4 Unique Houseplant Pairings That Just Work – Grow These Gorgeous Varieties Together for Happier Plants

Many people take a random approach to growing houseplants, which is fine. But if you’re more thoughtful and strategic about what you grow, you can enjoy beautiful houseplant combinations that are healthier and look more beautiful than just a single plant in a pot.

Houseplants that grow well together and that complement each other make for more attractive displays. The advantages can go deeper, though. Companion houseplants are great to grow together because they require the same conditions. This makes it easy to provide what they need and keep your houseplants happy, healthy, and beautiful.

Your combinations can be plants in different pots grown close to each other or multiple plants in the same container. If you choose to do the latter, be certain that the plants require the same soil, light, and water conditions and that the pot is big enough to support them. With this in mind, here are some simple planting recipes and houseplant combinations to get you started.

1. The Tropical Jungle

Many of the most popular houseplants are native to tropical jungles. They thrive in low-light conditions, which is ideal for growing indoors. For a tropical-themed display grow monstera, philodendron, and pothos together. All of these plants have similar growing needs, so they make a great combination in one large container or in several pots next to each other.

Choose a tall, upright variety of monstera and let the trailing philodendron and pothos fill in the space around it and drape over the sides. You can find many different varieties of these plants, which makes it fun to mix and match colors, variegation, and leaf sizes.

All of these plants need soil that remains evenly moist, good drainage, and low or filtered light. Place them next to a window with indirect light or a brighter window with light curtains to filter it. Humidity can be an issue indoors, so place the container on a pebble tray filled with water.

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2. The Desert

On the other end of the spectrum of houseplant conditions are those that naturally grow in the desert: cacti and succulents. A good combination includes echeveria, a low-growing succulent; hawthoria, a slightly taller succulent with fleshy blade-shaped leaves; and bunny ears cactus, which is a taller cactus with the characteristic ear-shaped leaves.

These indoor cacti and succulent varieties all grow well in shallow, wide containers with good drainage. Use a light soil that drains very well. A specific cactus or succulent potting mix, like this one from Miracle-Gro, is ideal. Water deeply, but very infrequently and place these plants together near a bright, sunny window.

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3. The Low-Maintenance Mix

Most of the plants in these recipes are low-maintenance, but this group is comprised of particularly easy-to-grow houseplants: snake plant, ZZ plant, and pothos or phildendron. It’s a great combination for anyone new to growing houseplants.

Snake plant is a tall, upright plant with variegated sword-shaped leaves. The ZZ plant is upright and branched with small, oval leaves. Add in a pothos or philodendron for a trailing element and another very easy plant.

All of these plants are known for being tolerant of neglect and being hard to kill. They need soil that drains well and low or indirect light. Although they can survive periods without water, ideally you should water them deeply once every few weeks.

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4. The Pop of Color

Many houseplants have unique and even variegated foliage, but typically in shades of green. It's typically harder to grow flowering plants indoors. But with this attractive combination, you can get pops of color with easy-to-grow houseplants.

The nerve plant is a small tropical species with dark green leaves and contrasting veins. Look for varieties with red or pink veins for added drama. Syngonium, or arrowhead vine, can climb or trail and has arrow-shaped leaves that may be golden, pink, white, green, or variegated. Prayer plant is a low grower with leaves that fold at night, like hands in prayer. You can find many varieties of prayer plant with unique colors. A really colorful houseplant option from the prayer plant family is triostar stromanthe, which has pink, white, and green leaves.

All of these plants thrive in lower light and love humidity. Syngonium needs less moisture in its soil, so consider growing it in a separate container that you can place near the others. Let syngonium dry out more between waterings, but keep the soil in the others consistently moist.

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Use these houseplant recipes as a starting point to get creative. The most important factor is to grow plants together that need the same conditions. This will make it much easier to keep your whole houseplant family healthy, happy, and thriving.