"I like the plants and I like to propagate them," Collins said. "I like taking cuttings of them to see how I can manipulate their growth."

Collins said he has a garden in his hometown but is unable break ground for one in his off-campus house. Instead, he pot-gardens when he can and has accumulated over 50 house plants. Collins recommends snake, ZZ, and Monstera plants for students. 

The snake plant looks similar to a large blade of grass and is hard to kill, he said. 

"It is very easy to take care of because the only thing that really kills it is overwatering," Collins said. "I’ve seen it left in the dark for a whole year and then come back. It requires very little light and very little water."

He said the Monstera requires more water but will thrive if placed in a spot with good lighting.

"It loves whatever you put it in as long as you re-pot it every so often," Collins said. "Otherwise it will break your pot. It’ll grow like crazy once it gets comfortable."

He said the ZZ plant resembles a succulent but is similar to the snake plant in terms of maintenance. 

"The ZZ plant is commonly used in offices and low light conditions because it can handle such low light and still show rapid growth," Collins said. "It can also handle high light and same with the snake plant. They can handle pretty much any light condition you put them in."

Communication, leadership & strategy senior Michael Stys said he would recommend succulents and cacti as great house plants. He said succulents he kept in his freshman year dorm are still alive now, even after he conducted experiments on them for his class. 

"Freshman year, I had a few plants that I actually tried to kill for a science experiment and they just wouldn’t die," Stys said. "I was like watering them with Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew for a month straight and my mom actually still keeps them at home."

Since then, Stys has bought cacti plants that he almost never waters. He said he keeps them in his apartment where the sun hits and they have been thriving. 

Crop and soil sciences senior Mia Hahn is another proud plant-parent. She owns 15-20 houseplants just in her East Lansing house and recommends pothos plants.

"You can keep it in water and it only grows about a foot a year and the leaves don’t get very big, which is cute for keeping in the dorm because then it doesn’t take up too much space," Hahn said. "Or you can stick it in dirt and the leaves are gonna get bigger. I have a few hanging from my ceiling right now."

Hahn said she has still owns plants that have been living since she was in middle school. She also said plants are great for at-home experiments. 

"You get to watch them and you see them change," Hahn said. "You kind of get to do different things to them and see if they care about it or not. You can change watering schedules, you can change the amount of sunlight they get, you can get grow lights." 

Hahn said houseplants are a great way to occupy your time, but still low-maintenance enough to ignore for longer periods of time.

"Especially for dorms, I recommend a snake plant," Hahn said. "They’re super fun and your dorm mate's mother will always compliment them when she comes over."