In a Lower East Side apartment shared with her girlfriend, her dog, and enough foliage to qualify as a small biome, plant enthusiast Ciara Benko has created a thriving indoor jungle. Her collection includes more than 70 houseplants, several spectacular vines, one famously temperamental calathea, and a fiddle-leaf fig that receives regular conversation along with its leaf-cleaning service.
Talking to plants may sound eccentric, but for Ciara it is part of paying attention. She observes new growth, catches pests, notices dry soil, and learns the personalitybotanically speakingof every green resident. Her home offers a charming lesson in plant parenting: success rarely comes from a perfect watering calendar. It comes from observation, patience, and the willingness to start over when a monstera has a very bad month.
A Manhattan Apartment Becomes an Indoor Jungle
Ciara’s love of plants has family roots. One grandmother maintained an expansive backyard, while the other understood the pleasures of growing plants indoors. Those influences eventually met in Ciara’s New York City apartment, where outdoor space is scarce but botanical ambition is apparently unlimited.
Most of the collection lives in the bedroom and living room because those spaces receive the best natural light. This is one of the smartest decisions any plant parent can make. A plant may look fabulous beside a dark bookcase, but it cannot photosynthesize using compliments. Matching each species to an appropriate light level matters more than matching the pot to the throw pillows.
The Neon Pothos With Main-Character Energy
Among Ciara’s many houseplants, a lush neon pothos holds special significance. She considers it the plant that most resembles her personality. The comparison makes sense: neon pothos is colorful, energetic, adaptable, and difficult to ignore.
Pothos plants are popular with beginners because they tolerate a range of indoor conditions and recover from occasional neglect. They perform best in bright, indirect light, although green varieties can manage lower-light locations. Their trailing stems also make them natural decorating partners. They can cascade from shelves, climb supports, or travel along walls as though politely ignoring the limits of conventional furniture.
A Fiddle-Leaf Fig Worth Talking To
Ciara’s large fiddle-leaf fig is one of the collection’s most dramatic residents. She talks to it while wiping its broad leaves, turning a routine maintenance task into a social appointment.
Cleaning leaves is more than cosmetic. Dust can reduce the amount of light reaching a leaf, while regular inspection may reveal scale, spider mites, mealybugs, or other unwanted passengers. A damp cloth is generally sufficient for smooth foliage. Leaf-shine products are unnecessary, and some can leave residues that interfere with normal plant function.
Fiddle-leaf figs prefer strong light and consistency. Sudden relocation, cold drafts, saturated soil, or irregular watering can trigger leaf loss. In other words, they are beautiful, dramatic, and suspicious of changethe botanical equivalent of a celebrity with a detailed dressing-room rider.
The Collection’s Divas, Survivors, and Longest Vines
The Calathea That Refused to Stay Down
Ciara identifies her Calathea orbifolia as her trickiest plant. At one point, she cut it back and allowed it to regrow. The plant recovered, although winter brought another familiar problem: crispy leaf edges.
Calatheas and their relatives developed beneath tropical forest canopies. Indoors, they generally prefer bright but indirect light, consistently moistnot waterloggedpotting mix, warm temperatures, and moderate to high humidity. Dry winter air, accumulated fertilizer salts, inconsistent moisture, and certain minerals in tap water can all contribute to browning edges.
The important lesson is not that every damaged calathea requires drastic pruning. It is that unattractive foliage does not automatically mean a plant is beyond saving. If the roots remain healthy and the growing conditions improve, fresh growth may emerge. Sometimes plant parenting involves rehabilitation rather than maintaining an uninterrupted parade of flawless leaves.
Twenty Feet of Scindapsus in a Six-Inch Pot
One of the apartment’s most memorable plants is a Scindapsus pictus growing in a pot only about six inches wide. Its vines, however, stretch approximately 20 feet. Ciara uses them as living decor, guiding the stems across the wall above the television.
This contrast between a modest container and astonishingly long vines illustrates how tropical climbers behave indoors. In nature, many use trees as supports while reaching toward better light. At home, removable plant clips, trellises, moss poles, and wall hooks can direct that growth without turning the living room into a leafy obstacle course.
Long vines still require inspection. Dense growth can hide pests, bare sections, or damaged stems. Pruning encourages branching, and healthy cuttings can often be rooted to make fuller pots or gifts. Few presents say “I value our friendship” quite like handing someone a jar containing a stem with three roots.
The Mini Monstera With Maximum Style
Ciara also favors Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, commonly called mini monstera even though it belongs to a different genus from true monsteras. Its divided, fenestrated leaves provide the tropical appearance of a larger climbing plant in a more apartment-friendly form.
