Growing plants without soil sounds like something that should require pumps, complicated equipment and a degree in hydroponics.
It really doesn’t.
Some houseplants and edible plants can grow surprisingly well with their roots permanently in water.
And we’re not just talking about putting a Pothos cutting in a glass until it grows roots.
With the right care, certain plants can continue growing in water long-term without ever being planted into traditional potting soil.
That makes growing plants in water brilliant if you:
- Love watching roots develop
- Hate dealing with bags of potting mix
- Want to grow plants in small spaces
- Keep forgetting when you last watered something
- Want an easy indoor gardening experiment
- Are interested in hydroponics but don’t know where to start
There is one important catch, though.
Water can replace soil as the physical growing medium, but plain tap water can’t necessarily provide everything a plant needs forever.
If you’re growing plants permanently in water, you’ll eventually need to think about nutrients, light and water quality too.
So, which plants can actually grow without soil?
Here are 15 of the best plants to grow in water.
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Can Plants Really Grow in Water Without Soil?
Yes.
Plants don’t technically need soil itself to survive.
They need things that soil normally provides, including:
- Water
- Oxygen
- Nutrients
- Physical support
If we can provide those things another way, many plants can grow perfectly well without traditional soil.
That’s the basic principle behind hydroponic growing.
But there’s a difference between growing a Pothos in a vase and running a full hydroponic vegetable system.
You can start extremely simply.
Water Propagation vs Growing Plants Permanently in Water
Before we start filling every drinking glass in the house with plants, there’s an important distinction.
Water propagation
Water propagation means placing a cutting in water so that it develops roots.
Once those roots have developed, the cutting is usually transferred into potting mix.
If that’s what you’re trying to do, read How to Propagate Plants: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide and Water vs Soil Propagation.
Growing permanently in water
Some plants can stay in water after they’ve rooted.
Instead of moving them into soil, you continue growing them hydroponically.
Over time, you’ll need to provide nutrients rather than expecting plain water to sustain the plant indefinitely.
Regrowing vegetables in water
Then there’s a third category.
You can place things such as spring onion ends or lettuce bases in water and watch them produce new growth.
That’s fun.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve discovered an infinite vegetable loophole.
Regrowing scraps and growing a productive plant hydroponically are not quite the same thing.
Read Vegetables You Can Grow From Scraps Instead of Throwing Away for more kitchen-scrap experiments.
Best Plants to Grow in Water at a Glance
| Plant | Easy in Water? | Can Grow Long-Term? | Edible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pothos | Very easy | Yes | No |
| Heartleaf Philodendron | Very easy | Yes | No |
| Monstera | Easy | Yes | No |
| Syngonium | Easy | Yes | No |
| Tradescantia | Very easy | Yes | No |
| Spider Plant | Easy | Yes | No |
| Lucky Bamboo | Very easy | Yes | No |
| Peace Lily | Moderate | Yes | No |
| Coleus | Very easy | Yes | No |
| Begonia | Moderate | Potentially | No |
| Mint | Very easy | Yes | Yes |
| Basil | Easy | Yes | Yes |
| Spring Onions | Very easy | Yes* | Yes |
| Lettuce | Moderate | Yes* | Yes |
| Sweet Potato Vine | Easy | Yes | Depends on purpose |
*For productive long-term edible growing, you’ll need more than simply placing supermarket scraps in a glass of tap water.
1. Pothos
Best houseplant to grow in water
If you’re going to try growing one houseplant permanently in water, make it a Pothos.
Pothos roots readily from cuttings and can continue growing in water for a remarkably long time.
Take a cutting containing at least one node and place the node beneath the water.
Keep the leaves above the surface.
Roots should eventually emerge from the submerged nodes.
Can Pothos live in water forever?
Potentially, yes.
A Pothos doesn’t have to be transferred into soil once it has rooted.
However, if you want it to continue producing healthy growth long-term, you’ll eventually need to supply appropriate nutrients.
This is different from a freshly rooted cutting surviving happily in plain water for a while.
👉 Shop glass propagation and hydroponic vases
For the full propagation method, read How to Propagate Pothos in Water.
2. Heartleaf Philodendron
Heartleaf Philodendrons are another excellent choice for water growing.
Like Pothos, they’re climbing plants that produce roots from nodes along their stems.
That makes them:
- Easy to propagate
- Easy to position in a vase
- Relatively forgiving
- Attractive when grown with visible roots
Take a stem cutting below a node and place that node in water.
