Gift Ideas for Houseplant Lovers: 10 Practical Ideas

Today I’m sharing 10 practical gift ideas for houseplant lovers that you can buy online today. As a bonus, many are under $10! This post contains affiliate links, which you can read more about here. 🙂

10 Fantastic Gift Ideas for Houseplant Lovers

I don’t usually do gift guides. I did one last year on practical or consumable subscription gifts you can give for Christmas because I generally hate things. And it can be so hard to shop for some people.

However, my family and I do a secret Santa gift exchange every year, and I’ve been trying to think up some practical things I can add to my list. All of the things on this list of gift ideas for houseplant lovers are affordable, too. Many under $10 on Amazon.

You could even get several of these things and make a nice “houseplant care basket” for an indoor plant lover. All without spending a ton of money. So let’s take go through the 10 things on my list of gift ideas for houseplant lovers!

So here are 10 Practical Gift Ideas for Houseplant Lovers!

1. Sticky Stakes

I recently started using Sticky Stakes to control some tiny flying creatures I had near some of my plants. Notably the ones I keep relatively moist in the bathroom window. I have had great luck using these. I bought one pack and still have several unused sticky papers for my future fly battling needs.

Sticky Stakes help you save your houseplants from pest infestations and can help control pest invasions before they reproduce and become full-blown infestations. They attract and trap white flies, fungus gnats, black flies, thrips, fruit flies, midges and more.

The Sticky Stakes are made of two parts: the yellow sticky paper that traps the insects, and the green stake that you slide the yellow sticky paper into to stake it in the soil. They are all-natural and chemical-free—so how do they work? The yellow and the glue attract flying insects, which then get stuck and die. Sorry, flies. 

2. Neem Oil Spray for Houseplants

Neem oil spray is an excellent tool to have in your houseplant toolkit. And your gardening toolkit, for that matter. I first started using neem oil to battle a Japanese beetle infestation on my Lima bean plants in the backyard. But neem oil is an amazing option for indoor pest control.

I keep a bottle of Bonide’s neem oil spray under the sink with my cleaning supplies because it’s organic and safe to use around people and pets. It helps battle mites, flies, mildew, and more because it’s a three-in-one fungicide, miticide, and insecticide. It kills the egg, larvae, and adult stages of insects while also preventing fungal attacks on plant tissues.

Even if you don’t have a pest infestation, neem oil can be great for protecting your plants. For example, spider mites thrive in warm, dry conditions and can attack your houseplants during the winter. Regularly giving them spritzes of water and neem oil will help prevent this. And as a bonus, it can also help enhance shine on leaves. 

You can also buy concentrated neem oil and dilute it yourself with water in a spray bottle. But I find that it is easier to just have a ready-to-use bottle.

3. Plant Food for Houseplants

A good houseplant fertilizer doesn’t hurt to have on hand. I do think my houseplants respond well to fertilizer. I use this all purpose liquid plant food, which is concentrated. You just mix it with water according to the instructions (7 drops per quart of water).

I don’t fertilize my plants all year round, and I don’t fertilize them every time I water, either. So this stuff lasts a long time. Even when you’ve got a plant hoarding problem. This fertilizer is a 10-15-10 (nitrogen-phosphate-potash). Don’t worry too much about the mixture. Just get something designed for indoor plants.

This fertilizer is good for both indoor and outdoor plants. I’ve had no issues working with it. The company also has a cactus/succulent blend that you might be interested in, too. If you’re keen on getting something specifically for indoor plants, check out this indoor plant food, which has more of a 15-5-10. It’s more expensive, though.

Want more plant care tips? You’ll also love my guides on how to take care of monstera plants, how to take care of pothos plants, how to take care of rubber plants, caring for peperomia plants, and how to care for philodendron.

4. Additives for Houseplant Soil

You can buy a bag of houseplant or succulent soil that’s not nearly as heavy as regular garden or outdoor soil. Or you can save a butt load of cash and mix up your own. I did a post on how to make your own succulent soil, and I mostly just ballpark my soil adjustments for all of my plants.

I save money on houseplant soil by keeping a big back of plain old garden soil. You can usually get a lot more for your money. I then grab a bowl and mix in various soil additives to get the right consistency. Perlite, sand, and rocks are easy enough to keep on hand.

For succulents and cacti, I do a mix of perlite, sand, and soil. For run-of-the-mill houseplants, I’ll ease back on the sand and maybe grab some coco coir, too. The goal is to always keep the soil lightweight and well-draining. I have very few houseplants that don’t like well-draining soil.

Perlite and rocks are also great to have on hand when potting up new plants that are prone to root rot. Adding a layer of perlite is great in all planters—but especially hanging planters, because it is very lightweight—to help create extra drainage space. Rocks do the same, and you can use them as a decorative layer on top of your soil, too. 

5. Gel or Water Beads for Creative Planting

This might not be something you’d think to see on a list of gift ideas for houseplant lovers. But it’s a fun one, especially if you have kids. I just bought a big bag of water sensory beads to give to Ramona for Christmas. Little does she know I’ll be stealing some of them for some plants!

Water or gel beads can be made of different things. They can be biodegradable and reusable, and they come in different sizes. Make sure to read the full description to see what the brand you’re looking at offers.

