Indoor Plants And Flowers And Stuff

Hey Everyone

Ok so, my room at the moment has no natural light in it and over the past few months i have really started getting into different types of plants and stuff ( No not those types of plants ) . Anyway, i would really like to introduce some nature into my room to give it abit of life and i was wondering if there are any nice plants or flowers that dont need that much sunlight and/or are suitable for indoors ?

The place where i am staying is pretty massive and has alot of space but has very little natural light, Its like a cave/bunker actually . I like it alot but i would really like to get some plants or flowers to put in here .


Dont really know alot of people who are into plants and stuff so i thought i would ask all you fine ladies and gentlemen . Any Ideas ?

-Omega85

The ficus tends to be a pretty adaptable plant. Can buy them in small pots up to tree sized plants. However, they don't do well with cool breezes or chills. If you invest in a grow lamp or two you can really go versatile with the selection. I recommend looking at some of the bonsai websites, they are excellent at identifying the needs of various species. Best of luck.

a reply to: Omega85

Fungus and mold do well in the dark.

Really, no outside light? Some people move their plants between their room at night and daylight during the day.

Couple of small pots, any 'shade' plants, the nurseries have little tags on plants that will tell you if its a shade plant or not.

a reply to: TobyFlenderson

Hi TobyFlenderson

I have heard of those ! I will definitely check them out .
There are some Australian species that are really nice and would suit this place alot .
Dont know much about grow lamps ... Except that if you use to many of em around here the Australian police get a little suspicious lol .

It is also going to start cooling down here soon NSW, Australia , and when it gets cold it gets really cold .

Thank you very much for your reply !

O85

Aechmea bromilaide is a tropical flower that can go a long time with poor light, and snake plants are a cool long leaf plant. Cheap and easy.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Omega85

Fungus and mold do well in the dark.

Really, no outside light? Some people move their plants between their room at night and daylight during the day.

Couple of small pots, any 'shade' plants, the nurseries have little tags on plants that will tell you if its a shade plant or not.

LOL, Mold doesnt do much for me but Mushrooms would be cool to grow .

I have a little sunlight but not much really, i could for sure move my plants around and stuff too and i will definitely check out these 'Shade" plants

Thanks for your reply

O85

a reply to: Natas0114

That is very cool looking Im not sure if i can get it in Australia though .
Never heard of Snake Plants , i will for sure look into them though .

Wow the different species of these plants is unreal .
Thank you for your reply !

O85

a reply to: intrptr

This got me thinking, maybe polypore mushrooms, like turkey tail? (Trametes versicolor)

My favorite are draecana species, such as the Madagascar Dragon Tree. The size they grow to will depend on the pot size (I have some larger and smaller ones in my apartment). Mine have gone for weeks without sunlight at times and it doesn't seem to bother them. They're beautiful and very unique looking.

Also the peace lily will do reasonably well in those conditions (in my experience). I have some in areas with little light as well, although they definitely seem happier with light. And moss can be very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.


Also thought I'd add, as an after thought: Ivy.

My mother has some beautiful ivy's all around her home that she's had longer than I've been alive. Some are in the darkest corners of the house. I couldn't tell you which species at the moment, but they're all incredibly beautiful and unique. She cuts 3-4 vines off a mature plant and then plants them in the same pot to create a 'thicker' appearance (otherwise they'll often just grow one long trailing vine that isn't very appealing). You do want to be careful to maintain them though - they are low maintenance, however if not taken care of properly, the vine will grow very bare and have leaves only at the bottom and this doesn't look nice.

Of course when cutting from a mature plant, remember to first let it sit in water a few weeks to grow a strong root system before planting

Ferns also do very well in low light....although they do like a bit more humidity....so you would likely need to mist them, especially if a room gets too warm.

If you decide to go with adding light to your place, I have found that LEDs using clamp fixtures allows me to grow even orchids....which require lots of light.

The LEDs I use a the Daylight kind...like these giving off Daylight White (5000K)
I have had trouble finding grow lights anymore.....and these seem to be just as good.
MAJOR drawback is LEDs are too bright too look at directly.
But they take little energy to use, don't give off a lot of heat.

a reply to: JustAnObservation

Wow , thank you for the reply !

I will definitely add this to my list of things to check out in regards to plants and flowers and stuff .
I would have never thought that this type of thing could be so complex, so nice though .

O85

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Thanks for the reply DTOM

I like ferns ! they look nice i think and i could easily mist them if needed .
LEDs are an awesome idea and i honestly didnt even think of that , i wasnt even sure you could use them .
Clamp fixtures ey ? Ill check it out .

