Wanting to get a houseplant but unsure what to get

hello, i'm very green to gardening :D
what plants would be good even without fertilizers. and i am considering a bonsai, are there any good for someone with no plant growing knowledge.

Do NOT start with bonzai. What are the light conditions in your home or the area where you want to keep a plant? Full Sun? half a day Sun? bright indirect light? We need more info.

Also, even if you get a plant that's not excessively needy in the fertilizer department, container soils don't hold nutrients forever so you will need to fertilize at least occasionally if you want the plant to thrive.

I don't see why you shouldn't strart with a bonsai. Get a book on the subject and study the project. If then you are still interested you can go to Lowes or Home Depot or your nearby nursery and get a shrub, something like Holly Soft Leaf or Burberry, for under 10 dollars which is about what you would pay for an ordinary houseplant. Do your thing with the shrub following the directions in the book.

Your chances of failure are probably less than getting something else and making a haphazard approach to the project.

Right now I'm starting my first bonsai. I'm 78 years old, in wheelchair, and have been growing houseplants for more years than I can remember. I even taught backyard gardening for a few years in Hawaii as part of University Extension. I found some of the best learners were those sincere beginners who had a vision of what they wanted. Go for it.....................and let me know in a year or two how the project is progressing.

I highly recommend pothos (in any variety), peace lily, spider plants, arrowhead plants and snake plants for new growers. These all take varying degrees of skill and you should study each one as you grow them. Pothos thrive in almost any climate and light, but like humid areas with lots of real sunlight or even florescent lighting. Peace Lily seems pretty cut and dry on how to care for, keep it moist and in indirect lighting. Spider plants thrive when nearly rootbound, which is when they throw off babies. Water pothos and spider plants when the leaves look droopy. arrowhead plant is a bit more tricky, but still pretty simple to care for as it doesn't require a lot of attention. Let this one dry out between waterings too. Snake plants can be fun when it comes time to make new plants, if you ever want to try that. These are also commonly referred to as mother in laws tongue.

Ruby, I don't know how moderation works on these forums, but I imagine someone will come along and remove your spam, which I've seen in 2 threads so far.

Here's a great blog for those wanting to know how difficult a particular plant might be to keep alive and healthy. (You'll need to discern the botanical name first.)

http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/ scroll down to the list on the right: Plant Difficulty Levels

Bonsai isn't a type of plant, it's a collection of pruning and potting techniques used to keep trees and other woody plants in a totally controlled and artificial way. By artificial, I mean they are manipulated to be different, smaller, than what they would be if left alone in nature. There's absolutely no reason for a beginner to not get started. It's just necessary to educate yourself about how to do it, and in regard to the particular plant you have. Usually one starts with a much larger specimen than the eventual "finished" size of the plant, and the techniques used to "make a tree smaller" are what one needs to research before getting started. The initial focus usually involves the roots, then making sure the trunk and branches are being formed in the desired shape. Plant selection would depend on the conditions and amount of time one has to offer.

I don't use much fertilizers on house plants and find that repotting them each spring is usually all they need to really grow noticeably larger, healthy. If you ask around, friends, neighbors, you'll probably find people with plants usually have something they could give you to get started. It's easy to make new plants from a lot of house plants, and that's how many of us got many of the plants we have. The other good thing to do would be to shop for plants and get one you think is pretty. If you like it, you'll have the desire to learn about how to keep it looking pretty, most are very easy.