9 Plants You Should Never Grow Indoors

Not every plant loves growing inside your home. Many plants are tropical in origin, so they don’t like the low humidity levels that are typical indoors, especially in winter. Others have little patience for conditions that aren’t identical to their native environments. Some plants also need much more light than we can offer on even the sunniest window sill.

A few plants get ginormous, eventually becoming gangly and unattractive once mature. And many plants are prone to pest issues indoors. Finally, there are the plants that are supposed to be easy to grow but that just struggle and look sad.

We all have different growing conditions indoors, which means you may find that some of the plants on our list actually do well for you. In that case, more power to your green thumb! It’s also fine to experiment with bringing in your favorite outdoor plants to see how they do.

But let’s be honest: There’s no shame in knowing when to call it quits. If an indoor plant doesn’t look good for any reason (too sparse! too big! too ugly!), give yourself permission to toss it. We promise it’s okay to practice a little tough love sometimes.

In general, here are the plants that you should never grow indoors:

Gardenia

With glossy green foliage and fragrant porcelain-white flowers, it’s easy to understand why you may be tempted to grow this much-loved Southern plant indoors. But you’ll need to provide optimal growing conditions for these evergreens, or they’ll quickly drop buds and foliage.

Gardenias need high light and humidity levels. They’re also prone to get spider mites, mealybugs and whiteflies in your warm home. Because it’s tough to give gardenias what they need, save these gorgeous shrubs for your garden, where they’re much more likely to thrive. 

Chrysanthemum

These popular fall flowers, known as hardy chrysanthemums, are cold-hardy perennials. But because they bloom just once per year, you won’t gain anything by bringing them indoors.

Even if you deadhead your hardy mums, they won’t produce new flowers this season.

They’re also not the prettiest plant after they bloom, so save your limited indoor space for plants that are more appealing. In addition, florist mums, which are not cold-hardy, also don’t have a long life indoors and are meant to be enjoyed, then composted when the flowers fade. 

Roses

Roses need six to eight hours of direct sunlight to thrive, which most of us can’t supply indoors. Miniature roses—rather than full-sized shrubs roses—have a better shot at doing okay-ish, but it still can be a struggle because they need warm days, cool nights, and no drafts. Plus, they are prone to aphids and spider mites indoors.  

If you’ve got some extra time, a grow light, and lots of patience, you may have success and enjoy a few blooms. But mostly, roses are more work than they’re worth indoors. Save your roses for your outdoor flower beds and containers. 

Lavender

Native to the Mediterranean, lavender needs 6 or more hours of direct sunlight to thrive. It also prefers temperatures in the 60s during the day and about 10 degrees cooler at night, which isn’t a comfortable range for most people.

Lavender rarely blooms indoors so you won’t get to enjoy its scented flowers, which is one of the main reasons we grow this plant. In general, because it’s difficult to maintain the fine balance of environmental conditions lavender prefers, it’s easier to grow it in your garden. 

Rosemary

Similar to lavender, rosemary needs tons of direct sunlight to thrive. Indoor success requires a bright window sill and constant monitoring of the soil moisture levels. It likes to stay on the dry side, but potted rosemary often dries out too quickly indoors and begins to drop foliage.

For this reason, rosemary often struggles as a houseplant. If you live in a zone where rosemary won’t survive winter and you have a potted rosemary that you would like to save for next year, place it in a sheltered location, such as in an unheated garage or up against the house, where it will receive radiant heat. 

Cacti

Cacti are considered low-maintenance plants because they store water in their leaves and stems so they don’t need frequent watering. However, most cacti need 6 or more hours of direct sunlight, and they aren’t forgiving if they don’t get it. The sharp spines of many types of cacti also aren’t ideal around curious kids and pets. Plus, they’re slow-growing, so the size you buy is what you’ll have for years.

If you’re looking for a more rewarding plant, consider holiday cacti, such as Easter cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, and Christmas cactus, which are native to rainforests and thrive indoors. They have lovely blooms closest to the holidays for which they are named and actually are easy-to-grow plants with long lifespans. 

Tree Philodendron

Philodendrons are super-easy to grow. A popular inexpensive plant, tree philodendron (Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum) is often sold at big box retailers as a small tabletop plant. It’s pretty and sturdy and grows fast. However, after about two years, it may become too wide and gangly for your home. It can quickly reach heights of 8 feet tall and wide!

You can prune off stems to attempt to contain its growth, but it is difficult to keep it looking balanced. The best thing to do is to enjoy it while it’s young, then compost it when it becomes unsightly (but save a cutting to propagate a new plant!). In the Tropical South, however, you can grow this plant outdoors once it becomes too large for your house. 

Boston Fern

A full, lush Boston fern is gorgeous when hanging on a partially-shaded porch. Indoors? It’s usually a nightmare. Boston ferns need high light and high humidity levels, so they’re typically not very content inside your home. They also don’t like drafts and prefer to stay consistently moist so they need constant attention.

If unhappy, Boston ferns will quickly show you their displeasure by dropping fronds. And then dropping some more. And then some more. If you have the right environmental conditions or don’t mind cleaning up a mess every week, these ferns are great. But there are many other types of ferns that are much less finicky indoors, including lemon button fern, crocodile fern, and bird’s nest fern. 

Hydrangea

These stunning shrubs add color, texture, and structure to the landscape. But while you may receive a hydrangea as an indoor gift plant, they’re typically meant to be enjoyed short-term. That’s because they’re difficult to keep alive indoors because they like cooler temperatures and high humidity. They also need a period of dormancy, as they’d experience if they were growing outdoors.

Because it’s iffy getting these to bloom indoors in subsequent years, compost these plants when they fade. You can try planting them outdoors, too, but not all gift hydrangeas (which typically aren’t labeled with a cultivar name) may survive winters in your hardiness zone.