Hey, Millennials – Here's How To Bring Your Plant Obsession To The Office

Certain trends never truly die; they just alternate between being very popular and almost nonexistent. One of those trends currently on the up-and-up? Showing off your green thumb.

The Washington Post recently highlighted how much millennials love plants; plant ownership can extend from having one plant in your living room to hundreds of them throughout your apartment. But you don’t have to limit your love of plants to just your home. As many independent plant nursery owners can tell you, you can easily bring your flora to work as well.

If you’re looking to spruce up your cubicle at work (no pun intended!), here are a few plants you should consider bringing to the office.

Sure, it might not be the friendliest looking plant, but if you find the right cactus — it can provide a beautiful spot of color in your office.  The Christmas cactus is native to Brazil, but they’re available most everywhere in blooms of red, pink, yellow and purple. They’re also easy to maintain at your desk. It needs light, but it doesn’t have to be direct sunlight, and you can keep it in a cooler office environment (55°F - 70°F).

Though you may not want to take care of as many plants as in the above photo, spider plants are perfect for professionals who don’t have access to a lot of sunlight. Studies have shown it to be an “air-cleansing plant,” meaning that it removes pollutants and particulate matter (like dust) from the air. Despite all its benefits, it remains a low-maintenance plant, so purchase a size-appropriate pot and just keep an eye out for any yellowing leaves.

Are you a neat freak? This is the plant for you. Like the name suggests, all this plant needs is air to survive. There’s no dirt required, but you will have to bring in a few large rocks for the plant to latch onto and remember to mist it once a week. It needs so little that it’s essentially an un-killable plant; perfect for plant beginners or professionals with busy to-do lists!

There are over 40 variations of the dracaena plant, but for the purposes of finding the perfect office plant, we’re sticking with one of the smaller ones. You’ll recognize dracaena by their long, spiky leaves. These leaves look best in bright, indirect sunlight but the plant will ultimately be fine in low or medium light. Stay away from this plant if you have an office pet, however. Per the ASPCA, dracaena are toxic to dogs and cats.

Another impossible-to-kill plant on this list? The philodendron. Though it tends to be one of the larger plants you could have at your desk, it’s incredibly low maintenance and grows well in indoor light and temperature conditions. The most you’ll have to care for the philodendron is by watering it regularly and trimming its leaves. But the good news? You can give those plant trimmings to help a co-worker, who can then begin to grow their own philodendron.

These flowers make a beautiful addition to your desk. They must stay in indirect sunlight (a.k.a. bright, indoor office lighting) and warm temperatures. They require regular watering and re-potting, but the environments that they’ll thrive in the most are similar to ones that you’re comfortable in as well. You can easily judge if you need to do more for your African violet based on your personal level of comfort.

We couldn’t make a list of office plants and not include succulents! They’re little, lower maintenance and look great for your Instagram. But be careful — though they don’t need a lot of water, succulents do need bright light and a specific potting mix. If you’re not able to provide either, you may want to choose a different plant on this list.