What do you think about fake plants?

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I can't decide whether fake plants look naff or if they are an acceptable way of increasing the foliage in your house.

I have real plants and fake ones, but I don't know whether to get some more fake ones or not.

What's your honest opinion of them?

Prefer live plants. Inclined to kill them or create a home for flies with them. Have fake ones around to soften edges in corners I can’t reach that are usually a bit dark and inhospitable for plants

They look shit. They waste Earth's resources. They gather dust and add nothing.

If you want plants, buy real ones. Get unkillable things like cactuses if you're that bad at keeping things alive.

I really dislike them. Plants should be living and joyful. Fake plants are a waste of resources and future landull. could you use dried flowers?

I mix and match fake with real. I think they look great!

Have to say I agree with this

Did you even read my op?

Naff! Naff! Naff!!

I have both, fake work well in places with no light and with one of my cats who like a nibble, thankfully he's not so determined now he's a little older and so I can have more real ones now without hiding them up high.

Honest opinion is that they are the worst combination, environmentally: not only do they not give any of the benefits of real plants (oxygen production, for example) but they also use scarce & carbon-expensive natural resources to do that (eg almost certainly oil for the plastic).
I am absolutely not a fan!

I've got absolutely loads of real ones, and propagate them, but I've got a spot in my kitchen where I really want a large plant and I've spent the last 20 years buying them and killing them, so I'm wondering if I should just give in and buy a good quality fake one to go in that spot instead.

Maybe a quality vase or similar instead? Something ceramic made to be non-living?

I had real plants from a reputable online shop but ended up with fungus gnats everywhere. My responsibilities went from just watering the plants to buying those sticky yellow things, changing those out and they look awful. Testing that the top few inches of soil were dry, watering from the bottom. It became a chore. Dh was getting pissed off with the gnats and his life is stressful enough with work. He couldn't sit in the lounge without scanning the room for gnats and waving around one of those zapper bat things.

Now I have a couple of large artificial ones in the same places I had the real one, no gnats, no husband waving around the zapper bat. Plus some smaller ones, One is an Ikea trailing plant but with it being so easily recognisable I bought two and butched the second one to change the lengths of the hanging down branches on the first one. Just hot glued the extensions, trimmed some of the other ones to make it unique.

Sorry that came out more grumpy than intended. I should have said that when intended as a decoration, there will be better alternatives.

I appreciate the suggestion, but it's a plant that I want. I have plenty of good quality, hand thrown by ceramists, vases, but I really want a large plant in that spot.

I feel so bad when the live plants die. It's actually bizarre because on three occasions now I've bought large yuccas, then they've "died" and I've put them out in the garden and they've started sprouting again. How on earth are they surviving better outside than in my kitchen?!

I like them, sadly so does my cat so I have no plants, real or fake!

Apology accepted! I can look after live plants, I love them and have at least 40. It's just one spot that I'm having problems with.

Do people really not see ‘the point’ of them? 🙄

Anyone who loves real plants will also know how hard it is to maintain a real plant in certain areas of light or heat or draught.

I’ve given up with plants. I just kill them. I have a fake one in my living room that DH thought was real and we had a bet on how long it would take me to kill it. 😂

I grew up in a house full of houseplants, DMum has a real knack for them and loads of bright airy windowsills and spaces, so I have always had real ones even as a student. I bought an umbrella plant at uni and it nearly reached it's 30th birthday, I was gutted when it died. However our bathroom is dark and gloomy when the lights are off and no plant survives in there (apart from an air plant in a glass jar) and I bought one of the Ikea trailing ones on impulse for a high shelf that has killed many plants and it is just perfect for that spot. I have lots of real plants elsewhere but it is nice to know no more are going to fall victim to the bathroom gloom.

I did laugh at that too. For me, I love the look of plants, so if I can find a high quality, realistic looking fake plant I think I'm just going to go for it.

I absolutely hate them. A friend gave me some fake flowers, I took them to the charity shop as soon as I could!

Really don't care if some people consider them naff. There are some really good fake plants now made. They add colour to a dark corner, don't require the attention like real plants and last for years looking perfect.

Some of the fake plants in the house are over 10 years old, real houseplants are lucky to last a few years under my care. I have much more luck with growing things in the garden than I do with houseplants.

The people who are snobby about plastic houseplants invariably have something plastic in their house which I would consider naff!

I have both. I love gardening so can keep many alive but I also have young children who like to crash into things play balloon football... so the artificial ones go in rooms the children are most likely going to play in.

There are definite differences in the quality of some artificial ones. So I do choose wisely and have some back before.

It's your home I wouldnt give a moments thought on what others think.

I dislike plastic as a material for furnishings of any kind. I cannot understand why anyone would want it in plant-shaped form. If you can't keep plants alive get some dried flowers or nature-themed wall art.

They are landfill fodder. Made of plastic and destined to end up at the tip.

Oudoor fake plants shed plastic leaves that end up in the environment.
I am part of a beach litter picking group and we always find plastic flowers and leaves. Ditto real flowers that have been laid in tribute to someone or tied to a bench in their plastic wrapper - the whole lot then blows into river/sea.

Environmental nightmare.