Lots of vines and leaves, what to get

I want to start a houseplant, more likely 3 or 4 of them but I want to do it all in the same pot. I want climbing vines and tons of leaves with different shapes and sizes. Something that I can make a trellis system for and have it completely cover it in a thick mass of vegetation.

What can I get for say an 18-24 inch pot that will get along, won't need too much light and will grow into a tangled mass of vegetation. The more variety the better.

 

That is a good sized pot to fill. Because most house plants really do/grow best with their roots filling the pot you should probably start with big plants. I have mixed two different combinations of house plants together that have done well for many years together. Sorry I have never tried more than two plants together. It is hard to find plants that will do well together and have the same type of environmental needs to grow well not out competing each other.

My favorite was the ficus benjamina (ficus tree) and ficus pumila (creeping fig). They both come in variegation and dark green leaf colors, both are highly trainable, and have similar needs. I have braided the ficus tree and the creeping ficus I have trained up the trunk of the other and it also made a nice ground cover for the pot. These are very long lived house plants and I had mine for 20 plus years before wanting the space for other things.

The second combination is the peace lily (Spathiphyllum) with the heart shaped philodendron (Philodendron scandens). Home Depot has been carrying a variegated form of the peace lily as well as the dark green leafed one. Both of these plants are fast growers. They get along well and one is a trailer and the other is an upright.

I also add Soleirolia soleirolii (Mother of Thousands, Baby's Tears) to many of my houseplant's pots. It has been a great ground cover for most plants inside and out as long as the soil doesn't get too dry.

 

Here I thought I was making the pot too small, guess maybe a smaller pot would be a better starting point. Maybe a 12 inch pot? Smaller?

Couple questions:
Ficus tree and creeping fig, would ivy do well with them? Same with the lily/philo. would baby tears go with all of them?

Oh and I would love to see a picture of them intertwined, might be exactly what I want to do with whatever I get.

Thank you again Jewell, I try to search for compatable plants and I rarely get anywhere at all unless I know scientific names. Now I do so I have a good place to start.

 

I had great success with a Hoya and Philodendron (the small-leaf one) once. The Hoya bloomed every year as well.
I made sort of a wire trellis on the wall and up they climbed.

 

From my experience I have found that the pot should not be more than an one inch bigger than the original pot. I had a hard time finding a picture of my ficus tree (pre GardenStew-so I didn't take pictures of plants) Here is one picture of an old cat with a severely pruned tree in the background. You can see the compariative leaf sizes. I have found that I can put baby's tears with almost everything as long as it gets enough light and moisture.

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Here is picture of a varigated ficus benjamina I kept pruned to about a foot. It was about 12 years old. You can see the baby's tears at the base. It was in a very shallow small pot (I used the baby's tears to know when to water). The following is the baby tears in with a current plant/tree. I really need to trim the baby's tears. I have a lot of baby's tears in my yard also. (took a beating this last winter and is just starting to come back)

Ivy would probably work fine. I have just found that if it is in a warm house it tends to get spider mites and contaminate other plants. I use ivy only in my cool breezeway or in outside. For planters I like the variegated ivy.


( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )


( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )


Ivy topiary ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

 

Those are some really nice houseplants Jewel. I have some larger Jades but never had anything like that. I don't like the idea of getting spider mites so Ivy will have to stay outside if I get it.

I did just learn that you should only go one pot size bigger from Home Depot if you can believe it. I got a snake plant, Sansevieria, and almost put it in a huge pot which I am told would have likely lead to it either dying or really struggling for a long time. I guess I am not like most men because I like to ask questions and get all the information I can before I waste a lot of time in futility. I know I have killed at least one huge Aloe by doing this. Had it in a 4 inch pot and the plant was over 4 feet across. I transplanted it in a 12 inch pot and not 3 months later it melted. So lesson learned there.

I guess I just dive into what always seems to be the most complicated way to do it. Looks like it will take me a while to find 3-5 species that can get along and like the same conditions. Not gonna be easy to find that many plants that like the same lighting, moisture and pot space that won't kill each other off.

Baby tears will be on that list though. I love full cover plants that keep any houseplant busy.

The search is on.

 

So one size bigger pot. What that be if I get 3 6 inch pots with full grown plants in them? As small as possible to fit them all in?

I have done a lot of research on the plants on here and I am getting close to what I think will get along together. Still have a lot of research to do before I make any kind of decision though as this has to all at once with the larger plants in order to just get them into it. The baby tears will be easy so I don't have to account for it except for it's needs compared to the rest.