Most people plant a single houseplant in a pot, but can you grow houseplants together in the same pot? The answer is YES. As a matter of fact, multiple houseplants in one container add some extra glam to a room. The key is to combine companion houseplants that suit one another.
Can you grow different houseplants together in the same container?
Multiple houseplants can be planted in one container. In the garden, we regularly combine different plants together. There are, of course, a few rules of thumb about houseplant container mixing.
Houseplants in one container should share the same growing conditions. For instance, it wouldn’t work very well to combine a cactus with a fern. Many types of succulent plants, however, are right at home with cactus or other succulents.
Benefits of houseplant container mixing
A single ficus in a corner or a hanging fern are nice but combining similar houseplants with the ficus or fern makes a statement. The combination becomes a focal point. Plants can be combined to accent colors in a room, tall plants can be grouped together to draw the eye upward, different textures and colors add drama, and trailing plants create movement.
What are companion houseplants?
Companion plants are those that have similar light, nutrition, and water requirements. As mentioned, it would never work to plant a cactus and a fern together. The cactus likes a long, dry, cool winter dormancy, but the fern wants low light and consistently moist soil.
There are also some allelopathic plants, such as Kalanchoe daigremontiana, that make the soil they are growing in toxic. Luckily, most houseplants are quite resilient and will pair up nicely together.
Most of the usual houseplant candidates for companion planting such as philodendrons, scheffleras, peace lilies, etc., all tolerate or even like average light, humidity and water, so could all be combined in a pot. Throw in a dracaena for height and some coleus for color, and you’ve got an eye-catching arrangement.
If you can’t seem to find plants with the exact same requirements, you can grow your grouping in individual pots that are nestled in a basket. As time goes on and the plants grow, they may need to be repotted and moved to another place, but in the meantime, you have an interesting combination with the benefit of being able to individually water and fertilize. Just remember that the plants need to share the same light requirements.
Be creative and select different growing habits from upright to cascading, different textures, and different colors. For example, tuck in some annual bloomers for a spot of color, knowingl that their time will be up at some point, but enjoy them nonetheless.
Usually, only one tall plant is needed for a combination pot and it should be put to the back center of the container. Trailing or cascading plants should be planted at the edges of the pot. Think of the tallest plant as the top of a pyramid and plant accordingly around this.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to try different combinations, just do a little research first. Even with the best knowledge, sometimes plants don’t get along.
