15 Easiest Vines to Grow Indoors
You’d love to see your home covered in more greenery, which is why you’re looking for the easiest vines to grow indoors. This list I’ve put together for you will sprout up and stretch out quickly & without much effort on your part.
What are the easiest vines to grow indoors? The easiest vines to grow indoors are:
- String of pearls
- Inch plant
- Creeping fig
- Hoya
- Purple heart
- Black-eyed Susan vine
- Pothos
- Arrowhead plant
- Burro’s tail
- Jasmine
- English ivy
- Betel leaf plant
- Heartleaf philodendron
- Maidenhair vine
I’ll be elaborating on each of the 15 vines listed above, including tips on how to grow & care for them, specifically as indoor plants. You’re not going to want to miss it!
15 Easiest Vines to Grow as Houseplants
String of Pearls
Since you’re looking for a fast-growing and appealing vine to plant at home, the string of pearls is a great pick to start with. The Senecio rowleyanus got such a name because the vines have small little growths that resemble pearls or beads.
The unique look of this houseplant makes it one you’re not going to want to skip having in your indoor garden.
Given its delicate appearance, you should take special care with your string of pearls. Overwatering can kill it, as can failing to provide bright or filtered shade. If the string of pearl’s crown is more than an inch deep in its pot or hanging basket, the stems and the crown itself will often rot.
Also, avoid putting your vine near any west or south-facing windows, as the string of pearls can get scorched from strong doses of direct sunlight.
Inch Plant
The inch plant also goes by another name you might be more familiar with: the wandering Jew. Sometimes referred to as the Tradescantia zebrina, the inch plant grows teardrop-shaped leaves with pointed edges in a vivid lavender hue.
You also get some versatility with this indoor plant, as it’s just as much at home in a pot on a counter as it is in a hanging basket. Of course, for the most growth, we recommend growing your plant in a hanging basket. The inch plant, despite its name, will poof out considerably, looking lush and full.
From low light to medium light and even bright light, the inch plant can handle them all. That said, overexposure to low light can take a toll on the health of this houseplant with time. A windowsill makes a good enough home for the inch plant, as some direct light won’t burn the leaves.
Creeping Fig
If you’re looking for a real climbing houseplant, it’s got to be the creeping fig. People also call the Ficus pumila the climbing fig because of its propensity to adhere to whatever surface is closest.
The coolest part of owning this plant is you don’t have to tie it down anywhere. The creeping fig attaches to surfaces with its sucker arms. It can grip to metal, stone, concrete, and wood no problem.
Although it takes upwards of two years to happen, your creeping fig can grow 40 feet upwards. It then begins moving outwards. You can help this fig along by providing moist soil that never gets oversaturated with water.
To tell if it’s time to water, do the fingertip test, where you place your finger on the surface of the soil. If it’s dry, then sprinkle the creeping fig’s soil with water. You should also provide a healthy amount of indirect but bright light for this indoor vine.
Hoya
Add a dash of the tropical to your indoor garden (or should we say jungle at this point?) with the hoya. Originally grown in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, China, India, and parts of Asia, the hoya has also spread to Australia, New Guinea, Polynesia, and the Philippines.
Depending on the species, the hoya has all sorts of different looks. For instance, some can even grow little pink or dark maroon flowers!
If you hate changing your indoor plant’s pot, you won’t have to so often with the hoya. It can stay put in the same pot for a couple of years. That makes it an ideal pick for beginner gardeners. You will have to get into a fertilizing schedule, though, especially in the warmer months.
The biggest hoya killer is overwatering, so watch out.
IF YOU TEND TO OVER WATER (A.K.A. OVER LOVE) YOUR PLANTS, I ‘D SUGGEST ADDING PERLITE OR PUMICE TO THE SOIL, AS THIS CAN AIDE IN DRAINAGE.
Purple Heart
We talked about the inch plant just a moment ago. This often has purple foliage. Well, if you want more purple in your indoor garden, then you must grow the Tradescantia pallida or the purple heart. In fact, it’s very close to the wandering Jew, as they’re both Tradescantia houseplants.
