Hi, I'm new here. Would like to grow a jungle in the room, but don't see how it is possible in my situation and wasn't able to find anything about this on the web: Main limitations: small space and somewhat limited mobility (limping). 1. Townhouse (row house), 4 yrds wide (<4m), all floor space is used, no place for plants on the floor or place for a plant's stand. No shelves or bookcases for them yet in Southern well lit room, the Northern one has narrow window and is too dark, unless plant is in front of window, but desk is already in use for other purposes. 2. If hang shelves on walls, how to protect latex painted drywall from damage from misting and possible water spills? Also, the shelves should be not too wide, and leafy plants grow in all directions, will touch the wall and maybe stain it. We just finished painting them and I wouldn't like to repeat this frequently. Surely, there should be some compromise allowing accommodate plants without need in frequent wall painting. 3. Window at South is big, but without window sill or window depth for it (thin external wall, not like in some very old buildings). If add windowsill-like shelf, it will: a) reduce room space, the working table should be moved further, this will leave not enough room for moving chair freely between it and sofa; not good. b) Cat will occupy it at once, ignoring pots. c) Worst part: curtains. They will damage the pants on protruding windowsill-like shelf, or any window shelves. I thought about making very narrow shelves between window and curtains and use small pots with something. The bad part is that pots will block the light, making shade spots on working table, and plants will be near freezing temperatures in the winter nights, when curtains will be closed. Almost certainly leaves will touch the cold glass. Seems, that this in not an option. So far I have orchids on the serving plate directly on the working table in front of window, moved onto sofa when table is in use. It would be better to have permanent place for them. Another plant I have is a florist azalea tree, likely it will be in quite dark and cold laundry corner in basement, not too far from a small N window. It needs frost free cold in winter, as I've read. I was thinking about possibility of growing resilient larger plants, like ponytail palm, cycad, monstera, selloum philodendron, papirus cyperus - anything that doesn't require moving to the bathroom on the other floor for washing leaves or watering, misting that may leave traces on the walls, and don't have to be repotted every year or so. The problem is to find place for them, including fact that heavy large pots can't be placed on shelves, and forced air heating keeps rooms fairly dry, and I wouldn't like to have to used humidifier or fan. Sorry, I'm not picky, just trying to find way to keep indoor plants without compromising daily life I have to live :) Thanks.
you can use artificial lighting to make up for lack of windows/small window size. you can hang clear shower curtain liners on the walls to protect from moisture. use dishes, bowls or even large serving trays to protect furniture from moisture that leaches out of containers. shelving can still be narrow for a lot of plants and you can also hang from ceiling and/or install hangers that will extend out from the wall to hang plants from. you can also use shelf units that are tall & thin - many are designed for corners so they save space. there are also planters that are designed to be put directly on the wall. large containers can be put on the floor (away from vents) and then you can allow the plant to grow upwards - either on a totem or on a trellis attached to the wall. or, if it's a tree/bush, it'll just do its thing with no help. most aroids need higher humidity levels - so, monstera and philodendrons would be an issue with forces air heating. you can add humidity with a humidifier and even just containers of water left close by the plants. and you can mist them - would need to be daily, though, with the type of heat you have.
Thank you! I'll look into options you described. Can you recommend the plants suitable for forced air heating without humidifier? Resistant ones: I tried years ago begonias and hibiscus, and they were plagued by insects.
spider plants, any of the many wandering jews (there are many ;) ), some varieties of hoya would do okay if you mist them a couple times a week, african violets and other gesneriads - especially if you plant them in selfwatering pots, dracaena's, yucca, cacti, epiphylum, crassula's (tons and tons of varieties...most commonly seen is the 'jade plant'). and there are some others, too. i'm sure other people will chime in with suggestions :) dry conditions do leave you open for bug issues. most notable would be spider mites (they are virtually not visible to the eye and you know you have them when you see little webbing on the plants). to avoid them, misting the plants every week (or more if it's a type that needs more) and maybe even keeping a couple of bowls filled with water around the room and having a ceiling fan running all the time will help keep them at bay. since i converted the one bedroom to a plant room and now leave the ceiling fan running constantly, i haven't seen much change to the electric bill (and it's an older unit, too). so, they obviously don't draw all that much power...
Thank you very much! No spare room, but I kept collection of orchids in semi-hydroponics in two big indoor greenhouses, with artificial light over each shelf and temperature sensitive computer fans that changed their speed when necessary, and moved plants to sink for watering each time. Needless to say that greenhouses were an eyesore, and prevented even moving in the room freely - one had to squeeze itself to pass - it was too much for a space I have. Moving back into the room hibiscus tree, that I had even before that, with dripping wet foliage was especially annoying. I guess that it was gradual reduction to something more manageable. Now reduced everything to almost nothing and looking for an easier way, taking less space and not interfering with daily life :)
