Last fall, we reported that we were going to try keeping our houseplants under grow lighting all winter long. We’ve struggled with some houseplant survival over our cold, dark winters. In years past, we used our grow lighting as an “emergency” step to try and recover them as opposed to a “proactive” step right out of the gate.
We are thrilled to report we did not have a single problem this winter! 100% plant survival, and things are looking good, good, good going into spring! (Well, except those spider plants we *tried* to cultivate that our cats ate, but yeah…different problem…)
We had a beautiful display from our Christmas Cactus last year because of it. Our Begonia has been flowering for quite awhile now, too. We even have some dragon fruit “dragon fruiting” on that plant too! Our catnip also respawned and is into its second season.
If you’ve struggled with getting those houseplants to survive the northern winters, we can’t recommend full lighting starting in the fall enough. We used about 12 hours a day to supplement the weak natural light. This is the edge you need and for us, it’s worth the power spent to keep those houseplants healthy and strong!
