A houseplant vine can become curtains on a window, or add a layer of texture to a bare brick wall, or inject life into a sterile, tiled bathroom—if only you can convince it to actually grow indoors. Some will climb. Others will trail. Here’s a guide to growing and training our favorite vines to behave like happy houseplants.
Living plants help to purify the air and an indoor vine plant can extend throughout a room to help occupants breathe easier day and night.
Love growing plants indoors? Some of the best indoor vines that are easy to grow are listed here.
Betel Leaf Plant
This indoor vine plant is native to India and it produces heart-shaped leaves that look like they have been coated with wax. The plant is a member of the pepper family and the leaves are prized for their medicinal and culinary uses.
Betel leaf is a slow-growing vine that produces mildly scented white flowers in the spring. The vine will reach about 3 feet in length when mature. Place potted planted in a low-light location that is out of the way of drafts and air conditioning vents. This vine plant likes warm temperatures that won’t dip below 50F. If betel leaf gets too cold it will drop its leaves.
Keep soil moist and feed vine every other month. Leaves can be harvested when the plant is 6 months old.
Heartleaf Philodendron
Heartleaf philodendron will reach a mature length of 4 feet and the plant will need to be pinched back occasionally to keep it looking full. Pinch after a leaf node (the place where a leaf is attached to the stem). A new stem will grow from that node and more heart-shaped leaves will be produced on this indoor vine plant.
Place plant in a bright location but not in direct sunlight. Keep soil moist from spring through fall, but reduce water during the winter months. This indoor vine plant loves humidity and is an ideal house plant to place in the bathroom.
Pothos
Plants of the pothos family are easiest to grow and most of them can even grow without direct sunlight. They become great houseplants for beginners. Attractive and hardy vine prefers bright indirect light and a draft free place. It can grow in low light and needs moist soil.
Ivies
There’s a logic to the idea that English ivy will do well indoors. After all, it takes over in the garden if given half a chance. And yet ivies often suffer in modern homes, because they aren’t suited to the warm temperatures and dry air found within.
Tree ivy is a cross between English ivy, Hedera helix, and Japanese aralia Fatsia japonica. Like traditional ivy, it won’t do well in centrally heated rooms, especially in winter, but is ideal for a cool conservatory or covered porch.
Cape ivy and German ivy are the ivy-lookalikes to grow if you don’t like to live in an icebox, as they’re both much better adapted to average room temperatures and humidity levels. Just bear in mind that German ivy is considered an invasive weed in many parts of the world, so don’t go planting it outside.
Black-Eyed Susan Vine
This flowering vine is so easy to grow indoors in a hanging basket, all it needs is a little water and a lot of sunshine. It’s easy to train to grow vertically also and will wrap itself around any vertical structure.
The vine will reach a mature length of 8 feet and grows best in loamy, slightly acidic soil that drains well. This fast-growing vine needs plenty of water but dislikes soggy soil
This is one of the best climbing plants to grow indoors if you want bloom color. Black-eyed Susan vine will produce blooms all summer in white, yellow, red, or orange.
Hoya Vine
The hoya vine has beautiful waxy foliage, produces fragrant flowers, and is super easy to grow indoors. The trailing stems of this indoor vine plant will reach one foot in length along with clusters of aromatic waxy flowers when the plant is mature.
The large waxy leaves hold water so this plant needs very little water to grow. Place plant in a bright location but not in direct sunlight. Hoya is fast growing and will produce blooms when less than one year old.
Jasmine Vine Plant
This hard-working indoor vine plant gives you a fast-growing green vine, white flowers, and a delightful fragrance. Blooms appear on this house plant in mid-winter and produce the strongest fragrance at night.
Jasmine grows best in a porous soil mix that contains compost and tree bark. Place the plant in a south-facing window so it will receive bright, indirect light. Feed every month during the growing season. Water when the top of soil becomes dry.
Creeping Fig
It’s a slow-growing creeper with small, leathery dark green foliage. Vigorous-growing, clinging, dense branches adhere to any surface and look enchanting. Be careful not to overwater creeping fig. Let the soil dry out before watering.