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Here’s how much light your houseplants need to grow and stay healthy

Posted on 07/01/2022 9:52 AM | by NaijaHouses

Here’s how much light your houseplants need to grow and stay healthy

“Grow in the Dark: How to Choose and Care for Low-Light Houseplants” by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf (and published by Cool Springs Press) is an excellent book for anyone who is thinking of growing houseplants or is already growing them but with limited success. In truth, virtually all plants we associate with growing indoors tolerate low light since they come from the tropical rain forest floor where a modicum of light trickles down through the trees flourishing overhead.

The virtue of this volume is that, in simple language, all aspects of growing indoor plants are clearly stated. The light requirement of each plant discussed is specifically given: whether it should be placed next to a north-, south-, east-, or west-facing window and, where applicable, how far back from the window. The only plants commonly grown indoors that are not included in this book are those that receive a lot more light in their habitats: cacti and succulents, Ficus species (such as Ficus benjamina and Ficus lyrata that grow into trees), orchids (which live high up in the crotches of tree limbs where plentiful light is available), and anthuriums – noted for their plastic textured heart-shaped red spathes and yellow spadixes – that share their habitat with orchids.

Actually, one orchid species is among the 50 plants profiled in the book. However, it is not grown for its flowers, but in the words of the author, for “amazing foliage” that shows off “burgundy color with iridescent peach stripes.” Jewel orchid is a terrestrial species, so it does not need the same light as its epiphytic (tree-dwelling), opulent flowering, orchid cousins. Still, if brought into “medium-light such as that from an east window” it will produce tall sprays of white flowers. Having grown a jewel orchid, I can assure you it is one of the easiest indoor plants to maintain, as long as the soil is kept moist. In common with succulents generally, it is easily propagated from shoot-tip cuttings. You can order jewel orchids from online vendors with prices starting at around $15.

Another plant with colorful foliage that the author promotes is the polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya), which is widely available in the nursery trade. Position it “in an east window or back a few feet from a west window.” The spots and blotches on the leaves may be pink, red, or white, depending on the cultivar. It is easily cloned from shoot-tip cuttings inserted into “moist potting mix,” a propagation prescription the author recommends for many of the plants mentioned in the book.

Ribbon bush (Hypoestes aristata) is a polka dot plant relative that can also be grown indoors, albeit in a bright-light exposure and in soil that drains faster than a conventional potting mix. There are not enough superlatives to describe this plant, which grows up to six feet tall. It is not demanding of water and, from fall to winter, is covered with small, violet floral ribbons that will remind you of those, curled at the ends, that you see on gift packages. It is a plant no garden should be without and is one of the easiest to propagate from cuttings. Ribbon bush is native to South Africa but may be procured locally from any nursery supplied by San Marcos Growers. You can find those nurseries by going to smgrowers.com and clicking on “Retail Locator” on the left side of the home page.

When it comes to low-light plants with arresting foliage, however, the calatheas and marantas, which are botanical cousins, are in a class of their own. The markings on their leaves are meticulously symmetrical and unforgettable. They do crave humidity more than other indoor plants and will benefit from being placed “on pebble trays and, if possible, in a bathroom or kitchen window where the humidity is a little higher already.” Steinkopf emphasizes that their leaves are easily burnt by dry air or fluoride (found in our water to prevent cavities) and so rainwater or distilled water is recommended in meeting their moisture requirement.

Marantas are known as prayer plants. They “fold their leaves up at night, quietly rustling them in the process.” The leaves of legumes such as peas, beans, and clover species also exhibit this behavior. The phenomenon of plant organ movement in response to the onset of darkness is known as nyctinasty. The petals of many flowers, especially those in the daisy family, also close up at night and may stay closed on overcast days. In the case of leaves, they may also fold up during daylight hours, which is typically a signal that the soil is dry and water is needed.

Two main hypotheses have been advanced to explain the closure of leaves of certain plants at night. The first involves temperature regulation. When leaves are closed, there is less leaf surface area exposed and so there will be less heat loss on cold nights. The second hypothesis has to do with herbivores or plant-eating insects. When leaves are open, they provide cover for herbivores that hide or nest on the ground underneath, while when leaves are closed, the herbivores are exposed to nighttime predators (such as bats) and parasitoid insects. Thus, according to these hypotheses, leaf closure at night was developed as a survival mechanism to protect plants from cold damage and consumption by herbivorous pests.

As a rule, Dracaenas are probably the least thirsty of all indoor plants. I say as a rule only because of that ubiquitous, twisted-stemmed lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana), which is not a true bamboo. It grows in water or soil kept evenly moist. The other Dracaenas, typically grown indoors as floor plants, may not need water more than once every several weeks.

In the words of Steinkopf, “Water your dracaena well until water runs out of the drainage hole, then let the medium dry down at least halfway before watering again,” bearing in mind that “dracaenas do not like to be placed in ‘heavy’ potting medium; they prefer a well-drained, porous medium.” I had a Janet Craig dracaena in a five-gallon container that thrived for more than two decades. It was kept near a north-facing window and never wilted despite being left waterless, in fall and winter, for up to a month at a time or longer.

Source:Dailynews.com