You can't drill, you might move in a year, and the bond is riding on the carpet. Here's what to grow — and the one thing "hard to kill" doesn't mean.
What renters actually need from a plant
Most "easy plants" lists are written for people who own a window. Renting changes the brief, and it changes it differently depending on who's renting.
In a share house, the plant has to survive four people's idea of helping — someone will water it because it "looked dry," someone else will move it to the bathroom for the light. In a young family's rental, it has to survive a toddler and a dog, which means it can't be the kind of plant that ends in a call to the Poisons Line. In an apartment, it's working with a balcony that faces the wrong way and a floor plan where every plant is in the same light.
And all three share the rental constraints: no hooks in the wall, a move in the next year or two, and a bond riding on the floor. The plants below are tough. They're portable, forgiving of imperfect indoor conditions, and easy to keep in a draining nursery pot inside a cover pot so nothing reaches the carpet. Some genuinely tolerate low light; the others simply give you more margin than fussier houseplants. That's the brief.
One honest thing first. "Hard to kill" almost always means "tolerates being ignored." Most of these cope far better with being a little late than being watered a little early. The plants on this list die from too much water in too little light, and they die slowly enough that nobody connects the two. If you take one thing from this post, take that.
The list
Devil's Ivy (Pothos)
The rental plant. It trails without needing to hang — put it on top of a bookshelf or a fridge and let it fall. Copes with low light, tells you it's thirsty by going slightly limp and recovers within hours of a drink, and roots from a cutting in a glass of water, so when you move you can take a piece and leave the rest. The way people kill it: a big pot, kept wet, in a dim hallway.
ZZ Plant
Grows from thick underground rhizomes that store water, which is why it shrugs off a fortnight of being forgotten. Glossy, upright, looks expensive, and handles the dim corner of a rental better than almost anything with leaves. The way people kill it: watering it like a fern. Let it dry right through between drinks — properly light in the hand — and it'll outlast the lease.
Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
Same water-storing logic, different shape. Upright, narrow, fits behind a couch or beside a door, and takes a rental's low light without complaint. Rarely needs potting up quickly, which means one less job before you move. The way people kill it: cold and wet at the same time. Keep it dry through winter and it's fine.
Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra)
Named for a reason. Dark corners, dry air, weeks without water, being knocked by the vacuum cleaner — it takes all of it. Slow-growing, which is a feature in a small place. The usual mistake is keeping it wet in a dark pot. The share-house plant — it survives being watered by three different people.
Peace Lily
The one on this list that likes moisture — but it's here because it's the plant that tells you. When it's thirsty it wilts dramatically, and when you water it, it usually stands back up within a few hours. For someone who's never read a plant before, that feedback loop is worth more than toughness. Tolerates low light, though it flowers less. The way people kill it: keeping it wet all the time so it never gets to ask.
Spider Plant
Fast, forgiving, and it makes babies on runners you can pot up or give away. Fine in a cover pot on a shelf, handles a range of light, and bounces back from neglect with a bit of browning at the tips as the only complaint. Brown tips are usually cosmetic rather than a sign the plant is failing. The young-family plant — and cats in particular love it, which is a nuisance rather than a danger.
Rubber Plant
The bright-room option on this list — the one for the renter who has a window and wants a statement plant that doesn't need a green thumb. Thick, waxy leaves lose water slowly, so it copes with dry rooms and missed waterings, and it grows upright rather than out, so it fits a corner. Needs more light than the others here — a window in the room, not necessarily beside it. The way people kill it: moving it every week. Pick a spot and leave it.
Hoya
Thick, waxy leaves that store water; trails like a Pothos but slower; will sit on a shelf for years in the same pot. Wants brighter light than most of this list to flower, but survives without it. The way people kill it: repotting it because it "looks small." It likes a tight pot. Leave it. The apartment-couple plant — one pot, one shelf, years without needing anything.
The renter's setup
Four things that matter more than which plant you choose.
Nursery pot inside a cover pot
Keep the plant in the plastic pot it came in — it has drainage holes — and sit it in a decorative pot with no hole. Lift it out to water, let it drain in the sink, put it back. Nothing touches the floor. When you move, the plant travels in its nursery pot and the cover pot goes in a box. Drainage holes for indoor pots has the longer version.
Read the pot, not the calendar
Every plant on this list dies from too much water, so the only skill you need is knowing when it's ready. The Pot Weight Test: water thoroughly, let it drain, then lift the pot. That's your full weight, and it's the reference point for everything after — commit it to your hands rather than your head. For the driest-running plants here — ZZ, Snake Plant and Hoya — wait until the pot feels properly light. Cast Iron can also take a generous dry-back. Pothos and Spider Plant usually want you to go again a little sooner, while Peace Lily sits at the wetter end. How to water indoor plants covers the rest.
Check the light before you blame the plant
A rental's "bright room" is often not. The Shadow Test: hold your hand about 10cm above a leaf during the brightest part of the day for that spot, and look at the shadow. A distinct shadow means light the plant can use. A faint one means lower light. Barely any shadow means it's running close to the bottom of its range. You're not looking for direct sun, and the edges of the shadow don't matter — you're checking whether enough light reaches the leaf to cast a visible shadow at all. The toughest plants here cope at the lower end; Rubber Plant and Hoya want you closer to the window. If barely any shadow is what you've got, a plant near the window and a longer gap between waterings is the fix — not a different plant. Light, made simple goes deeper.
Moving day
Don't water on moving morning. Move the plant somewhere in the middle of its watering cycle — not bone dry, not freshly saturated and heavy. Avoid repotting right around the move unless it genuinely needs it. One change at a time. Expect a sulk while it works out where the light is now, and don't respond to the sulk with water.
Three rentals, three lists
The share house: Cast Iron Plant, Snake Plant, ZZ. The three that cope best when care is inconsistent — and, crucially, don't need frequent watering in the first place. Give one person the watering job and everyone else can admire them. Keep them in the common area where nobody owns them.
The young family: Spider Plant, Cast Iron Plant, Hoya. All three are pet safe — non-toxic to cats and dogs on the ASPCA list — which makes them easier choices in a home with curious pets. Keep them out of reach of toddlers who are still putting everything in their mouths. The Spider Plant's babies are the bonus — pot them up with the kids.
The apartment couple: Pothos on the bookshelf, a Rubber Plant in the brightest corner, a Hoya on the balcony-side windowsill. Three plants, three heights, one watering habit — and all three travel in a car boot when the lease ends. If light is the whole problem, best indoor plants for apartments is built around it.
What this list won't do
It won't survive a dark room and a heavy hand. No list will. The plants here buy you margin — they forgive the missed watering, the dim corner, the move — but they don't forgive the combination of little light and lots of water, because nothing does. Get the light as good as the lease allows, water when the pot says so, and every plant above will still be with you at the next address.
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