G87-837-A

Guide to Selecting House Plants

• How To Determine Light Intensity
• Scientific Name Index

Success with a plant largely depends on the environment you provide. Determine where in your home you want plants, then note the environment of that site. Check this chart for a list of suitable plants. Finally, from this latter list, select plants whose texture, form, height, and color suit your taste and chosen design.

How To Determine Light Intensity

If you don't have a light meter with a foot candle scale, you can use a camera with a built in light meter. To obtain light intensity for a proposed house plant location, set film speed dial to ASA100 and aim camera at a white sheet of paper or cardboard. Locate white paper or cardboard in the proposed plant location. Be sure not to block light from paper or cast a shadow while recording the light intensity. The shutter speed reading opposite F stop 4 will give the approximate light intensity in foot candles. For example, if the F stop calls for 1/60 second exposure, the light intensity is 60 foot candles.

Common Name	Botanical Name (genus)	Water Requirement	Humidity	Light	Temp.	Soil
African Violet	Saintpaulia	M	H	M-H	W	H
Airplane or Spiderplant	Chlorophytum	M	H	M-H	T	L
			_	_	_	_
Aluminum Plant	Plea	M	H	M	T-W	L
Amaryllis	Hippeastrum	M	H	VH	T	L
Aralia	Fatsia	M	H	M-H	C	L
Artillery Plant	Pilea	M	H	M	C	L
Asparagus Fern	Asparagus	M	H	L-M	T	L
Avocado	Persea	M	H	H-VH	T-W	L
Baby Tears	Helxine	M	H-VH	M	T	H
Begonia	Begonia	_	_	_	_	_
Fibrous Rooted	_	M	H	H	T	H
Rex	_	M	H	M	C	H
Bromeliads	_	_	_	_	_	_
Living Vase	Aechmea	I	H	H	T	H
Pineapple	Ananas	I	H-VH	VH	T	H
Starlite	Cryptanthus	M	H-VH	M-H	T	H
Cacti	Many genera	D	L	H-VH	T	SL
Caladium	Caladium	M	H	M	W	H
Cast Iron Plant	Aspidistra	M	L	L-M	T-W	L
Chinese Evergreen	Aglaonema	M	H	L-M	T-W	L
Citrus	Citrus	_	_	_	_	_
Calamondin	_	M	L	VH	T	L
Lemon	_	M	L	VH	T	L
Orange	_	M	L	VH	T	L
Coffee	Coffea	M	M	VH	W	L
Coleus	Coleus	M	L-M	VH	T-W	L
Copperleaf	Acalypha	M	L	VH	T-W	L
Croton	Codiaeum	M	M	VH	T	L
Dieffenbachia or	Dieffenbachia	D	L	L-M	T-W	L
Dumbcane	_	_	_	_	_	_
Dracaena	Dracaena	M	H	L-M	T-W	L
Episcia	Episcia	M	H	M-H	W	L
False Aralia	Dizygotheca	M	H	M	T-W	L
Ferns	_	_	_	_	_	_
Birdsnest	Asplenium	M	VH	L	T	H
Boston	Nephrolepis	M	VH	L-M	T	H
Fluffy Ruffles	Nephrolepis	M	VH	L-M	T	H
Figs	Ficus	_	_	_	_	_
Creeping	_	M	H	M-H	T	L
Fiddle Leaf	_	M	L-H	M-H	T	L
Indian Laurel	_	M	H	M-H	T	L
Rubber Plant	_	M	L-H	M-H	T	L
Weeping	_	M	H	M-H	T	L
Geranium	Pelargonium	D	L-H	VH	C-T	L
Goldust Plant	Aucuba	D	H	L-M-H	C	L
Grape Ivy	Cissus	M	H	L-M	W	L
Hawaiian Ti	Cordyline	M	H	L-M-H	W	L
Heather	Erica	M	VH	H	T	L
Impatiens	_	I	H	VH	T	H
Ivy	Hedera	M	H	H	C-T	L
Kangaroo Vine or Ivy	Cissus	M	H	L-M-H	T	L
Moses in the Cradle	Rhoeo	M	H	M-H	T	L
Mother-in-law Tongue	Sansevieria	I	L	L-M-H-VH	T-W	L
Nephthytis	Syngonium	M	L	L-M	T	L
Nerve Plant	Fittonia	M	L-H	L-M	T-W	L
Norfolk Island Pine	Araucaria	M	H	M-H	C-T	L
Palms	_	_	_	_	_	_
Bamboo	Chamaedorea	M	L	L-M	T	L
Kentia	Howeia	M	L	L-M-H	T	L
Lady	Raphis	M	L	M	T	L
Parlor	Chamaedorea	D	L	L	T	L
Parlor or German Ivy	Senecio	M	H	M	C-T	L
Peperomia	Peperomia	D	H	L-M	T-W	L
Philodendron	Philodendron	M	H-VH	L-M	T-W	L
Piggyback Plant	Tolmiea	M	H	L-M-H	C-T	L
Pittosporum or Variegated Mock Orange	Pittosporum	M	H	VH	T	L
Pony Tail Palm	Beaucarnea	I	L	M-H	T-W	L
Pothos, Devils Ivy	Scindapsus	M	H	L-M-H	T-W	L
Prayer Plant	Maranta	M	H	M	T-W	L
Strawberry Geranium	Saxifraga	D	L	VH	T	SL
Strawberry Begonia
Succulents	_	_	L	VH	T	SL
Century	Agave	D	L	VH	T	SL
Aloe	Aloe	D	L	VH	T	SL
Jade Plant	Crassula	D	H	M-H	T	L
Donkey's Tail	Sedum	D	L	VH	T	SL
Swedish Ivy	Plectranthus	D	H	M-H	T-W	L
Umbrella Tree or Schefflera	Brassaia	D	H	M-H	T-W	L
			_	_	_	_
Velvet Plant	Gynura	M	H	M-H	W	L
Wandering Jew	Tradescantia	I	L	M-H	T	L
	Zebrina	M	H	M-H	T-W	L
Wax Plant	Hoya	I	H	M-H	T	L
Zebra Plant	Aphelandra	M	L	M-H	T-W	H

The following guide will identify letters used in the different columns:

• W. Water requirements:
  • (M) Keep uniformly moist - growing media kept moist to touch, but not saturated with water.
  • (I) Intermediate - after watering, allow soil to feel dry to touch before rewatering.
  • (D) Dry out between waterings periods of soaking between which the soil should be completely dry.

• H. Humidity:
  • (L) Low - 30-45 percent (average home)
  • (H) High - 45-60 percent (greenhouse)
  • (VH) Very High - 60 percent (greenhouse)

• L. Light level:
  • (L) Low - minimum 25-50 F.C. (10-15 F.C. amount needed to read a newspaper), optimum 75-200 F.C.
  • (M) Medium - minimum 75-100 F.C. (100-150 F.C. cast faint shadows), optimum 200-500 F.C.
  • (H) High - minimum 200 F.C., optimum 500-1000 F.C.
  • (VH) Very High - minimum 1000 F.C., optimum 2000-5000 F.C.

• I. Temperature:
  • (W) Warm, 62-65°F. night, 80-85°F. day
  • (T) Temperate, 50-55°F. night, 65-70°F. day
  • (C) Cool, 40-45°F. night, 55-60°F. day

• S. Soil:
  • (L) Loam
  • (SL) Sandy Loam
  • (H) High Organic

Scientific Name Index

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kenneth R. Bolen, Director of Cooperative Extension, University of Nebraska, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension educational programs abide with the non-discrimination policies of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.