Key Points
Crowded plants encourage pests and diseases to spread easily.Group plants with similar needs to simplify watering and maintenance.Boost airflow, use vertical space, and rotate plants for healthier growth.
An artful arrangement of houseplants can create a lush, jungle-like vibe in just about any space. But the best way to position indoor plants doesn’t just take aesthetics into account. For example, grouping plants closely together may achieve the look you want—but should those houseplants touch?
To find out, we spoke with a plant expert to understand the ins and outs of indoor plant spacing.
Here’s everything you need to know about whether houseplants touching is a good idea or something to avoid.
Meet the Expert
Kelly Funk is president and CEO of Jackson & Perkins, a nursery that carries a variety of indoor and outdoor plants.
Should Houseplants Touch Each Other?
Grouping your houseplants close together can feel more visually impactful than spacing them out, but it’s better to give each pot a little personal space.
“Light contact between the leaves isn’t usually harmful, but when foliage is constantly overlapping, it can lead to problems,” says Kelly Funk, president and CEO at plant nursery Jackson & Perkins. “Limited airflow around the leaves can trap moisture, encouraging fungal diseases like powdery mildew or leaf spot, and it can also make it easier for pests to spread from one plant to another.”
Depending on your setup, crowding pots together may block some plants from getting sufficient light, potentially stunting growth and making them leggy.
Funk notes that keeping houseplants so close together that their leaves touch could actually make your job as a plant parent more difficult.
“It’s harder to prune dead growth and water properly when plants are packed too tightly together,” she says.
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How to Space Houseplants Properly
Funk recommends keeping 2 to 6 inches of space between each small and medium-sized plant’s foliage and its neighbors. Give large plants even more space to keep their leaves from touching other plants.
If you’re squeezing plants together because you’re short on surfaces for them to sit on, consider using plant stands, shelving, or hanging planters to take advantage of vertical space and add visual interest.
Putting your potted plants so close together that their leaves touch isn’t the best idea, but that doesn’t mean you can’t arrange them near one another in attractive groupings.
You’ll help your plants and make care tasks like pruning and watering easier for yourself by grouping plants that require similar care and conditions together. For example, keep succulents and other desert plants in a warm area of the home that gets lots of sun, but put humidity-loving tropical plants like ferns and calatheas together in a spot that receives indirect light.
Just remember to use proper spacing within those groupings.
Tips for Positioning Houseplants
Consider other elements of the space that could touch plant leaves. “You don’t want leaves constantly brushing against furniture, walls, neighboring plants, or seated guests,” Funk says.Use a small fan to encourage airflow. In addition to proper spacing, good airflow can help reduce the spread of plant diseases, particularly in winter when fans may be running less often.Rotate plants regularly. Wherever they’re located in your space, it’s a good idea to rotate indoor plant pots a quarter-turn every few weeks to ensure balanced, healthy growth.Plan for your plants’ future size. That baby monstera or young fiddle-leaf fig may not be very large when you first buy them, but those plants can grow several feet tall and wide as they mature. If you give a soon-to-be-large plant the space it needs now, you won’t have to rearrange things later.Aim for balance when arranging houseplants. “When you design with enough proximity, you’re still creating a lush, indoor jungle feel, but not so much that plants struggle to breathe, grow, or stay healthy,” Funk says.
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