Can someone recommend me a house plant that I can sort of "get into"?

[buzzheath]

Going through a pretty grim time at the moment, and need a bit of a project and a distraction. However, I've not had many houseplants before - only succulents which basically thrive on neglect - so I don't want something massively difficult. But something to provide a sense of peace and purpose would massively help me. I live in a ground floor flat, living room has lots of light, if that's helpful.

Tradescantias are generally very easy and have pretty foliage.

If you want flowers I grow Impatiens niamniamensis. It's very easy so long as you don't let it get frost!

Both these plants, if they get scraggy and leggy are easy to replace - just break a few bits off, pop them in water and in a couple of weeks they will have new roots. Then just put them in a pot with some compost.

The other easy plant I grow is streptocarpus saxorum which has pretty blue flowers. Again easy to propagate. Forget the water for new roots, just break off a bit, strip off the bottom leaves and put it in a pot, keep damp but not soaking wet.

Tradescantia is cool as you can take cuttings and root them in a water glass before potting on - which is a fun project.

But really I thin you should get a jade plant. They are said to bring prosperity. Easy to care for but a lifetime project. You just keep growing it, and growing it. Have a look at the size of some online!

Philodendrons are beautiful, especially the variegated versions like the pink princess and white knight. I’d get this if you want something very visually interesting.

But the all round classic houseplant is the Monstera deliciosa aka the Swiss cheese plant.

The secrets to house plants are:
-Keep it in the pot it comes in until it looks like it needs repotting
-Google the ideal soil mix for the plant and then mix it up.
-Don’t water little and often, your succulent ways may serve you well, houseplants are usually rainforest plants they like it best to have large water volumes less often, think of a rainforest shower. I take mine outside and then completely drench them, but lots of people put them in the bath or shower to do it and then let the water drain out a bit before putting it back.

We have a Swiss cheese plant older than my marriage, still going strong. They are unkillable, though they do need a bit of training around something if you don’t want them trying to escape across your floor.

I’ve also found calla lilies to be pretty tolerant of neglect - as long as you water them eventually, they perk back up and flower.

If you have soft water, or easy access to distilled or rainwater, then butterworts (Pinguicula).

Keep them constantly in a saucer of water, and ideally out of direct sunlight but I've found mine aren't too fussy on that front. They need no other care (they are self feeding), mutiply regularly, are very easy to spilt and repot, and once settled in some varieties flower almost constantly - P. anna seems especially good for this.

I started with 4 and a couple of years later now have about 20. Haven't bought any more, have given several away.

Amaryllis are great. They have beautiful showy flowers and you can learn how to care for them so the bulb rests in the dark and then grows another flower.

placemarking!

All of the above and what about a peace lily and the good old spider plant. Buy several keep them together or in the same pot..

How about a terrarium? You can buy a terrarium 'kit', so you can plant it up yourself for an extra side of getting into it. Making little scenes and so on.

whatever you do don't get any sort of calathia. They are drama queens (for drama get a peace lily, then let it get droopy, then speak to it nicely and give it a lot of water)

I quite like the pilea peperomioides (aka pancake plant aka chinese money plant)

When they thrive they grow babies which are relatively easy to split off and pot up. Before you know it, you have 20 of them and all your friends have some too... (ask me how i know)

No one has mentioned orchids.

there is a reason for that, i suspect.

I've always had a houseful of plants both rare and not so rare. My favourite plant of all time though, is a Spider plant. Easy to grow and produces lots of babies when happy.

Streptocarpus. Addictive because there are soooo many in different colours and sizes and different sized leaves etc.
These guys are the experts- they are actually the people who supply the garden centres with their streps.
I used to have quite a few but I've let my house plants lapse. But for a long time they gave me enormous joy and buying a new one or two was great excitement. So yes you could 'get into' them. There used to be a streptocarpus society but I think it lost its way with the Internet etc. But it's definitely a house plant that people get into and get passionate about.
https://www.dibleys-shop.com/collections/streptocarpus-potted-plants?srsltid=AfmBOorGcLAxdhXPxPgYD2Yv3vhZ_-Lt-EQanTd0ig4Hbzt7x7QS_4t-

I would recommend :
orchids, you will need to learn some stuff to keep them going !
pilea for lovely foliage and lovely babies to repot !

Can I make a case for a Venus fly trap?
Mine is a third child. I absolutely LOVE IT when it catches a fly. If there is a low energy fly around, you know when they start getting a bit lazy, I can often catch it and put it in the fly trap. Almost every trap was closed yesterday as the windows were open and we had a few flies in.
Over winter they go a bit quiet and small but it’s really perking up again now.
Keep constantly wet, just stand it in a pot full of water, preferably in rain water or tap water that’s been outside a few days to denature.
It feels like a little person because it “eats”. Love it so much

Even more to choose from in the plug plants, and they will grow quickly.
https://www.dibleys-shop.com/collections/streptocarpus-plug-plants

African violets are pretty and really easy to grow from cuttings which would be very satisfying

I have been thrilled with my Peace Lily, which has lasted much longer than other plants I've tried. I water it under the kitchen tap a couple of times a week. If I forget it looks quite droopy but revives after a drink. It lives in a south facing room but not in direct sunlight.

Just to add, not all houseplants will thrive in your particular environment. You may end up buying a few, and no matter what you do, some will die. Do some research about the kind of plants that will like where you live. Otherwise, you'll end up having to buy lots of equipment to create the right conditions for that plant.

I trained my gollum fingers jade plant (succulent) into a bonsai shape. It's now a 10 year very slow project. Full sun. But it's not exactly instant gratification.

ZZ plant is pretty much unkillable, but thrives on neglect, so not much of a project!

Having binned many houseplants that refuse to stay alive, I pretty much only have this type, which is indestructible - "Epipremnum Aureum Pothos".

You can also very crudely split it to create multiple plants and they 100% definitely will survive.

What about getting into bonsai? It's really relaxing taking a few minutes to shape them and care for them each day. Ficus and gindeng are good starters because they're pretty tricky to kill!

My gateway houseplants were a Chinese money plant and Monstera. Both are happy with neglect but will thrive with a regular feeding and watering schedule.

Tradescantia is also super easy, but. Although is actually much happier outdoors in summer, so I wouldn’t buy one to keep indoors this time of year. You don’t even need to root cuttings in water, just stick any cuttings or broken bits of leaves on the soil surface in their pot (or a different pot), and they will root and get growing.

Stay away from calatheas, they deserve their diva reputation.

Crotons are also easy, and I love the pink, green, white etc variegation. Asparagus ferns are good too, but prefer shade.

Aspidistra is said to be unkillable.