Gardeners typically love the feeling of soil on their bare hands, but if you’d rather keep your fingers clean, don’t despair! You can exercise your green thumb this season without ending up with dirt under your nails.
Here are 5 easy and beautiful plants that can grow without soil
Lucky Bamboo
Despite its name, lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) isn’t actually bamboo at all. Rather, it’s a decorative houseplant known for its near indestructibility. These plants can thrive in soil, but most gardeners choose to grow them hydroponically. All you need is a glass of water at least an inch deep and a support system of gravel (or some other medium) to keep the plants standing straight.
Orchids
Most tropical orchids are epiphytes, meaning they grow on other plants instead of in soil. But orchids and other epiphytes aren’t parasitic; their roots are covered in a squishy membrane that sucks up water from the atmosphere. Many orchids sold as houseplants come in a planting medium, such as moss or stones, but they will grow just as easily on a piece of bark once their roots take hold
Spanish Moss
With its drooping, gray-green tendrils, Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) evokes humid summer days and the romance of southern climes. The plant often grows from trees, absorbing water and nutrients from the atmosphere, but with proper care it can also grow indoors. To maintain Spanish moss as a houseplant, mist it with water at least twice a week and fertilize it with high-phosphorus liquid fertilizer every two weeks. Any Spanish moss gathered from the wild will be infested with small insects, so if you want to grow it indoors, purchase plants from a trusted supplier.
Paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta)
Paperwhites are a variety of daffodil that can be forced from bulbs indoors during the winter. These fragrant plants will gladly grow in nothing more than water and some pebbles. Thanks to their white and yellow blooms, cheerful paperwhites will buoy you up over those cold, gray months.
Air Plants (Tillandsias)
Members of the genus Tillandsia, air plants are exactly what they sound like: plants that grow in air instead of soil. More than 650 varieties exist, displaying an immense variety of foliage and colorful blooms. The leaves of air plants grow in a rosette formation, which helps the plants gather water and nutrients from the environment. When displayed as houseplants, they’re typically placed in decorative dishes or mounted.
