All of Your House Plants Are Going to Die... (Eventually)

On average, they will live for two to five years.

By Chloe AnnePublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

All of Your House Plants Are Going to Die... (Eventually)

When I bought my first house plant (White Queen Marble pothos) I considered her a lifetime investment. At the time she only had six leaves and cost me no more than two coffees. Fast track to two years later and she has grown so much that I have to cut her back constantly. And me being the crazy houseplant lady that I am propagated every single one of her viable leaves. Now she dominates a pot in almost every room in my house (with good lighting), plus I have given away countless cuttings to loved ones. Talk about getting your money's worth!

But recently I found out that she only has eight years left to live.

One of my first acts of becoming an adult is set to die and I feel sick about it. And I am sure that you feel sick about this information too, otherwise you would not be reading this blog. So please enjoy the information I have collated from every credible resource I could find on the internet.

Here she is in all her glory. My *White Marble Queen* mother plant.

Do Plants Die of Old Age?

Short answer: yes. That's if your plant gets the chance to die of old age, considering you haven't overwatered it or neglected it. The process is known as senescence. In very basic biological terms, the plant cell loses its power to divide and regrow, so it starts to deteriorate instead.

However the frustrating part is that most plants do not have a straightforward lifespan like animals, nor do they have concrete stages of life and death. The only plants that have a definitive lifespan are annual plants that die once they have finished fruiting or flowering for the season (e.g. corn, wheat, basil etc.).

Although, there is hope for your green friends. I have worked out one way that you can make sure they live on.

What Is the Lifespan of My House Plant?

While plants make their own food and energy, they need help to do so. Indoor plants are dependent on humans to position them in the right light, bring them water, fertilise them, dust their leaves, remove pests and aerate their soil. If you get to know your plant and their needs, your plants can live for decades. Some indoor plant lovers have even written their fifty year old plants into their wills so that they will continue to be loved after they are long gone (definitely doing this).

Below is a collated list of common house plants and their average predicted lifespan (from all of the sources I have read). Remember - this is only a prediction as houseplants do not have a straightforward life span. Plus, most people will kil ltheir houseplant accidentally before it even reaches 'old age'.

Chinese Money Plants (Pilea): up to 10 years. With proper care, it can live for two decades.
Fiddle-leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata): 25-50 years (in non-tropical indoor environments). However, this plant can be hard to please and a novice plant owner may kill it in 1-5 years.
Swiss Cheese (Monstera deliciosa): up to 40 years.
Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum): most households keep their peace lily happy and alive for 3 to 5 years, however, these plants have been known to live for 20+ years.
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum): 5 to 10 years on average, but I read about one woman who has had hers for 12 years.
Philodendron: 40+ years.

Rubber Plants (Ficus Elastica): indoors they can live for 10+ years depending on care, but outdoors they live for hundreds of years. However, do not plant outside. They have invasive root systems that will break water pipes and concrete paths. Read more here.

If I have missed a common houseplant that you have, let me know and I will find the answer for you.

Propagation station. This is an excellent book for new house plant parents.

How Do I Help My Plant Live Forever?

After you get to know your house plants, their water and fertiliser cycles, how much light they need (or don't need), there is one key thing to get them to live for ever. Propagation.

I like to think of propagation as turning my houseplants into parents. If you keep cutting, propagating and repotting your plants you might not have your original plant forever, but it can be survived by its babies. And that is a thought that brings me peace every time I look at the mother plant of all of my White Marble Queens growing wildly in my bathroom.

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