Indoor plants for a windowless office?
Question:Our social service agency has full-spectrum lighting, so I think that would be good for plants. The lights are on in my small office 8-12 hours a day, but not on weekends. Should I be prepared to move plants to windows on the weekend? What plants would people recommend? The less work, the better.
Answers:
A pothos plant is a no fail plant for me as well as a mother in laws tongue.
My home doesn't get much natural light and they grow well in the dimmer light.
If you are allowed to add a lamp to your office, try getting a spotlight or a regular lamp with a flourescent screw in bulb that has the daylight brightness. (more blue in color -cool but brighter than the yellow - warm)
This will only cost pennies to use and the plants only need it for the weekends.
5-6 dollars for the bulb and it lasts up to 10 yrs.
Go for the typical, Wal-Mart and K-Mart, mass produced greens in baskets. Although I have maintained orchids, ferns, tropicals and caudiciforms very well under those lights! That is, when I left them on day and night
I would suggest Spathphyllum.They like some light,more than other indoor plants.maybe give them a little water once a week.You should not have to move the near the window over the weekend.
African Violets prosper in arificial lighting and the 'Swiss cheese plant' Is a large foliage plant that will probably suit your purposes. Bromeliads usually do well as well.
I would recommend one of the many varieties of ivy, or wondering jew! It would probably do best if you put it by a window on the weekend. But I have seen them survive in the same situation without the window treatment.
Plants need light and a whole weekend might be too much darkness for most plants. Try it with just one at first to keep from moving so many. I would suggest maybe a peace lily. They love filtered light.
Artificial , the are less to worry about & most of them look so real no one will know they are not
Pathos is always an evergreen winner.
P.S. If you take care of them and re-pot them when they need it, these plants will grow forever. I know folks with pathos that is older than their grown children.
As an alternative to moving plants to a window every weekend, would it be possible to get a small desk lamp with a full spectrum compact fluorescent bulb and just keep that over your plants when the rest of the lights are out?
Maybe you could try out some carnivorous plants. There are hundreds of varieties of sundews (Drosera) and butterwarts (Pinguicula) that thrive under artificial lights. Not only are they fun, beautiful, and easy to grow, they are a great topic of conversation for curious passersby.
I would avoid Venus Flytraps though for in the office. They are temperate species that do best in full sun with warm days and cool nights, and need a dormancy period of several months in the winter which would be difficult to duplicate in a climate controlled office.
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