I just moved to an apartment, and I would like some plants to put in my window. The spot I have available is north facing and somewhat shady. There are also 2 cats living here who may or may not be able to get to the plants; they haven't come out from under the bed yet for me to see. I'd kind of like something that is either flowering or edible, but I'm not overly picky. Any suggestions?
Posted Apr 29, 2014, 7:08 PM UTC
Do you mean for outside (window planter box) or for inside (on a desk or somesuch)? In either case, north facing is somewhat limiting in what you can grow, and edibles will be very challenging. The fact that you mentioned that the area is shady on top of being north-facing means you're basically stuck with only shade-loving plants. A few suggestions:
Outside: Coleus, Impatiens, Begonias
Inside: Dracaenea (more a small tree than a desk plant), pothos/philodendron, snake plant, spider plant, peace lilly
I don't know about the cat-friendliness of any of these, but hopefully that can at least get you started.
It's indoors, and sadly all of the plants you suggested are highly toxic to cats. I'll see if I can't rig something up to keep them away from it, peace lilies are pretty.
You have very limited light--a north-facing window is low-light already, and a shady north window is basically no-light--so things that flower and/or fruit are right out.
A Boston fern is non-toxic and is worth a try, but it requires high humidity, so put it on a pebble tray, give it moisture-retentive potting soil, and don't forget to water it, or it will reward you with showers of fussy dead leaf fragments.
Otherwise, I'd suggest getting some artificial lights, and then grow what you want. If you want edibles, get the kind of high-output lights that hydroponics and weed-growers use.
Or for normal houseplant things, get a simple T5 or T8 fluorescent fixture, like a shoplight.
Scroll down to "nontoxic".
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/cats-plant-list
On this list, my personal experience is that all of the pileas, African violets, all of the peperomias, rex begonias, orchids, spider plant (chlorophytum), polka dot plant (hypoestes), prayer plant (maranta), and succulents like haworthia all do beautifully under a simple fluorescent light.
I currently have African violets, phalaenopsis, cattleya, and dendrobium orchids, a spider plant, an assortment of cacti and succulents, and a couple of ponytail palms all growing under a bunch of T8 fluorescent shoplights. Also tomato and zucchini seedlings, but that's another story, they go outside eventually.