10 most popular houseplants on Instagram

A type of cactus, echeveria is the number one houseplant on Instagram. Photo: AFP

From succulents to cacti, sales of indoor plants and plant accessories have been on the rise in recent years, as a result of urbanisation.

According to a recent study by Budget Direct Home Insurance, this indoor gardening craze varies across geographical areas.

Europe is notably the region of the world where gardeners share pictures of their own indoor garden the most, with 16,783 posts under the #urbanjungle tag posted on Instagram from the Old Continent.

North America is next with 9,402 posts using the #urbanjungle tag, while Asia takes third place with 5,439 posts.

While these posts feature a wide variety of greenery, some houseplant species generate more attention than others on social media.

Echeveria

Immediately identifiable for its blue-green rosette, echeveria is the number one houseplant on Instagram, with over a million pictures with the #echeveria tag on the platform. While you can find over 1,000 varieties of this cactus in all sorts of textures and colours, echeveria is very easy to grow for indoor gardeners as it only needs bright sunlight and occasional water.

Crocus

With over 500,000 posts on Instagram, crocus is the second favourite houseplant of indoor gardeners. While crocuses are among the first flowers to herald spring, you do not have to wait until then to enjoy their cup-shaped petals. You can force them to bloom in mid-winter if you start growing the bulbs in October. However, keep in mind that this indoor plant is highly toxic for cats and dogs.

Haworthia

The third most popular plant on Instagram is none other than haworthia, which has been photographed in more than 444,000 posts with the #haworthia tag. Striped, spotted or chunky, the leaves of this succulent can take various shapes and forms. Haworthias are known to be very self-reliant and only need to be kept away from direct sunlight.

Discover the entire top 10 of the indoor plants most commonly photographed by wannabe botanicals on Instagram below:

1- Echeveria (1,021,534 posts)

2- Crocus (517,005 posts)

3- Haworthia (444,161 posts)

4- Fuchsia Plant (419,959 posts)

5- Daffodils (332,089 posts)

6- Swiss Cheese Plant (329,195 posts)

7- Dragon Wing Begonia (306,495 posts)

8- Living Stones (263,554 posts)

9- Freesia Flower (172,855 posts)

10- Chinese Money Plant (145,220 posts) – AFP Relaxnews