Once established, you can continue growing the plant hydroponically rather than transferring it into potting mix.
3. Monstera
Yes, you can grow Monstera in water too.
Monstera cuttings root readily in water provided you’ve actually taken a cutting containing a node.
A leaf with no node may look extremely decorative in a vase but isn’t going to magically become an enormous Monstera plant.
Growing Monstera permanently in water
A rooted Monstera can be maintained hydroponically, but larger plants need more thought than a little Pothos cutting.
As the plant grows, consider:
- Nutrients
- Root space
- A sufficiently substantial container
- Support for climbing growth
- Plenty of light
This is where growing plants in water begins to shift from cute cutting in a jam jar towards actual hydroponic plant care.
4. Syngonium
Syngoniums, or arrowhead plants, are another excellent water-growing option.
Stem cuttings can root quickly and established plants can be maintained hydroponically.
They’re particularly attractive in transparent containers because you get foliage above the vase and a visible root system underneath.
If your Syngonium starts producing long climbing stems, you may eventually need to give it some support.
5. Tradescantia
If you want fast results, try Tradescantia.
These plants can root enthusiastically from stem cuttings, making them a brilliant beginner experiment.
Place several cuttings together in one container and you can create a much fuller display than you would with a single stem.
They’re also useful if you’re trying water growing with children because you don’t necessarily have to stare at an apparently unchanged stick for three weeks while insisting something exciting is happening.
6. Spider Plant
Spider plants practically do the propagation work for you.
Mature plants produce little plantlets — often called spiderettes — which can be rooted in water.
You can then either move them into soil or experiment with maintaining them hydroponically.
Read How to Propagate a Spider Plant for the full process.
Can spider plants live permanently in water?
They can be grown hydroponically, although long-term growth requires more care than simply leaving a spiderette in the same glass of water indefinitely.
Provide nutrients once the plant is established and keep an eye on the roots.
7. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky Bamboo is probably one of the plants most commonly sold already growing in water.
Despite the name, it isn’t actually bamboo.
It’s a Dracaena.
You’ll often see Lucky Bamboo sold with its stems sitting in water and supported by decorative pebbles.
Keep the roots submerged rather than drowning the entire stem.
Lucky Bamboo can be sensitive to water quality, so if it starts developing problems, the water itself is worth investigating.
8. Peace Lily
This one surprises people.
Peace Lilies can be grown hydroponically, but converting an established soil-grown plant to water requires more work than simply taking a Pothos cutting.
You need to remove the soil carefully from around the roots before placing them into water.
Any remaining organic material can encourage rot.
For a beginner, I’d still choose Pothos or Philodendron first.
But if you’ve already caught the growing-plants-in-water bug, Peace Lily can make a beautiful larger hydroponic display.
9. Coleus
Coleus is ridiculously satisfying to propagate in water.
Stem cuttings root readily, and the colourful foliage means the plant is decorative long before it becomes particularly large.
Choose a healthy stem cutting, remove any leaves that would sit underwater and submerge the lower nodes.
Coleus generally appreciates plenty of light to maintain strong growth and good foliage colour.
10. Begonia
Many Begonias can also be propagated in water.
Depending on the type, you may be able to use:
- Stem cuttings
- Leaf cuttings
- Sections of leaf
Some can then be maintained in water or another soilless setup.
Begonias can be a little less forgiving than Pothos, though, so I wouldn’t necessarily choose one as your first permanent water-growing experiment.
11. Mint
Now we’re moving into the edible plants.
And mint is an excellent one.
Mint cuttings root incredibly easily in water.
If you’ve ever grown mint outdoors, you’ll know that convincing mint to grow is rarely the difficult part.
Convincing it to stop is another matter entirely.
Can mint grow permanently in water?
Yes, mint is suitable for hydroponic growing.
For sustained harvesting, however, you’ll need to supply nutrients and adequate light.
This can be a brilliant way to keep fresh mint available indoors for:
- Tea
- Cooking
- Desserts
- Mocktails
- Cocktails
Read Best Herbs to Grow for Tea or 12 Best Plants to Grow for a Cocktail Garden for more ideas.
12. Basil
Basil is another excellent herb to grow hydroponically.
In fact, it’s one of the crops you’ll frequently find in countertop indoor growing systems.
You can start simply by rooting a basil cutting in water.
Once established, provide sufficient:
- Light
- Nutrients
- Water
- Warmth
Regular harvesting can encourage bushier growth.
Read How to Harvest Herbs Without Killing the Plant before attacking it with the kitchen scissors.
