Plant suggestions needed. Please help

I need suggestions for house plants that will stay rather small (like African Violet size), will do well in 5 inch size pots, **safe** for dogs and cats. Another need of the plant is that it doesn't need much watering.

I have a beautiful plant holder that hangs on the wall. It holds five plants, in 5'' pots. The wall I have it on has a couch in front of it, so it is rather hard to get to the plants to water them. (I can't move the plant holder to another wall). It does get indirect light, as it is across from the front room windows. But the blinds at the windows are not all the way open, because I have my AVs in front of those windows and use the binds to filter light. But it does get fairly bright indirect light.

I had my violets in the holder, but both my husband and I have fallen trying to get to the violets to water them. And they did not get enough light to bloom. They grew, but didn't bloom.

The plants that would go in the holder do not have to be blooming plants. Pretty and/or interesting foliage would be fine. I do not need to have all five plants alike. They can be different kinds of plants, just as long as they: take little watering, **safe** for dogs and cats, do well in lower lighting but still bright indirect light.

If you have fallen while attempting to water this setup already, IDK why watering less often would be OK with you? You just want to fall less often? I know this probably seems snarky, but I don't mean it that way, just think you should be honest with yourself about trying to do the watering you described at all. I was also wondering, if one of your pets does jump up to the plants, isn't it likely they'll fall on the couch and make a not-worth-it mess?

You may just need a watering can with a longer spout? If you're using tap water, the chemicals in that can build up over time and become toxic to some plants. It might be worthwhile to use a jug of distilled water for your plants (assuming from your description that you're using pots without holes in the bottom.)

There are probably lists of plants known to be harmless to pets. Of those, you would eliminate any with big leaves, or that need lots of light. That should leave you with small-leaved plants that like less light. If/when one becomes too big, trim part of it off. Plants that stay as small as AV's are rare. IDK anything about plant pet safety, so not making any particular suggestions.

Best of luck finding a way to have some plants, and what those plants could be!

Peperomia has many species, and many of them are fairly small (5" pot OK)

I also agree with purpleinopp: Use some other wall decor (silk plants, perhaps) that does not need watering. Once a year, dust them off.

Plants help clean the air. We need air cleaning as much as possible in our house. Can't afford all those expensive electric air cleaners, plus plants look much better.

We have well water and let it set for a week or longer before using. I figured plants that only needed watered like succulents etc, we could slide out the couch enough to get behind it, but can't do that as much as violets require.

We are older people and only have $2000 a month to live on. Can't buy air cleaners, nor pay for the extra electricity they would use. My cousin has offered to buy some plants for the wall plant holder to help with air quality.

We live on gravel road and after one week the house is so full of dust, you could write in it. So artificial plants would have to be dusted a lot more than just once year or even twice a year.

Plants clean the air in proportion to their size.
To really get some good effects you need large leaf surface and actively growing plants.
Anything small enough and slow enough growing to suit the situation is not going to do much about cleaning the air.

Anyway, have you looked into the many Peperomias? Most are low water use, and handle relatively low light OK.

I've been looking online for peperomias. It is really hard to find someplace to buy them. Seems as if only eBay and Amazon have any, but very very limited selection.

I'm not able to get out to any stores to look. I am recovering from twice broken leg and doing some physical therapy, but it is going to take a very long time before I can walk much. May take a year or more.

The only places that have plants anymore are Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot and maybe a large grocery store.

I occasionally see Peperomias in all those places.
Usually 'Emerald Ripple', which is a handsome plant, and well suited to the situation.
The others I have seen might be labeled 'Baby Rubber Plant' or other names, tend to be a bit gawky.
There are some other compact species, and it is worth seeking them out.

How about the Pteridophytes?

I think you're going to have trouble with almost anything outgrowing the space, and I think you'll need a water wand so you don't break your neck. But, spider plants are quite tolerant of being rootbound, so you might be able to rotate them through the planter. They are also purported to be very good air cleaners. I would plant on potting up new pups every other year - maybe from another spider plant in a different location. That way you can keep the plant(s) behind the couch small. The all-green spider plant is also tolerant of fairly low light, drought, and so on. I can mail you a few pups to start, if you like. You'll just need to pay for postage. Send me a PM through D-Mail, or send me email using my user name, and @aol.com becuse I'll forget to check this thread again.

You might also try rotating philodendron oxycardium (heart leaf philodendron) because it's pretty easy to keep small and tolerates low light, but it will need water. Swedish Ivy is pretty drought tolerant and not hard to keep small with frequent pinching. Succulents would do well as many grow slowly and don't need frequent watering, but most need strong light. Sansevieria trifisciata aka snake plant or mother-in-laws' tongues are quite tolerant of drought and low light, and grow pretty slowly in those conditions. Like spider plants, they are purported to be exceptional for cleaning the air, but they grow pretty close to straight up. If you have the vertical space, and they'd look okay, I think they'd be a good choice.

Can you upload a photo for us?

Thanks. I have a pepperomia, sansevieria, aloe, and a couple spider plants I am going to try.

Philodendron and pothos are toxic and poisonous to dogs and cats. I have been trying to check ASPCA site that has list of poisonous and non-poisonous plants for dogs, cats, and even horses.