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Indoor Plant Care

Find Out What Your Plant Needs

Care guides for 157 houseplant species and topics, and pet-toxicity checks for 83 plants. Every claim cites a primary source: the ASPCA, NC State Extension, UC IPM. Edited by Thomas Joseph.

People often start with yellow leaves, fungus gnats, root rot or whether pothos is toxic to cats. Don’t know what you have? Identify it from a photo.

PothosEpipremnum aureum
  • Bright indirect
  • Dry between waterings
  • Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA)
Read the pothos guide

Plants A to Z

Every guide opens with the same three answers: how much light, how to water and whether the plant is toxic to cats and dogs. The source for each pet verdict is in parentheses.

  • Direct sun for part of the day
  • Bright, indirect light
  • Low light or shade

What’s Wrong With My Plant?

Not sure which of these you’re looking at? The diagnostic asks two or three questions and sends you to the right guide.

Start the diagnostic

Leaves and roots

Pests

Is It Toxic to My Cat or Dog?

Look up any of 83 houseplants. Verdicts come from the ASPCA’s database, or from NC State Extension and other sources where the ASPCA has no entry. Each answer names its source.

If your pet ate part of a plant, call your vet or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435. A consultation fee may apply.

Peace Lily

Spathiphyllum

Toxic to cats and dogs

Signs: Oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing.

Source: ASPCA

Read the full answer

How Bright Is the Spot?

Hold a hand above a sheet of white paper where the plant will sit, and look at the shadow. It’s a rough check; a light meter gives an actual number.

  • Very low light

    No shadow at all. 25–75 foot-candles.

  • Low light

    A soft, blurry shadow. 75–200 foot-candles.

  • Bright indirect

    A defined shadow with soft edges. 200–500 foot-candles.

  • Direct sun

    A sharp, hard-edged shadow. 1,000+ foot-candles.

Foot-candle bands per NC State Extension (25–75) and Clemson Extension (75 and up), the same bands the light meter calculator uses. The shadow descriptions are a rough guide; Iowa State Extension describes bright, indirect light as bright enough to cast a distinctive shadow.

Have a reading from a light meter or a phone app? Convert lux or foot-candles to a light level.

Three Picks Worth the Money

As an Amazon Associate, Indoor Plant Care earns from qualifying purchases. Gear pages include Amazon affiliate links.

All gear guides

Get the Free Troubleshooting Reference

A printable PDF for working out what’s wrong with a plant: yellow leaves, brown tips, wilting, pests, watering and light. Cited against ASPCA and NC State. Then five short lessons across your first month. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.

PDF arrives within a minute. Unsubscribe anytime.

What the emails cover

  1. Day 0Glad you’re here
  2. Day 3Three houseplant problems to catch early
  3. Day 7Your plant isn’t sad. It’s starving for light.
  4. Day 14Stop watering on a schedule. Do this instead.
  5. Day 21A potting mix that drains, and four pests to know
  6. Day 30When something looks off, start here

Who Writes This

Thomas Joseph, editor

Thomas Joseph edits indoorplantcare.com. The guides are researched and drafted with AI tools, then checked against the primary sources cited on each page — university extensions, Kew's Plants of the World Online, UC IPM, and the ASPCA for pet toxicity. If something here is wrong, tell me and I'll correct it and note the date.

20 primary sources cited site-wide.

Frequently Asked

Who writes indoorplantcare.com?

Thomas Joseph edits indoorplantcare.com. The guides are researched and drafted with AI tools, then checked against the primary sources cited on each page — university extensions, Kew's Plants of the World Online, UC IPM, and the ASPCA for pet toxicity. If something here is wrong, tell me and I'll correct it and note the date.

How do I know your plant toxicity information is accurate?

Every toxicity verdict on this site names its source. Most cite the ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants database directly. Where ASPCA has no standalone entry, I cite NC State Plant Toolbox or the Missouri Botanical Garden instead. Every guide was fact-checked against its sources on October 12, 2026, and errors are corrected when reported.

What is the best indoor plant for beginners?

Pothos and snake plant are the two species I recommend most often for first-time plant owners. Both tolerate low light, both forgive irregular watering, and both propagate easily. The honest tradeoff: both are toxic to cats and dogs per ASPCA, so cat households should consider spider plant or parlor palm instead.

How often should I water my houseplants?

It depends on the plant, pot, light, and season. The watering frequency calculator on this site gives a rough starting point. Iowa State Extension advises checking the soil instead of watering on a schedule: if it is dry down an inch or two, water; if it is wet or damp, wait. Succulents and snake plants need the soil to dry out between waterings.

Is this site monetized?

Yes. Gear pages contain Amazon affiliate links. I have not tested the products myself; picks are based on manufacturer specifications and what the cited extension sources say a plant needs. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See the full affiliate disclosure linked in the footer.