Given bright, indirect light and a structure to climb, it can grow vigorously. Regular rotation helps prevent a one-sided silhouette, while pruning keeps the vines within the borders of the lease agreement.
Why Talking to Plants Is Not as Silly as It Sounds
Does human conversation make a houseplant grow faster? Current research does not provide convincing evidence that ordinary speech, compliments, or a nightly recap of office politics directly improves houseplant growth. Plants do not understand words, and they do not possess brains or ears.
Plants can, however, detect and respond to environmental stimuli, including light, gravity, touch, chemicals, and certain vibrations. Laboratory studies have found biological responses to particular sounds or mechanical vibrations, including signals associated with insects or water. That fascinating field should not be stretched into the claim that a pothos prefers jazz or becomes emotionally wounded by criticism.
The strongest practical benefit of talking to plants may belong to the person doing the talking. Conversation turns plant care into a mindful ritual. While checking in, an owner may notice drooping leaves, compacted soil, new growth, or a suspicious cottony patch before a minor issue becomes a full mealybug convention.
Interacting with indoor plants has also been associated in research with lower perceived stress and more relaxed physiological responses. The evidence varies across studies, so houseplants should not be presented as medical treatment. Still, tending something living can provide structure, sensory interest, and a satisfying pause from screens. The plant does not need to understand the conversation for the ritual to feel meaningful.
How One Person Can Care for More Than 70 Houseplants
A collection this large cannot thrive on memory and good intentions alone. Efficient plant care depends on organizing plants by their actual needs rather than treating every pot identically.
Group Plants by Light and Moisture Requirements
Place light-hungry plants near the brightest suitable windows and shade-tolerant species farther into the room. “Low light” does not mean no light; every plant needs enough usable light to photosynthesize. A light meter or phone-based reading can help identify major differences between locations, although species-specific guidance remains important.
Moisture preferences also vary. A calathea should not follow the same watering rhythm as a succulent. Grouping plants with similar needs makes care faster and reduces mistakes.
Check the Soil Instead of Obeying the Calendar
Watering every Sunday may be convenient for humans, but plants respond to soil moisture, temperature, light, root size, and seasonal growth. For many foliage plants, checking the upper inch or two of potting mix is more reliable than following a fixed schedule.
When watering is needed, moisten the root ball thoroughly and allow excess water to drain. Pots should have drainage holes, and standing water should be emptied from saucers or decorative cachepots. Continually wet soil deprives roots of oxygen and encourages root rot. It may also support fungus gnats and microorganisms that bother sensitive individuals.
Create a Simple Plant-Care Route
Large-collection owners often work through one room or plant group at a time. A practical weekly route might include checking moisture, examining leaf undersides, removing dead material, and turning pots that are leaning toward a window. Water only the plants that need it.
A label or digital note can track botanical names, repotting dates, fertilizer applications, and pest treatments. There is no need to produce a medical chart for every spider plant, but records help when the collection grows too large for reliable memory.
Adjust Care With the Seasons
Indoor plants frequently grow more slowly in winter because daylight is shorter and weaker. Slower growth generally means less frequent watering and little or no fertilizer. Heating systems can also lower indoor humidity, causing sensitive foliage to develop dry edges.
During active spring and summer growth, plants may use water more rapidly and benefit from appropriately diluted fertilizer. More fertilizer is not automatically better; excess salts can injure roots and damage leaf tips.
When Pests Invade the Green Friendship Group
Ciara once faced a serious mealybug infestation on a monstera she had grown for four years. Rather than losing everything, she cut the plant apart and attempted to propagate healthy sections. It was a painful decision, but propagation offered a way to preserve part of the original plant.
Mealybugs resemble small pieces of white cotton and often hide at leaf joints, beneath foliage, and around stems. Early infestations may be addressed by isolating the affected plant and physically removing visible insects with a cotton swab lightly dipped in rubbing alcohol. Horticultural soap or another product labeled for indoor plants may be appropriate when used exactly as directed.
New plants should be inspected before joining an established collection. Keeping newcomers separate for a short observation period can prevent one attractive impulse purchase from becoming a 70-pot pest-management project.
Propagation is useful, but only clean, healthy material should be selected. Pothos, scindapsus, tradescantia, monstera, and many other climbing houseplants can form roots from stem sections containing at least one viable node. Bright, indirect light, warmth, clean tools, and a moist but aerated rooting medium improve the odds of success.
A Green Home Is More Than an Air-Purifying Claim
Houseplants are often advertised as powerful air purifiers. Plants can remove certain pollutants in sealed laboratory chambers, but research evaluating real buildings has found that a practical number of ordinary potted plants does not clean indoor air quickly enough to compete with ventilation or mechanical filtration. Opening windows when conditions permit, controlling pollutant sources, and maintaining appropriate HVAC filtration remain more effective.
