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3d โ€ข Indoor Plant Nook
๐ŸŒฅ๏ธ๐Ÿก The Best Spots for Indoor Plants During Dark Winter Days
December and January are the toughest months for indoor plants.
The days are short, the sun is weak, and even your brightest windows donโ€™t feel as bright as they used to.
If your plants seem a little โ€œblahโ€ lately, stretching, leaning, fading, or just looking sleepy, theyโ€™re not failing. Theyโ€™re responding to winterโ€™s low light.
The good news?
You donโ€™t need a grow-light factory to keep them happy.
You just need to understand where the best light still exists inside your home during these dark winter days.
Letโ€™s help your plants find their perfect winter spot!
โ˜€๏ธ ๐Ÿ. ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก-๐…๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž
In winter, the sun sits lower in the sky, and ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก-๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ž for indoor plants.
๐†๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ:
*
* Herbs
* Succulents
* Citrus trees in pots
* Jade plants
* Rosemary
* Geraniums
* Lettuce & leafy greens
๐“๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ:
โœ” Rotate plants weekly
โœ” Pull them slightly away from cold glass at night
โœ” Watch for sudden midday heat on sunny days
South windows are the MVP of winter plant survival.
๐ŸŒ… ๐Ÿ. ๐„๐š๐ฌ๐ญ-๐…๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ: ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ
East windows deliver soft, reliable morning sun. Perfect for plants that like bright light but not intense afternoon heat.
๐†๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ:
* Pothos
* Peace lilies
* Prayer plants
* Peperomias
* African violets
* Holiday cactus
* Orchids
๐“๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ:
โœ” Great spot for flowering houseplants
โœ” Perfect for kitchens or breakfast nooks
โœ” Light lasts longer on clear winter mornings than you think
๐ŸŒค๏ธ ๐Ÿ‘. ๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ-๐…๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ: ๐”๐ฌ๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐‚๐š๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ
Winter sun from the west is softer than summer, but it can still get warm on bright days.
๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ:
* Aloe
* Hoya
* Philodendrons
* Spider plants
* Snake plants
๐€๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐:
โœ˜ Placing delicate plants too close
โœ˜ Letting the pot touch cold glass
If you have a pet-safe household, west windows are also great for wheatgrass and cat grass!
๐ŸŒฅ๏ธ ๐Ÿ’. ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก-๐…๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ: ๐‹๐จ๐ฐ ๐‹๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ
North windows receive the least direct light, but theyโ€™re still VERY useful in winter.
๐†๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ:
* Low-light lovers
* Snake plants
* ZZ plants
* Chinese evergreen
* Ferns
* Cast iron plants
๐“๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ:
โœ” Perfect for plant shelves
โœ” Good for grouping humidity lovers
โœ” Excellent for beginners
If youโ€™ve ever thought, โ€œNothing grows in this room!โ€, try a low light plant here and prepare to be amazed.
๐Ÿชž ๐Ÿ“. ๐‹๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ-๐๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐Œ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐Ž๐Ÿ
These little โ€œlight hacksโ€ help plants get more brightness without needing a new window.
๐๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐ž
Reflects more natural light onto leaves.
๐Ž๐ง ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฅ๐Ÿ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ
Plants get cross-light from both sides.
๐ˆ๐ง ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ
Mirrors bounce light, plants love this trick!
๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ-๐œ๐š๐›๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ง
Herbs thrive here in winter.
๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ซ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฌ
Light often travels up and down these spaces surprisingly well.
๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐Ÿ”. ๐๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ƒ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐™๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ
โŒ ๐‘๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ž
Dries out leaves instantly.
โŒ ๐“๐จ๐จ ๐œ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ
Cold glass = leaf shock.
โŒ ๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ
Hot, dry air is a fast plant killer.
โŒ ๐Ž๐ง ๐๐ซ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ
Especially for tropical plants.
โŒ ๐‚๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ž๐ ๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ
Stale air and low light = sad leaves + fungus gnats.
If your plants are getting crispy, droopy, or leggy, check if theyโ€™re too close to one of these spots.
๐Ÿ’ก **๐Ÿ•. ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‹๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ˆ๐ฌ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐„๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐กโ€ฆ
Add a Small Grow Light (They're Inexpensive!)**
A simple clip-on LED grow light ($10โ€“$15) can fix almost every winter light issue.
๐๐ž๐ง๐ž๐Ÿ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ:
โœ” Prevents legginess
โœ” Keeps herbs growing
โœ” Helps houseplants hold onto leaves
โœ” Great for microgreens and lettuce
โœ” Extends daylight hours
๐–๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐š๐๐ ๐š ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ:
* Your plant leans toward the window
* Leaves get pale or thin
* Growth slows dramatically
* Youโ€™re running heat frequently
* The room has only north-facing windows
Even 6โ€“8 hours under a budget grow light works wonders.
๐ŸŒฟ ๐Ÿ–. ๐Œ๐š๐ญ๐œ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ
Hereโ€™s a quick cheat sheet:
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ (๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก/๐„๐š๐ฌ๐ญ):
* Herbs
* Citrus
* Jade
* African violets
* Holiday cactus
* Lettuce & edibles
* Orchids
* Succulents (with caution)
๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ-๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ (๐„๐š๐ฌ๐ญ/๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ):
* Spider plant
* Pothos
* Hoya
* Philodendron
* Peperomia
* Mint
* Basil (with bright supplemental light)
๐‹๐จ๐ฐ-๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ (๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก/๐‚๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ):
* ZZ plant
* Snake plant
* Ferns
* Cast iron
* Peace lily
* Aglaonema
Where do your plants live during winter?
Show us your kitchen windowsill gardens, bright plant nooks, or creative winter grow spaces!
We love seeing membersโ€™ indoor setups. ๐ŸŒฟโœจ
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Donna Scarborough
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๐ŸŒฅ๏ธ๐Ÿก The Best Spots for Indoor Plants During Dark Winter Days
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