Well, that's Christmas waved goodbye to for another year, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely feeling a tree shaped void in our house! It's always sad to pack away the lights, but on the other hand I always realise just how much space I actually have to play with. Whilst the tree may be gone, house plants are in! Just because the days are grey and dreary doesn't mean your house needs to be.
Replacing the tree with a house plant is somewhat of a tall order - what big shoes to fill! I guess there's the more-is-more approach, as many as you can squeeze in is never a bad thing, but maybe you prefer a more minimal approach? Either way, plants are good for the soul and the perfect way to nurture those long dark nights of January.
This got me thinking, how much light are my plants actually getting in the winter months... how much should they be getting and how can I give them what they need? I've invested in so many tropical, sun worshipping plants (a perk of owning a plant shop) and I'd hate to see them all slowly decline into the darkness.
Grow lights have been available for ages, mostly for illegal activities in the past; but now as the house plant trend flourishes so does the range of products for in- home gardener. Lights with a design-led approach, which also provide those vital rays for your plant babies are becoming more affordable and easier on the eye.
How much light they need depends on where they are situated; for example if there's no or very little light, the bulbs will need to shining for 16-18 hours per day, which may seem tons but it's not all that much, in comparison to the plant living outside in its natural environment. On the other hand, too much of a good thing can be bad - 24 hours of constant light will stop a plant from effectively carrying out the respiration process. So I guess that's why plug timers were invented!
With all this in mind, I'm off to set up some timers in the darker corners of the house.