I have a few spots left in my apartment. Pretty much all bright spots are used up by now, but there are a lot of dark-ish corners (especially on top of shelves and hanging planters) that are still empty.
What houseplants do you recommend for that places?
The only no-go is toxicity. At least, they shouldn’t be super toxic to my cats.
Right now, a few of those spots mentioned are used by Epipremnum (I believe Pothos is the English name for them), which are slightly toxic, but hung up so high, that they aren’t accessible. And even if they munch on them, not much would happen.
Ideally, as plus point, it would be nice if the plants are hanging down, not like a Calathea for example. I have enough of those 😅
Basically, I’m looking for something similar to a pothos, in terms of light requirements and the way of growth.
But don’t feel limited by that, any suggestion is great!
I was looking for the something like this a while back and ended up getting a cast iron plant. It’s safe for pets and does well in low light. Mine is sitting on the floor in a window, but my north facing apartment doesn’t get much light and it’s been doing fine. It also doesn’t need to be watered very often.
Pothos, most philodendrons, monsteras, etc. all do quite well with lower light and will really flourish if you give em a grow light
However monsteras and philos are not exactly animal friendly (won’t poison them per se but can be a real irritant if they try eating the leaves) My cat doesn’t seem to bother my plants though so it worked out for me lol
Look into various species of philodendrons (eg. hederaceum) and hoyas. Philodendron ‘Brasil’ looks great. Not sure if they’re toxic to cats.
My experience with philodendrons is they don’t handle low light very well. They seem to grow great near windows but have struggled toward the interior wall of a room
Good suggestion, but sadly toxic :(
If the corner seems dark to you, it may be too dark to support any plant. Human eyes are terrible at estimating absolute light levels. A PAR meter (photosynthetically active radiation) is inexpensive and is really the only reliable way to tell if a plant will do well at all under given light conditions.
It depends. In summer, it’s definitely bright enough with some indirect light. But in winter, pretty darn dark.
Thanks for the tip with the light meter. I already measured the PPFD with my phone using an app and a sheet of paper in my grow tent. It actually worked extremely reliably! It matched exactly the specs of the lamp very accurately.
I’ll measure the brightness on different times of the day and weather and then report you back in a week or so if the spots are able to support life :D
but hung up so high, that they aren’t accessible.
“Challenge accepted.”
-- your cat, probably
It sounds like you’ve done your homework. Depending on the amount of light and which way your windows face, you may have some luck with some ferns.
The other option is fake plants. I’ve done that in a few places where the corner was missing something and it works.
I like your idea about ferns. Thanks for that! I’ve taken your advice and divided my already big enough Nephrolepsis exaltata fern into three.
I’m not a fan of fake plants tbh. I don’t wanna buy something that just collects dust (literally) and then lands up on a landfill some time down the road. But still thanks :)
Fake plants actually hold good resale value for the very reason you say.
All of my fake plants I got second hand. The only bad thing is that they can be several times more expensive than their real counterparts.
I have a fake small palm tree (like 4 feet tall) that was about $100 second hand. Worth it though.
When they get dirty, I’ll run them under a shower and then let it dry in the sun during the summer.
+1 for ferns.
They love low light, they’re easy to care for, and they look great hanging. And most are 100% cat safe.
(as an aside, most toxic houseplants are unlikely to cause more than irritation or an upset stomach unless the cat eats a lot of it.)
A spider plant might work for your corner. It likes to grow downwards, which may invite being attacked by your cats. A colleague has a spider plant and two cats, and its spiderlings always become cat toys that are detached from the plant.
while basic and pedestrian, spider plants can do OK anywhere pothos can hang in there.
while it aint gonna hang (quite the opposite), cast-iron/mother in law tongue plants can survive in truly low light/low water areas