The difference is the purple heart is a spiderwort. Besides its vivid if not simple teardrop-shaped leaves, some purple heart plants will sprout pretty flowers. These too are purple, because why wouldn’t they be?
If given the room to grow, the purple heart will spread its purple leaves far and wide. Use commercial potting soil when planting purple heart in your indoor garden. Giving this plant a mix of partial and full sun allows it to maintain its vivid color.
You will have to fertilize too, doing this monthly with your favorite general-purpose liquid fertilizer.
Black-Eyed Susan Vine
You’ve probably heard of the black-eyed Susan, a sunflower, but what about the black-eyed Susan vine? It’s not quite the same, as the Thunbergia alata grows smaller flowers with black centers. These may be yellow, but they can also be white, orange, pale pink, or red depending on the variety.
This perennial plant loves climbing, so we hope you have the room for it. The black-eyed Susan vine can get up to eight feet when fully mature!
Keep the vines of this indoor plant moist with water, but don’t water too much, as saturated soil could spell the end for your black-eyed Susan vine.
What some indoor gardeners will do is mulch the plant’s base, as this maintains root moisture and coolness. Give this vine full sunlight. In the summer, when growth may occur at a much more rapid rate, make sure you fertilize at least every month.
Pothos
You may remember having read it on this blog, but the pothos also goes by the name devil’s ivy. This Araceae family member, scientifically called the Epipremnum aureum, has healthy green foliage that will really add to that jungle look you’re going for in your home or apartment.
The leaves are large and tear-drop shaped. They will spill out over a pot’s base if that’s where you grow your pothos. They seem to grow just as well, if not better, in a hanging basket.
Indoors, you can expect your pothos to grow between six and 10 feet long at maturity. It’s also not unheard of for the devil’s ivy to be up to 30 feet long outdoors.
Potting soil will make the pothos happy, but the soil must drain well. Place this houseplant somewhere where it can get bright but indirect light and you’ll see those vines quickly get longer and longer each week.
Arrowhead Plant
With its big, bulky, triangular-shaped leaves, the arrowhead plant or Syngonium podophyllum can add some intrigue to your collection of indoor plants. As the leaves of this aroid begin growing, you’ll notice they look like arrows.
This evergreen can be three to six feet long, but indoors, you can expect more reasonable growth.
When selecting a potting mix for the arrowhead plant, choose one that drains well and has a rich consistency. This indoor vine does not like temperatures any lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so watch your thermostat.
Bright light is fine for the arrowhead plant, but avoid direct exposure to the sun unless you have a variegated arrowhead. To augment its growth, use liquid fertilizer.
Burro’s Tail
We started this list with the string of pearls, an indoor vine with a look that can’t be beat. Well, except maybe by the burro’s tail or Sedum morganianum. Affectionally called the donkey’s tail, this thick, dangling plant is a succulent with a slight blue-ish tint to its green fleshly leaves. Oh, and did we mention the burro’s tail can get up to 24 inches long?
Burro’s tail sometimes develops flowers in hues of red and pink, but only during the summertime.
Like most vines, you’ll have to watch your watering habits so you don’t overdo it. If you maintain even moisture throughout, then you’re doing just fine.
Remember, the burro’s tail is a succulent, so it can go longer without water than you’d think. Make sure you use a succulent container or a hanging basket to see your burro’s tail grow big and beefy.
Jasmine
We’ve talked about the jasmine a few times on this blog. After all, it has some of the most fragrant flowers around, making it one very desirable houseplant. If you want more of those flowers, then let the jasmine stretch its legs, so to speak, and grow its lengthy vines. Although it’s a bit skinnier than some of the other climbing vines on our list, the jasmine vine can get up to 15 feet tall, with a width of seven feet and a height of four feet. Each year, it can grow between 12 and 24 inches. Impressive!
While you can guess the watering requirements for the jasmine vine, it does have some other aspects to its care that are somewhat different. For instance, you’ll have to watch out for critters like aphids, which are attracted to your growing plant. You also must prune the plant every year before spring arrives to keep it tidy. Use a water-soluble, acidic fertilizer for the jasmine vine instead of a liquid one.