O85

Hey people , Question .

What about Aloe Vera plants ?
There's a woman down the road from me who is getting rid of them . Thoughts?

originally posted by: Omega85
Hey people , Question .

What about Aloe Vera plants ?
There's a woman down the road from me who is getting rid of them . Thoughts?

In my experience aloe is like, un-killable. If they are free you may as well grab one and see what you can do with it. They will grow according to their pot so if you want a huge one, give it a huge pot, and if space is a concern give it a small pot.

True story. I once paid $5 at a crappy store we have in the US called Kmart for an aloe plant. I felt sorry for the plants because they looked neglected so I bought one. I kept putting in larger and larger pots. A decade went by as it got bigger and bigger. Some person whose mother was into plants or something and wanted a huge aloe saw mine randomly and paid $250 for it and the pot it was in. I went down to the store and paid $3 for a really small one and I'm starting over on growing it huge, haha.

a reply to: Ameilia

Hey Amelia ! Thank you very much for the reply

Wow i didnt know that , I know the actual plant itself has alot of medical benefits but i didnt know they grow to the pot they are in .

We have Kmart here too in Australia , Wasnt aware you had them in the US, You are right about the nursery section though . What is Aloe like in dim light conditions ? ( I have bulbs and stuff but not alot of sunlight ) I could get lamps or LEDs though .

originally posted by: Omega85
a reply to: Ameilia

Hey Amelia ! Thank you very much for the reply

Wow i didnt know that , I know the actual plant itself has alot of medical benefits but i didnt know they grow to the pot they are in .

We have Kmart here too in Australia , Wasnt aware you had them in the US, You are right about the nursery section though . What is Aloe like in dim light conditions ? ( I have bulbs and stuff but not alot of sunlight ) I could get lamps or LEDs though .

That's hilarious! I wasn't aware Kmart was anywhere but the US. My bad, I Googled and apparently you have over 200 Kmarts and their headquarters is in Australia. Hope I didn't offend you, here they are pretty crappy stores here in the US, but were nicer in the 1980s.

I didn't actually know aloe would grow to their pot til I grew mine on accident, having healed it up from its poor handling in Kmart, I bought a nicer pot for it that just happened to be larger and it grew to fill it, so I kept upsizing the pot. It was about 4 foot diameter when I sold it.

Mine was originally in a dark corner of my crappy apartment, it was fine. When I moved into a house I did put it near a window but never in direct light. Once I moved it to the porch but it got a sunburn (or that's what I'm calling it - whatever it was, the plant did NOT like a lot of direct sunlight and being outside). I moved it back in and put near another window that's opaque glass and also never has direct sun hitting it. That's where I have my newer, smaller one. It did not seem to grow more or less according to its indoor location, it seemed to me like it had to do with how much I watered and fed it.

originally posted by: Ameilia
That's hilarious! I wasn't aware Kmart was anywhere but the US. My bad, I Googled and apparently you have over 200 Kmarts and their headquarters is in Australia. Hope I didn't offend you, here they are pretty crappy stores here in the US, but were nicer in the 1980s.

Lol, your very sweet No you didnt offend me . Yeah Kmart is a strange place and you find some strange people in there sometimes . I think alot of stuff was better in the 80s, and i was only part of them for five years but i hear some stories

I didn't actually know aloe would grow to their pot til I grew mine on accident, having healed it up from its poor handling in Kmart, I bought a nicer pot for it that just happened to be larger and it grew to fill it, so I kept upsizing the pot. It was about 4 foot diameter when I sold it.

So you sort of stumbles upon the fact ? thats very cool . I wonder how many other plants grow like that . Funnily enough just after i made the Aloe post i burnt my hand in the kitchen, i think its a sign !

Mine was originally in a dark corner of my crappy apartment, it was fine. When I moved into a house I did put it near a window but never in direct light. Once I moved it to the porch but it got a sunburn (or that's what I'm calling it - whatever it was, the plant did NOT like a lot of direct sunlight and being outside). I moved it back in and put near another window that's opaque glass and also never has direct sun hitting it. That's where I have my newer, smaller one. It did not seem to grow more or less according to its indoor location, it seemed to me like it had to do with how much I watered and fed it.

Wow, thats very interesting . I will definitely keep that in mind . You can be my official ATS Aloe consultant . Yeah i think im gonna go down later and pick one up . Awesome plants for sure .

Awesome ,

I scored an Aloe Vera plant from the nice woman down the road, for free !

I asked her why she wants to get rid of them and she said she has heaps and they grow really easy .

Im going to put it in a pot now .