13. Spring Onions
Spring onions — or green onions/scallions — are famous for their ability to regrow in water.
Put the white root end into a shallow amount of water and you’ll usually see fresh green growth appearing surprisingly quickly.
It’s one of the easiest kitchen gardening experiments around.
But can spring onions grow in water forever?
There’s an important difference between regrowing the existing plant and producing strong, indefinite new crops.
The bulb contains stored energy, which allows new leaves to emerge initially.
For proper ongoing hydroponic growing, the plant needs nutrients.
So enjoy your supermarket spring-onion resurrection.
Just don’t assume tap water has somehow abolished farming.
14. Lettuce
Lettuce is another plant frequently used in kitchen-scrap regrowing experiments.
Place the base of a lettuce in shallow water and new leaves can begin appearing from the centre.
Again, that’s regrowth, not necessarily a brand-new full lettuce.
However, lettuce itself is extremely well suited to actual hydroponic growing.
That’s why you’ll see it in many countertop indoor garden systems.
With the right setup, you can grow lettuce from seed hydroponically and harvest fresh leaves indoors.
👉 Shop countertop hydroponic gardens
And this is where systems such as Click & Grow start becoming genuinely interesting rather than gimmicky — they provide the light, water reservoir and growing system in one compact unit.
We’ll come back to those in a dedicated guide.
15. Sweet Potato Vine
Put a sweet potato partly into water and you’ll often see roots and shoots begin developing.
Those shoots can create an attractive trailing vine.
It’s a brilliant experiment if you’re more interested in the foliage than producing a huge crop of sweet potatoes.
Growing actual sweet potatoes for harvest is a different proposition and requires more root space.
But as a look what this thing from the kitchen is doing project?
Excellent.
What Do You Need to Grow Plants in Water?
You can start incredibly simply.
For basic water growing you’ll need:
A suitable plant or cutting
Pothos is my first choice for beginners.
A container
Glass jars and vases are useful because you can see what’s happening to the roots.
Water
Obviously.
Enough light
Growing without soil does not mean growing without light.
If your plant is struggling in a dark room, changing its vase isn’t going to negotiate with photosynthesis on your behalf.
Read The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Grow Lights for Houseplants if natural light is limited.
Nutrients
This becomes important for long-term water growing.
👉 Shop hydroponic plant nutrients
We’ll cover nutrients properly in a dedicated guide because this is one of the biggest differences between rooting a cutting in water and actually growing a plant hydroponically.
What Is the Best Container for Growing Plants in Water?
You don’t need a special hydroponic vase for a basic houseplant.
You can use:
- Glass jars
- Bottles
- Vases
- Propagation vessels
- Hydroponic containers
Transparent glass makes it easy to monitor the roots.
But it also allows light to reach the water, which can encourage algae.
So there’s a trade-off.
Decorative opaque vessels can work perfectly well once you know what’s happening below the surface.
👉 Shop glass plant-growing vases
👉 Shop hydroponic plant containers
How Often Should You Change the Water?
Don’t simply fill a vase once and assume you’ve completed plant care for the next seven years.
Water can become:
- Stagnant
- Depleted of oxygen
- Dirty
- Full of decaying plant material
- A lovely home for algae
Refresh the water regularly and clean the container when necessary.
If roots become slimy, brown or foul-smelling rather than firm and healthy, investigate immediately.
Do Plants Growing in Water Need Fertiliser?
For long-term growth, generally yes.
Fresh cuttings can initially rely on stored resources within the plant.
But if you’re expecting a plant to produce new leaves month after month without soil, it needs another source of essential nutrients.
That’s where a fertiliser designed for hydroponic growing can be useful.
Don’t simply pour your usual houseplant fertiliser into the vase at full strength.
Follow the instructions for the product and growing method you’re actually using.
Can You Use Tap Water?
Often, yes.
But water quality varies enormously.
Depending on where you live, tap water may contain different levels of:
- Minerals
- Chlorine or chloramine
- Dissolved salts
Some plants are more sensitive than others.
If one plant repeatedly develops problems despite otherwise good care, water quality may be worth considering.
Can You Grow Plants in Water Without Fertiliser?
For a while, absolutely.
Forever while producing vigorous new growth?
That’s much less realistic.
Think of plain water as enough to get many cuttings started.
For long-term hydroponic growing, you need to think about nutrition too.
What Is the Easiest Plant to Grow in Water?
Pothos.
No contest for my beginner recommendation.