English Ivy
The English ivy or Hedera helix is no stranger to this blog, that’s for sure. This evergreen perennial will grow in seemingly the blink of an eye. It doesn’t even stop in the winter if it’s outside. If given enough time, the English ivy can get to be 30 meters long, which is somewhere in the ballpark of about 99 feet. Yes, it’s huge.
Again, you won’t get to half that length indoors, but that’s probably for the best. To get your English ivy ready to grow, grow, grow, you’ll have to make sure you only use soft water.
This type of water can ward off spider mites, an unwanted insect that loves to get deep into English ivy. Keep your watering to no more than once every week. Even in the winter, the soil should stay moist, but you can always do the fingertip test to confirm.
Betel Leaf Plant
Giving the philodendron a run for its money, the betel leaf plant belongs to the Piperaceae family along with the kava and pepper. It’s totally edible, but that’s not to say it has the most welcoming flavor.
It tastes of medicine, it’s hot, and it’s bitter. Despite all that, the betel leaves are used in ceremonies like weddings, New Year’s celebrations, and more in some parts of the world.
You don’t have to eat your betel leaf plant if you don’t want to. Instead, you can always step back and appreciate its bright green coloring and waxy texture. Check that you have the right soil before planting your betel leaf, as it needs sandy-loamy and acidic soil that drains very well. The betel leaf plant will survive in the winter if stored in your home or office, but make sure you keep your indoor temps no lower than 41 degrees. That shouldn’t be too hard considering you’d like to stay warm, too.
Heartleaf Philodendron
One of the most beautiful houseplants around, we’ve written about the philodendron countless times. It’s hard not to, with its dark green, glossy, and oversized leaves. When you plant your heartleaf philodendron in a hanging basket, its vines will lengthen faster with gravity helping them along, and those leaves that dangle everywhere will give your house a tropical or jungle feel.
If you’re the impatient type, like me, I highly recommend getting a philodendron. You can actually notice the growth on a weekly basis.
The leaves may get up to four inches indoors. To help with that growth, make sure you pinch the philodendron’s stem with your fingers every now and again. This prevents the stem from growing long and lonely. Now, it will have smaller branches and more philodendron leaves with time.
To correctly force it to grow fuller, put your fingers before or after the area where the stem connects to the leaf, also known as the leaf node, and pinch there.
Maidenhair Vine
You’ve heard of the maidenhair fern, but the maidenhair vine is different. It has such nicknames as the wire vine, the necklace wine, the mattress vine, and the angel vine. It grows mostly in New Zealand, but you can have your own Muehlenbeckia complexa with a bit of time, patience, and love.
The maidenhair vine can grow two to three feet wide and six to eight inches tall. It favors medium light and temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees.
When you feel dry soil, it’s time to water. Unlike a lot of the other plants on this list, you can skip the fertilizing altogether. If you feel like doing it (and the maidenhair vine would appreciate it), then please use houseplant fertilizer in the warm months only.
Can pothos live in water?
While a lot of indoor vines get persnickety about too much water, the pothos is not one of them. If you don’t have any soil, you can grow this indoor vine in water. You must add liquid fertilizer so the pothos gets the nutrients it needs. A vase or a jar should contain your pothos at the beginning, but you may have to upgrade its container as it gets bigger.
The water you get from the tap is fine for the pothos, although you might want to do a chlorine test before planting yours. Too much chlorine isn’t good for the pothos or any houseplant, really.
How do you drain hanging plants indoors?
Hanging plants sure are lovely, especially when they’re dangling vines. The question is, where does the water go in a hanging basket after you water your houseplants? Does it drain and drip on your carpet? That doesn’t sound very fun for you.
That’s exactly what could happen, but it doesn’t have to. You’ll need a drip tray or any dish that can catch water runoff. Then, place it beneath your houseplant. Just remember to dump the dish or tray often to avoid overflow.
