Shade Houseplants

A plant got lose and I learned of an alternate use for houseplants a few years ago and it seems to be a winner.

While working in nurseries or consulting with people from the office it occured to me that one weak link in our plant recommendations are plants for full shade. Those shaded alcoves, entry corridors or under trees offer a tough place to get much diversity from the regular plants.

The came the epiphany of using house plants. I had a dark fifteen foot covered corridor to the front door. The narrow planter beds on each side of the walk struggled to support any life.

In a pot grew a green spider plant and it sent out its usual flowering shoot. As normal plantlets replaced the flowers. One of the shoots laid (((tense?))) on the bare soil of the bed. Lo and behold it found a purchase in the soil and soon spread completly with robust spiderplants lining the walk way.

Since then I have used other houseplants in similar situations. Some tough ones include the dwarf shefflera (Shefflera arbicola), most of the draceanas, pothos, spathiphyllums, syngoniums and split-feaf philodendron.

My absolute favorite house plant, crossandra did well until a neighbors dog decided to dig it up. I lament that fact for I have not been able to find crossandra anywhere.

These plants need all shade and no direct sun. If grown in the ground they must be kept on the moist side. Regular fertilization with a good green or blue colored granular water soluable fertilizer. If your favorite brand offers an acid based one use it.

If your situation dictates using the plants in pots more care must be given. The fertilization will be about the same only more frequently. The watering becomes the hitch. Relying on only the hose to water the plants may be tricky.

Pots off reduced soil volume and more exposure to drying because the pot is out of the ground. Putting the pot into a larger pot for shade helps. The soil mixes for pots has a nasty tendency to repel water if it dries. This can lead to problems if you just water from the top with a hose. The top and side of the soil may be wet and the heart of the root ball can be dry.

To make sure this does not happen submerge the pots (not the plant) completely in a large buck or sink of water if the soil dries completely. Leave it submerged until there are no more bubbles and the pot sinks in the water. This is helpfull if you go away for a long weekend and the heat and wind crank up at home.

Even if you do water regularly this same procedure should be done each fortnight during the summer's heat.

Its not that much extra work and ensures that your houseplants used out doors have a fighting chance.

Written by Terry Mikel, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 602-470-8086.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Republic
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