After that I’d try:
- Heartleaf Philodendron
- Tradescantia
- Syngonium
- Mint
- Basil
They’re all relatively easy plants for experimenting with water growing.
What Edible Plants Can You Grow in Water?
Some of the easiest include:
- Basil
- Mint
- Lettuce
- Spring onions
With a more complete hydroponic system, your options become much broader.
You can potentially grow crops including:
- Leafy greens
- Herbs
- Pak choi
- Some strawberries
- Compact tomatoes
- Chillies
This is where we move away from a cutting in a glass and towards actual indoor hydroponic gardening.
And that’s a rabbit hole we’re absolutely going down.
What About Countertop Hydroponic Gardens?
If you like the idea of growing food without soil but don’t particularly want to build a hydroponic system yourself, countertop indoor gardens can make things considerably easier.
Systems such as Click & Grow typically combine things such as:
- A water reservoir
- Plant pods or growing medium
- Integrated grow lights
- A compact indoor growing area
They’re particularly suited to herbs and leafy greens.
👉 Shop countertop indoor hydroponic gardens
I’ll cover these separately because there’s a much bigger question here:
Are smart indoor gardens actually worth buying?
And that’s worth an article of its own.
Water Growing vs Countertop Hydroponics
These are really two ends of the same idea.
A Pothos in a vase
Cheap, simple and decorative.
Herbs in a hydroponic countertop garden
More controlled, more productive and more equipment-heavy.
Neither is necessarily better.
It depends whether you’re trying to decorate a shelf with a Philodendron or harvest lettuce for lunch.
Common Mistakes When Growing Plants in Water
Submerging leaves
Keep foliage above the water unless the particular plant requires otherwise.
Decaying leaves can quickly make the water unpleasant.
Never changing the water
A glass vase is not a magical self-maintaining ecosystem.
Forgetting nutrients
Especially once you’re growing plants long-term.
Giving plants too little light
Hydroponics doesn’t compensate for darkness.
Using an unsuitable plant
Just because something can be propagated in water doesn’t automatically mean it’s the ideal candidate for permanent hydroponic growing.
Ignoring root rot
Healthy water-grown roots shouldn’t be disintegrating into brown sludge.
If something smells terrible, that’s generally not your plant thriving.
FAQs
Can houseplants live permanently in water?
Some can. Pothos, Heartleaf Philodendron, Syngonium and several other houseplants can be maintained hydroponically long-term when given suitable light, water and nutrients.
What plants grow best in just water?
Pothos, Philodendron, Tradescantia and Syngonium are among the easiest houseplants to start in water. Mint and basil are good edible options.
Can Pothos grow in water forever?
Pothos can be grown long-term without traditional soil, but sustained healthy growth requires more than simply leaving a cutting in plain water indefinitely.
Can Monstera grow in water permanently?
Yes, Monstera can be grown hydroponically, although larger plants require sufficient nutrients, root space, light and physical support.
What vegetables can grow in water?
Leafy greens such as lettuce are well suited to hydroponic systems. Spring onions can also regrow readily in water, although simple scrap regrowth is different from growing a productive crop hydroponically.
Can you grow herbs in water?
Yes. Mint and basil are particularly good candidates for hydroponic growing.
Do plants growing in water need nutrients?
For sustained long-term growth, plants generally need a source of essential nutrients. Plain water alone does not necessarily provide everything required.
Do hydroponic plants need sunlight?
They need light, but that light doesn’t necessarily have to come directly from the sun. Indoor hydroponic systems commonly use grow lights instead.
Is growing plants in water the same as hydroponics?
Growing a plant without soil and supplying its needs through water falls broadly within hydroponic growing, although a Pothos cutting in a vase is a much simpler setup than a controlled hydroponic food-growing system.
Final Thoughts
Growing plants without soil can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it.
You can start with:
A Pothos cutting + a jar + water.
That’s it.
Watch the roots develop.
See how the plant grows.
Then perhaps try Philodendron or Syngonium.
Or take things in an edible direction and experiment with mint and basil.
And if you find yourself six months later comparing countertop hydroponic systems and wondering how much lettuce one person can reasonably grow in their kitchen?
Well.
That’s how gardening gets you.
Continue Reading
- How to Propagate Plants: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide
- Water vs Soil Propagation
- How to Propagate Pothos in Water
- How to Propagate a Spider Plant
- What Do You Need to Propagate Plants?
- Vegetables You Can Grow From Scraps
- What Do You Need to Grow Herbs Indoors?
- The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Grow Lights for Houseplants