My plants keep suffering and it seems that northern exposure is to blame. I am hoping that I don’t have to resign myself to cacti, but are there any mini-trees (like magnolia?), or lush green plants that will do well in only northern light (year-round indoors, too)? Any palms or bamboos?
Thanks.
Yews
Yews for indoors?
Bamboo will live just about anywhere, in my experience.
I lived in Michigan for two years, and the only houseplant I found that was able to survive in a certain grim north-facing window was an asparagus fern, and it never really did that well.
You want to change your model, is what you want. Think artificial lighting. Think Gro-Lights. Think a set of 4-foot shop lights. Anything you can plug in and emit plant light. That was what saved me. I had a living room full of African violets while all around me was gloom and darkness.
Try sanseviera. Not particularly lush, but damn near indestructible.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the issue was unrelated to light.
Many, many house plants are popularly cultivated because they don’t need lots of light. We’ve got a lush philodendron growing down the entire length of the fridge where it gets only indirect light from two small windows in a room on the north side of the house. It’s eight to ten feet away from either window.
You might have a problem with over watering, mite infestation, too much heat.
Thanks. I had thought about that, but the elec. cost worried me a bit.
I’ve had lots of success with Lucky Bamboo, which I grow in small vases and crystal wineglasses filled with decorative fish tank rock. I have one stalk that’s growing in a north window that’s more than doubled its height in less than a year. I think I need to cut it and make another whole plant out of it! This is the same one I had growing in an office under fluorescent light with no natural light at all. These things are super easy to grow since all they need is water–no soil or fertilizer needed.
This is a picture of the craziest growing one I own, the one that sits in the north window. Last May when I brought it home from the office it was about as tall as the cabinet knob on the right. Actually, it grows better in that north window than some of the others that have a western exposure. I think they kinda like low light conditions.
Another easy plant that’s very rewarding is the Peace Lily. They don’t mind indirect light or indifferent care and they grow these beautiful blooms. I have one that’s over ten years old and it’s pretty huge. I just make sure it gets a good watering once a week or so and I hose it down in a sprinkler every month or two. These guys don’t mind getting root bound in a smaller container. They don’t mind much of anything, really, including the darned cats grazing on them more or less constantly. :smack:
Meh. Dunno what your power company or your household budget is like, but a 4-foot fluorescent shop light doesn’t normally cost that much to run 10 or 12 hours a day. And if you’re growing only foliage plants, all they need is 8 hours a day.
Aspidistra is known as the “cast iron plant” for exactly the reason you’d imagine; to kill it, a flamethrower is generally indicated.
It’s poisonous to your cats.
I’m jayjay and I endorse this message. I think more sansevieria gets killed with kindness than dies of neglect. They THRIVE on neglect. Water it once a week, twice a month, leave it in a dim window, let it see sunlight twice a year…it just goes on. And grows. And sometimes flowers (though they’re small and very unspectacular).
You can get the tall kind or the short rosettes, golden-edged or plain. (The golden-edged variety is usually called “Hahnii”)
I thought you wanted a plant for in front of your window. Now you know what to plant there.
In the lighting department, you needn’t necessarily go out and get expensive grow lights that require lots of electricity or special fixtures.
Next time you’re at the hardware store check out the lightbulb section. You’re looking for a grow light that looks like, and fits into, regular light fixtures and lamps. They cost about $6 where I live.
No, they won’t add enough light to grow crops or anything but they will make a difference to your plants, even a little boost can really help. They provide a light that is indistinguishable from a regular bulb, for reading or doing general things.
Just install it in whatever light/lamp is closest to your plant and be sure to leave it on during cloudy and overcast days. It’s a really easy solution and could make all the difference to your houseplants. It has worked for me in the past. Give it a try!
(This has an added bonus for those among us who are seasonally affected. That little bit of extra sunlight in your world will make all the difference.)
Hence the spray bottle right next to it! Stupid cats…
I’ve got a northern window as well. The aloe vera plant I’ve had for a few months seems to be staying in generally decent shape so far, although I keep meaning to repot it into an ex-goldfish bowl.
It doesn’t seem to be growing a whole lot, though.
My fukien tea bonsai is surviving nicely and even blooming, with only north light and about 20 feet from any window.
I had a tiny one, mail order, and killed it. I also managed to kill as Snake plant (Sansaveria). Oh well… I think my cat and I just kill things. I have a night blooming “cactus,” christmas cactus and some odd thing that I don’t reclal the name of that are doing well. Maybe jade is the way to go. I am learning to water less, however.
What did your ex-goldfish turn into? 
