Why The Internet Is Obsessing Over These 5 Houseplants
Americans are smashing the search button millions of times on social media and search engines looking at certain houseplants. Tiktok has amassed more than 3.125 billion views, and Google has 136 thousand monthly searches for just five plants.
Houseplants can be intimidating. And there is nothing worse than spending time and money on a plant that dies shortly after bringing it home. That’s why researching before you purchase an indoor plant makes so much sense. But researching plants can seem like an endless maze.
So, what’s the solution? We used Internet search data to shortcut the research process to find beautiful plants with simple care requirements.
Where Two Experts Found The Answers
Home and garden experts from Nature of Home and All About Gardening got their hands dirty.
Nature of Home analyzed Google searches and trends. At the same time, All About Gardening looked at Tiktok data to establish which houseplants have the most views on the platform, are aesthetically pleasing, and are beginner-friendly.
A spokesperson from All About Gardening commented, “Tiktok is a hugely influential platform for every aspect of day-to-day life, including gardening and houseplants. It is fascinating to see which houseplants prove to be more favorable online when it comes to decorating your home, with this list being made up of many beginner-friendly houseplants.”
Nature of Home also commented: “The data was no surprise, aside from the new Baltic Blue pothos plant. These houseplants are known to be excellent beginner-friendly plants, and it’s great more people are learning about them.
They’re the gateway to adding a touch of nature inside the home. Google represents an overall sample size of different demographics, and it was interesting to see how that stacked up with the newer Tiktok platform.”
The Versatile Pothos Plant
Epipremnum aureum is more commonly known as Devil’s Ivy. Between the scientific and common nickname, pothos has amassed 312.4 million views on Tiktok. With an upward trend on Google to an average of 40.5 thousand monthly searches.
Out of the 21 well-known pothos varieties, the new Costa Farms release, Baltic Blue, was a breakout in Google trends data with a 1250% rise in searches. The Baltic Blue features green leaves with a blueish tint that becomes more pronounced in the right conditions and as the plant matures. Leaves also develop into unique shapes.
Pothos plants can tolerate low-light areas in the home. Allowing them to thrive in places other plants would struggle. Give these plants slightly acidic, well-draining soil, and avoid overwatering.
Aloe Vera Plants: Grow Your Own Gel
The Tiktok study found that aloe vera is the most aesthetically attractive houseplant, with over 2.3 billion views under the aloe vera hashtag.
On Google, aloe vera is searched on average 33.1 thousand times a month, with an upwards trend of searchers looking to grow and care for the plant.
Aloe vera is known to have numerous benefits, be relatively easy to maintain, and thrive in sunlight and warmer temperatures.
Hard-to-kill Snake Plants
The plant, known for absorbing toxins, ranked highly on Tiktok with 161.9 million views under hashtags related to the snake plant.
High upward trending results were similar on Google. There are more than 201 thousand searches monthly for snake plants. For its scientific name, Dracaena trifasciata, there are 9.9 thousand searches every month.
Snake plants are one of the most beginner-friendly plants available. They thrive in virtually all light levels, from full sun to low light. Plant in loamy, slightly acidic potting mix, and avoid overwatering.
Swiss Cheese Plants (Monstera Deliciosa)
The Swiss Cheese plant, known by its scientific name, Monstera deliciosa has 242 million views on Tiktok videos hashtagged to the plant.
Google search data shows 40.5 thousand monthly searches. It has been rapidly rising in popularity since 2019.
The plant is trendy mainly because it’s relatively easy to take care of and rarely gets any diseases ideal for anyone wanting to get into houseplants.
Fiddle-leaf Fig Tree
Rounding out the top five is the fiddle-leaf fig, known scientifically as Ficus lyrata.
The fiddle-leaf fig hashtag on Tiktok has 94 million views, while the hashtag ‘ficuslyrata’ has 15.6 million views, leading to a total view count of 109.6 million - the fifth highest number.
Results on Google showed 12.1 thousand monthly searches for Fiddle-leaf fig trees. The plant has been trending upwards since 2012, with the highest number of searches in August 2020.
The plant that can grow up to ten feet tall is a popular choice, thriving in bright spots that aren’t in direct sunlight-making them perfect for many locations throughout the home.