some bright but indirect light, as well as shady dark corners so are great for every dorm room!

The ZZ Plant is quite slow-growing so you won’t see new stems popping out all of the time. It’s important to note that they grow bulb-like roots called rhizomes so will need quite a large pot to really thrive and grow. This also means they are drought tolerant as they store water in their rhizomes so they won’t mind if you go away for a few weeks!

Find out more in our ZZ Plant care guide.