These viral plants are so ugly they're beautiful, and their unique looks have won them countless fans
Thanks to Ins, even though it's blocked,
that still doesn't stop it from setting trends.
For example, it turned beautiful plants like the fiddle-leaf fig, Swiss cheese plant, rubber plant, snake plant, night-blooming cereus and prayer plant into internet sensations.
On Ins, the follower counts of viral plants combined can almost rival the Kardashian family.
Open any domestic home design guide and you'll see these viral plants dominating the front page. If a home enthusiast doesn't have one or two fiddle-leaf figs or Swiss cheese plants at home, they'd be too embarrassed to post photos on WeChat Moments.
Actually, keeping plants at home can accidentally give away your age. If your home still has pothos, a money tree with its trunk braided, or straight hydroponic lucky bamboo, allow me to call you: elder.
The plant influencer world changes faces faster than you can remove your makeup. Some people have already quietly started growing the upgraded viral versions. The Swiss cheese plant is yesterday's news, and the fiddle-leaf fig has lost some of its luster. Still think you're at the forefront of the trend? Don't rush, those upgraded varieties have already come charging in!
The upgraded version of the fiddle-leaf fig
The fiddle-leaf fig itself
Heart-leaf fig
Recommendation rating ★★★★
Vitality rating ★★★
Everyone says the fiddle-leaf fig is the classiest, but compared to its coldness, the heart-leaf fig can give you its heart.
Love is hard to hide, even the plant you grow is shaped like love for you.
It spreads like an umbrella or canopy, with soft bright leaves and elegant, graceful branches, staying the same toward you through all four seasons. Place it beside the sofa for shade.
Bring home a small seedling and you'll marvel at how wildly this thing grows. You can see its growth and changes with the naked eye every day, enjoying the sense of achievement of being a parent watching a seedling quickly become a small tree. Highly recommended.
It loves light and can be placed on the balcony. Rotate the pot once every 15 days so it gets even sunlight!
As for how easy it is to grow, it's about the same as the fiddle-leaf fig! In winter, keep it warm indoors and the temperature must not drop below 5°C. When the surface of the potting soil is dry, water it once.
It's especially suited to Japanese-style homes; just casually place it in a corner and it looks beautiful.
Other upgraded versions:
Fig, golden fig
The fig is also a Ficus tree, with all the advantages the fiddle-leaf fig should have, but it's even easier to grow, and it can let you enjoy delicious fresh figs between August and September.
Its leaves can give off a faint fresh fragrance in summer. You can't resist your cravings; you really wish you could eat figs every year.
The golden fig looks a lot like the rubber plant, except its leaves are bright and clear, giving your home a real summer feel.
They say it can also bring wealth, so hurry and take one home to plant.
The upgraded version of the Swiss cheese plant
The Swiss cheese plant itself
Mini monstera
Recommendation rating ★★★★★
Vitality rating ★★★
These holes really weren't bitten by bugs. The porous shape of the mini monstera is like a series of window openings, very peculiar.
Its leaves are much smaller than the ordinary Swiss cheese plant, and it grows faster. Water once every half month in summer, water sparingly in winter, and water again when the soil surface is dry. Surviving winter at 0°C is no problem.
You can also shape it freely and pretend to be a high-end florist. Like the Swiss cheese plant, its branches and leaves are toxic, so please keep cats and dogs at a distance.
Smaller plants are somewhat upright and can be placed on a coffee table or bathroom counter.
When it grows up it can climb the wall, an indoor version of creeping ivy. Let it grow into a vine form and place it on a desk or shelf to cover the wall.
Other upgraded versions:
Variegated Swiss cheese plant
This isn't albinism; the variegated Swiss cheese plant is just this variety. What's wrong with a little highlighting!
The upgraded version of the snake plant
The snake plant itself, photo from homeowner He Ran at Home
Cylindrical snake plant
Recommendation rating ★★★★
Vitality rating ★★★★
The snake plant is a famous lazy person's plant. Beginners all grow the golden-edged snake plant and the jade snake plant. Advanced growers are secretly growing the cylindrical snake plant!