And definitely check out beads marketed to parents for “kids sensory play” like these water beads. They see to be a bit cheaper, come in larger packages, and come in a larger variety of colors. The water/gel beads designed for decor tend to be marketed more toward wedding decorations and stuff.

No matter what you get, water beads can be great for keeping soil evenly moist if that’s what your plant likes. This could be especially handy when propagating a cutting that needs to be kept evenly moist. You can also put water beads in a jar and put plants that grow in water in them, like lucky bamboo and pothos cuttings! Or, set an air plant in them.

Want to read about plant propagation? Check out my guides on propagating snake plants, peperomia, string of pearls, succulents, monstera deliciosa, and prickly pear cactus pads.

6. DIY Pot Painting Kit Gift

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention something with a crafty spin on my list of gift ideas for houseplant lovers, wouldn’t I? I’m generally not a fan of buying other people planters unless you know the person very well. For a plant lover, it’s kind of like jewelry. That’s why a DIY pot painting kit is a great idea.

I did a whole tutorial post on how to paint terracotta pots, specifically focusing on painting terracotta pots for indoor use. It’s much easier because you don’t have to worry about adding extra protection against outdoor elements. It’s extremely easy, too, so don’t worry if you don’t consider yourself particularly crafty

To make a DIY pot painting kit, head to your local home improvement store or nursery and pick up some plain terracotta pots, saucers, and painter’s tape (used to create designs). You can also buy bulk packs of cute smaller terracotta pots online. 

(Note that you can buy terracotta pots at the craft store, but use a coupon, because they are typically marked up a bit. You can also buy a can of aerosol Thompson’s Waterseal at the hardware store, but it isn’t entirely necessary for indoor painted pots.)

Then hit the craft store and pick up some little 2 oz. acrylic paints. I like DecoArt paints. Americana Acrylics have a matte finish, while Americana Multi-Surface acrylics have a satin finish. Pick up 1- to 2-inch paint brushes. And that’s it! Arrange everything in a basket.

Like DIY planters? Check out my modern plywood planter with hairpin legs, my DIY hanging plant pot holder, my stainless steel bowl hanging planter, my tiny resin planters, and my little DIY midcentury plant stand!

7. Spray Bottle for Misting Houseplants

A three-pack of spray bottles will come in handy for plant lovers, especially through the winter or other times the indoor air is extra dry. Even plants that are super tolerant of low to nearly nonexistent humidity levels will thank you for a spritz of plain old water now and then.

This is especially important when you’re running heat. It’s nearly impossible to keep my plants away from vents, so having spray bottles sitting near my little plant gangs is great. 

If you want to get fancy since it’s a gift, you could try this vintage-style spritzer or these reusable glass spray bottles. Likewise, a smaller 3.4 ounce-ish spray bottle designed for essential oils could be a good solution.

8. Grow Light for Houseplants

If you hear “grow light” and automatically think weed, you’re not alone 🙂 But you can use them for fully legal houseplants, too! If you’re like I am and you bring a lot of plants indoors for the winter, you might struggle with getting them enough light. Especially during short, dark winter days.

My brother’s girlfriend got a grow light for some of her plants, and I decided to take the plunge, too. I’ve been very happy with this cost-effective grow light so far. I love how you can screw it into a regular lamp. 

It has a balanced light spectrum for plants and is a very bright white color with an almost bluish tint—not a purple or red color. I turn mine on in the morning and turn it off when I get home from work. It’s a low energy/low heat bulb, too, using only 9 watts. So I’m not running up the electric bill with this thing.

I got one to start with, but now that I’ve tested it out, I’m planning to get another. I tend to group plants together based on their lighting and watering needs, so two should do the trick.

9. For Succulent Lovers: Rare Succulent Seeds

I’ve never started seeds from scratch (aside from veggie gardening). When I saw some really interesting rare succulent seeds on Etsy, I knew it would be a great experiment! However, I’m planning to wait until about March to start them under a grow light. 

I bought a few packs and am going to share them with my brother’s girlfriend. Ultimately I decided on sinocrassula yunnanensis (black succulent), sedum versadense (hot pink succulent), and echeveria laui (light pink succulent). How cool are the caralluma acutangula and the albuca namaquensis, though?

If you’re not in to succulent seeds, there are also a bunch of listing for houseplant seeds. If you’re trying to find the perfect gift for a houseplant or succulent lover who has everything, why not give them the ultimate challenge of growing something from scratch?

Etsy tip: Buy multiple different types from the same seller to save on shipping. Read the reviews and Google photos of what you’re ordering to make sure you like the way they look. (Etsy photos can sometimes be the best-case scenario!)

10. Rooting Hormone for Propagation

Any houseplant lover has probably also tried their hand at houseplant propagation. You don’t *need* to use a rooting hormone when propagating cuttings in soil, but it’s nice to have.

This is the rooting hormone I use. It helps promote quick root development from cuttings. You simply dip the cut end of a new plant into the rooting hormone powder and then plant it in soil.

Rooting hormone is also nice to have on hand when you’re transplanting plants. If you’re moving a plant to a different pot, you can use some rooting hormone to help prevent plant roots from going into too much shock and and to help the plant’s roots establish themselves in their new home faster. 

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