houseplants

I love houseplants. The problem is I live in a moble home without many windows. The windows we do have has sofas and chairs in front of them. Is there anything I can grow with almost no light?

Hi froggirl, thats trick really as you will know, most plants need light, water, food and compost to grow, I dont know your zone, so will just put a few ideas you way, if you have some shadeing at your windows, then you could look out for a few hanging indoor plants that will be ok so long as they are shaded from the hot sun through the glass as you can imagine, this will act like a magnifying glass, so even some shade from a blind, see through curtains etc will be sufficient, in your situation, I would go for greenery rather than flowers as flower pollen can be messy, especially on soft furnishings, water away from the haning place, like in a bowl of water and rehang once the water stops running from the bottom of the pot once you lift it from the water bowl/bucket, there are some really nice plants that hang from pots and several variations in the foliage colour and shape, maybe try just one till you find if this is any good and if so, before you know it, you will be like Goldylocks, fighting your way through the forrest of greenery. remember, your plants will want some ventilation at some point of the day, especially in the hot months, and they wont like blown constantly with air conditioning right beside them. good luck, WeeNel.

Hi froggirl,
I live in a house but share your problem. I've figured out by trial and error what plants can make it without much light. You don't say which direction your windows face so I will just tell you what I have in my all my windows. My south facing windows don't get very much light at all due to a porch that runs the full length of the house. I have ivy, philodendron (Marble Queen and heart leaf), and grape ivy,. In my west windows which only get a few hours of sun I have only ivy. In my east window (morning sun only) I have ferns, Virginia creeper, and crown of thorns.

Peace lillies are supposed to do well with very little light.

hello, this is my first thread. i fell in love with a brand name plant call Diamond Frost. The other name is Euphorbia. The color is white and small flowers. it will not grow back next year. It is also hard to bet a lot of them at one time. any hints on starting plant off the big one? Any help on keeping these plants alive in the house for winter? thanks

Here's a link to the plantfile on your plant:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/104966/

It says its a tender perennial so you should be able to bring it inside for winter. It says it requires sun to light shade, so as long as you have a relatively sunny location in your house, I bet it would do fine.

Here's a link about it as well:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/104966/

In this one it says to propagate just take 3 inch stem cuttings and plant them in potting soil. It says they root easy...so good luck! Oh it also says they're appropriate as houseplants as well!!

Kristie

Hi Froggirl ..... Welcome to the Garden! A lot of us have the same problem with low light conditions in our homes but there are many plants that will thrive in low light conditions. Here are just a few I can think of that do real well in low light conditions. I believe most say light shade, but some of mine are in pretty dark areas and only get light from the lamps on the tables!

Aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/70490/
Aspidistra (Cast Iron Plant): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/606/
Nenathe Bella or Parlor Palm: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1479/
Pothos (Devil's Ivy): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51451/
Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51451/
Philodendron scadens (Heart Leaf Philodendron): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/736/
Ficus elastica (Rubber Tree): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54952/
Sansevieria (Snake Plant, Mother In Law Tongue): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/431/
Fittonia (Nerve Plant): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54486/

I have very low light inside my home and still am able to grow a lot of plants indoors. As long as you do not overwater you should do just fine. I have many plants both inside and out, on my porches and deck and I try to give them all a little water each week. Some will wilt and look terrible but when I give them a little drink they perk right back up. I've always found it is better to underwater than overwater. If they get too much water sitting around the roots it makes for very soggy conditions and you end up with root rot, fungus diseases and dead plants. My indoor plants get watered once a week to week and a half.

I hope you will give it a try with a couple of houseplants .... see how they do and you will be hooked and one day end up like a lot of us, with too many plants! Keep us posted and if you have any problems, there are so many knowledgeable folks here that are willing to answer questions. I have gotten great advice from other gardener's here.

Happy Growin! .... and again ..... Welcome to the Garden!

Lin

Thank you all so much for the help. My husband has helped too, he put up the blinds I have been asking for. I think now I can make a little plant want to live here. I have a pice lily, on the porch. Whith my new light maybe I can bring it in. The palor palm sound nice I think I will try that. Thanks again for the help and the welcome glad to be here. By the way I live in Oklahoma.

don't forget that there are so many standing light fixtures at Lowe's, Home Depot........maybe even 3 sockets that will hold gro lights.............you can point all three in different directions.....................you can put a gro light into any kind of socket...............works wonders and no big setup.................as in stands, etc..................

Zebra Plants actually require not to be in full sun, since the sun will burn them. They also need a lot of water, though.

These plants grow great in my house without any extra light.................two spath.......one big and one small..............a ZZ plant................syngonium plants (arrowhead plants) everywhere .........some even in vases with water in them............

I just posted all those somewhere??? a couple of days ago.........

I also live in a pretty dark house, so what isn't crammed into every bit of available window space is under artificial lights. True there are some plants that will do OK in low light, but most of them will never be at their best without it. Even the artificial light is just an ok substitute for the real thing....I think I have to move for the sake of my plants!

I just put all of my houseplants outside for the spring and the summer. Even my cactus have grown a lot and I live in Gloucester, MA. But yeah definitely get some artificial lights. Hopefully you can get a house with a lot of windows some time. Good luck and God Bless. : )

P.S. does anybody want to trade seeds?

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