When it's small it's adorable, and when its hair grows to the waist, braiding it into a plait makes it more beautiful and moving than a money tree. Its leaves are round and plump like wooden sticks, standing upright with pointed tips.
As for the word "easy to grow," Zhai Sir is tired of saying it. It especially loves the sun and doesn't like drinking water. Leave it alone for a month and it still lives just fine. Watering once a month is enough. Grow it for over 3 years and it will even produce surprise flowers.
Place it on a shelf and let it decorate your kitchen and balcony alongside other plant babies.
It pairs especially well with small white tiles. Small plants can go in the kitchen, on the balcony, on the coffee table and by the bedside.
Large plants can be placed in the entryway, or used as a partition for the bedroom or living room.
Other upgraded versions:
White jade snake plant
The white jade snake plant is very fresh and delicate, with white leaves edged in green. It can also bloom, but only once every 6 years.
The upgraded version of the prayer plant
The Calathea orbifolia itself
For those used to a uniform sea of green plants, or friends allergic to pollen, the prayer plant is truly the first choice. Everyone praises its leaves for being so varied in color, as if painted on with a brush?
Mosaic plant
Recommendation rating ★★★★
Vitality rating ★★
These days it's quite trendy to give prayer plants a mosaic look.
The mosaic pattern can't be seen from a distance, but up close it's very special. It likes a warm, humid, semi-shaded environment and is especially afraid of the cold, needing above 10°C to get through winter.
If you want it to grow better, you can fertilize every week. Its leaves curl at night and spread during the day. If they curl during the day, it's telling you it's thirsty or cold. The large leaves are great for decorating a stool, sideboard or low TV cabinet.
Other upgraded versions:
Prayer plant, peacock plant
The prayer plant is different from ordinary ones; it doesn't grow upright but prefers to grow lying down, making it suitable for hanging. The longer you grow it, the glossier the leaves become and the clearer the red veins.
The peacock plant has broad gray-green leaves and likes to stay in dark places. No wonder it was used to symbolize Leo in "Leon: The Professional."
The upgraded version of pothos
The pothos itself
Snow queen pothos
Recommendation rating ★★★
Vitality rating ★★★★
Although green-leaf pothos has a 60s aesthetic, the snow queen pothos with its "skin disease" has recently become popular. Its leaves have snow-white patterns like tortoiseshell markings, and they come in blocks.
It's also an unkillable cockroach of the plant world, highly adaptable, and can be grown as a column, in a small pot or in water. Its aerial roots are well developed and it spreads especially well.
Let it hang down like a waterfall, or guide it up a wall and it becomes the most natural wallpaper.
Grown hydroponically in a small vase, isn't it even more eye-catching?
The upgraded version of spider plant
The spider plant itself
String of pearls
Recommendation rating ★★★★
Vitality rating ★★★★
Recently Zhai Sir's mother asked me to buy her a spider plant on Taobao. There were so many varieties that my choice paralysis kicked in, until I scrolled upon the string of pearls.
Its leaves are like emerald teardrops, and it's also called green grapes or Buddha beads. It only takes a few months to fill out a pot.
It goes dormant during the high temperatures of summer, and spring, autumn and winter are its peak growing seasons. Water once every four or five days.
Hang it up to decorate the balcony and you don't even need curtains.
It can also survive inside a glass dome.
Place a few pots side by side on a shelf, windowsill or tall-legged planter to easily create a plant corner.
Other upgraded versions:
Thousand-leaf spider plant
The thousand-leaf spider plant is somewhat similar to copperleaf. Water it well and it easily fills out a pot. It's extremely cold-hardy; no matter how cold winter gets, it absolutely won't easily go die.
Green plants are already the best soft-furnishing masters,
and also the most cost-effective investment in home decor.
Winter has quietly arrived,
to keep some greenery in our homes, hurry to the flower market or Taobao,
and bring home some upgraded viral green plants!