Realistic artificial plant: the 7 signs that make people think it is real

A realistic artificial plant is recognised by seven details: raised veins, several greens, a believable stem, a neat pot, the right size, a logical place and no dust. If these seven points are right, a guest's eye no longer stops on the plant.

The first four signs can be checked before you buy, on the photos of the product page. The last three depend on you.

1. Raised veins

A real leaf is not flat. It has a central vein, finer veins, and a slightly domed surface between them.

Zoom in on the photo of the product page. If the leaf is as smooth as a sheet of paper, the plant will look fake up close. If you see hollows and relief, that is a good sign.

2. Several greens, and a paler underside

On a real plant, young leaves are lighter than old ones. The underside of the leaf is paler and more matt than the top.

A plant of one single green, identical everywhere, is spotted quickly. Look for at least two tones, and an underside that differs from the top.

Be wary of shine too. Most real leaves have a soft sheen. A leaf that shines like new plastic gives itself away under a lamp.

3. A stem that looks like a stem

This is the detail most often missed. A real stem has a colour, a thickness and nodes. A wire sheathed in green has none of that.

Look at the spot where the leaf joins the stem. On a well-made plant, the join is discreet.

Some climbing plants are sold mounted on a support pole, like real ones. This is the case for our 120 cm artificial monstera. The pole is part of the realism: a real monstera of this size has one too.

4. The pot and what is in it

Many artificial plants arrive in a small black plastic pot. This pot is made to hold the plant. It is not made to be seen.

Slip it into a cache-pot: terracotta, ceramic, wicker. Measure the diameter of the pot before you choose the cache-pot. Then cover the surface with a little bark, dried moss or gravel. The base of the stem disappears, and the eye reads "potted plant".

A plant supplied as a stem, with no pot, is even simpler. It slips into a vase, like a cut branch. Our 15 cm mini pilea comes this way, as a stem, with no pot or vase. Take several to fill a vase: a single stem stays discreet.

5. The right size for the species

Every plant has a size that we know without thinking about it. An adult monstera is large. A pilea is small.

A plant of the right species at the wrong size looks fake, even if it is well made. Before you buy, ask yourself what size the real plant would have in your home.

Mixing sizes helps too. A large specimen on the floor, a medium one on a piece of furniture, a small one on a shelf: this is how real plants live in a home. Our "Urban Jungle" L set brings together five artificial plants from 25 to 120 cm for this reason.

Our guide to the large artificial plant gives heights according to the ceiling and the furniture.

6. A place where a real plant could live

This is the sign that nobody looks at, and that everybody senses. A green plant at the end of a hallway with no window is surprising. The same plant one metre from a window raises no question.

Place your artificial plant where you would have placed the real one. Near a window, in a bright corner, on a sideboard.

The bathroom with no window is an exception: nobody expects a real plant there. Our guide to the bathroom plant explains why.

7. Open leaves, and no dust

An artificial plant travels folded in a box. Our product pages say so: the leaves arrive folded, and you open them by hand after unpacking.

Take ten minutes for this. Spread the stems. Turn a few leaves towards the window, as if they were looking for light. Do not place them all at the same distance: a real plant is never symmetrical.

Then comes the dust. A real plant loses its old leaves and makes new ones. A fake plant keeps the same leaves for years, and the dust shows.

How to clean an artificial plant

Our product pages give a single step: a pass with a dry cloth against dust.

• Once a month, wipe a soft, dry cloth over each leaf, from top to bottom. Support the leaf from underneath with your other hand.
• For corners, use a dry, clean brush.
• For a stain, first read the product page. Our pages speak of "synthetic material" without detailing it. In that case, try a barely damp cloth on a leaf that is not very visible, then dry.

Do not soak the plant, and do not put it under the shower. The maker does not say that its materials can take it.

Real or fake: the question to ask first

A realistic artificial plant makes sense where a real plant cannot live: little light, long absences, a difficult room. Elsewhere, a living plant remains a different kind of pleasure.

Our guide to artificial or natural plant helps you choose room by room. And if you want a real, living pilea, read our guide to the pilea in a terrarium.

All our plants are on the artificial plants page.

Sources

• Technical data sheets from the maker of the artificial plants (heights, presentation, care)