That correction does not make houseplants pointless. Plants add texture, color, seasonal change, and a connection to nature. Studies have linked interaction with greenery to stress reduction, improved perceptions of indoor spaces, and greater satisfaction with work or home environments. Those are substantial benefits even if the pothos is not secretly operating as industrial air-handling equipment.
Plant selection should also account for pets. Golden pothos, monstera, and several other popular species can cause harmful reactions if chewed by cats or dogs. Calatheas, spider plants, and certain peperomias are commonly listed as nontoxic alternatives, although eating any plant material may still cause stomach upset. Owners should verify botanical names through a veterinary toxicology resource and keep questionable plants securely out of reach.
Experiences and Lessons From Living With a Large Plant Collection
The most relatable experience in Ciara’s story is not owning more than 70 plants. It is caring deeply about a plant and still watching something go wrong. Even experienced growers encounter brown edges, yellow leaves, pests, and vines that suddenly decide the ceiling is their destiny.
The First Lesson: A Damaged Leaf Is Not a Personal Review
New plant parents often interpret every blemish as evidence of failure. In reality, individual leaves age, indoor conditions fluctuate, and plants need time to adjust after being moved. A crispy edge may point to dry air or inconsistent moisture, but it does not necessarily justify three emergency waterings and a midnight repot.
Ciara’s calathea demonstrates the value of watching the entire plant. New shoots, firm roots, and stable growth matter more than one imperfect leaf. Cutting the plant back was dramatic, yet it also showed that recovery is possible when viable roots and better conditions remain.
The Second Lesson: Observation Beats Excessive Attention
A large collection teaches restraint. Watering, fertilizing, repotting, and relocating a struggling plant all at once makes it difficult to identify the original problem. It also piles new stress onto an organism already trying to adapt.
A better experience begins with basic questions: Is the soil wet or dry? Has the light changed? Are pests visible? Is the plant near a draft or heating vent? Has it recently been repotted? Solving the most likely problem and waiting for new growth is usually more productive than launching a seven-product rescue campaign.
The Third Lesson: Plants Carry Personal History
Ciara’s collection connects her apartment to memories of both grandmothers. This emotional layer explains why plant people may keep an awkward cutting, celebrate a new leaf, or feel genuine disappointment when an old plant dies. The value is not confined to the price of the pot. A propagated stem may represent a friendship, a move to a new city, or the first living thing someone successfully cared for during a difficult year.
That history also makes propagation rewarding. Saving part of the infested monstera was not simply a technical experiment. It was a way to continue a four-year relationship in a new form. The replacement may be smaller, but it carries the story forward.
The Fourth Lesson: An Indoor Jungle Changes Daily Life
Living with dozens of plants creates recurring rituals. Mornings may begin with checking newly unfurled leaves. Weekends involve moving a watering can from room to room. Vacations require preparation, careful grouping, or a trustworthy sitter who understands that “just give everything a drink” is how tragedies begin.
The collection also reshapes the home. Window space becomes prime real estate. Shelves are evaluated partly by weight capacity and partly by whether a vine can trail from them attractively. Furniture may move to accommodate a fiddle-leaf fig that has clearly won the argument.
Yet the work brings frequent small rewards: a fresh root appearing in a propagation jar, a formerly struggling plant producing a healthy leaf, or a 20-foot vine becoming part of the room’s architecture. These changes are slow enough to encourage patience but visible enough to make care feel worthwhile.
The Final Lesson: Plant Parenting Is a Conversation
Ciara jokes that she would return as a Tradescantia Nanouk because it is gorgeous and spunky. That answer captures the spirit of her collection. Her plants are not disposable decorations; each has a shape, history, challenge, and place within the home.
Talking to 70 green friends may not provide them with vocabulary lessons, but it keeps their caretaker engaged. The words accompany observation, and observation drives good houseplant care. Whether someone owns 70 plants or one slightly nervous pothos, the essential practice is the same: pay attention, respond thoughtfully, and accept that growth rarely follows a perfectly straight vine.
Conclusion
Ciara Benko’s Lower East Side apartment shows how plant parenting can combine family history, interior design, practical horticulture, and a healthy sense of humor. Her collection includes resilient vines, demanding tropical foliage, propagated survivors, and plants large enough to become roommates in their own right.
The real secret behind her indoor jungle is not conversation alone. It is the attention surrounding that conversation: matching plants with suitable light, checking soil before watering, inspecting leaves, managing pests early, and allowing struggling specimens another chance. Plants may not understand encouraging words, but attentive care speaks their language remarkably well.
