Useful house plants ?

[sarahkeast]

Looking for a few suggestions of things to grow in a big space I have just cleared in my living room after selling a book case.

Pretty good light [large window and full glass door]
High traffic area [teens, dog, cats]
Tall would be good, not too wide
Smelling nice, cleaning air, generally useful
Not too expensive

Oh and I kill house plants pretty well !

Wondering if I could blag it with some annuals on a trellis or something ? got some sweet peas started.

[wabbit955]

how about a coffee plant had mine 5 years now which is very good for me indoor plant never normal last long with me
looks good still not got any coffee but there still hope easy to keep in shape to

[Paul_C]

an indoor lemon tree?

[Odsox]

Tomatoes ?

[Ellendra]

Aloe and sweet potato both grow well indoors. You could grow the sweet potato vines up a trellis.

[trinder]

I can really recommend Aloe Vera. They are rather like cacti to look at and actually only need the same care but they are not at all prickly . Not too much light needed or water and they are very forgiving if you forget to water for a week. But most of all they are the most soothing on any burn. Absolute instant easing of the pain of sunburn or oven.

[Green Aura]

Figs are relatively easy to grow, we've got a White Marseilles which seems to be a bit more delicate (looking, not requiring more attention) and has pale green and white figs. Brown Turkey is the more commonly grown variety.

Oh and it get's as tall as you like! We saw one at the Hydroponicum which had grown to roof height and then crawled along at ceiling height through 3 or 4 enormous greenhouses

[Odsox]

Thanks for that suggestion Maggie.
I had a fig growing in my greenhouse, but it go so big and produced so many figs (literally bushels) that it had to go ... and I miss it.
I'd never thought about growing one in a big pot in the conservatory.

[the.fee.fairy]

Spider plants! They clean the air, are pretty impossible to kill and multiply pretty quickly too! We had one in our bathroom for years on end. It was almost never watered and threw out babies, so it made the perfect hanging plant.

Money plants are really nice too. And difficult to kill. They reproduce from the smallest bit of the plant, so if a leaf falls off, it will grow a new plant from the bit of leaf on the soil. They grow quite big if you give them a big pot to grow in.

Areca (palm or fern, I can never remember) is nice. it grows tall and green and cleans the air.

Bamboo is nice to grow if you want something tall. Buy one with leaves on the top that hasn't had the top cut off (you can tell if you look at the top of the stick - if it has wax on it, it won't grow any bigger).

I've grown all of the above with no problems, and I'm the only person I know who has killed 2 aloe veras...I think I overwater them...

[DebbieP]

How about a cheese plant? My sister and brother in law had one that lasted years and I don't think they had to do much to maintain it, just tried to remember to water it occasionally!

I've been growing some Bird of Paradise plants - I've grown them from seed, but you don't have to, you can just buy one ready-started :D They love the sunlight and though they take a long time til they first flower, they are stunning and unusual plants.

[boboff]

Morrisons are doing two Lollipop Bay trees for £40 ( £30 each ) I know thats expensive but they have got to be 10 years old, and I think thats pretty cheap for something you can eat, doesn't need allot of water etc.

Lidl are doing a planter with a trellis along the back for £30 ish not sure, this with sweets peas, Fresia Bulbs, and maybe a coleus or two for colour would fill up any book shelf sized space. Or Orchids, love orchids, might be a bit sunny mind. Olive tree? I bought a small one for less than £5 last year, and its in my office window now in a big terracotta pot ( Morrison again did a set of 4 really nice ones for £12, sort of buy one get 3 free I thought)

Anyway, completely ruined any ish credentials with my consumerist knowledge, so I am off to raid the cash point!