Did anyone else add any foil, mirrors, other reflective setups for their plants this winter?

These plants continue to look "not leaning."


This pot has been in this same spot for winter before, but the Begonia didn't keep blooming. It was already leaning when I brought it in. I love finding a spot that will cause it to lean & dangle but keep blooming, even outside.


I don't have a perfect memory, but don't remember this kind of Begonia blooming inside before, a cane. 'Corallina de Lucerne' in particular. It's in the middle of the room, not by a window. It's a tiny bit of blooms, so far, but they are there.

Looking great 👍
My ponytail has lost a slightly alarming number of older leaves..today I moved it to the foil wall where plumeria is staying green and hope the ponytail likes it.

My guess is yes it would like that. Could it have gotten too dry? Since I started watering mine more like any other plant a few yrs ago, the leaf loss is minimal. Just a few leaves per year. But the poor thing is getting faded this winter. The bigger they are, the harder it is to get them close to a window. I maybe should have taken my own suggestion & put some foil behind it.

May well have been too dry as I feared getting it too wet. Lol. Good thing they are so tough.

No doubt. I was very intimidated the first few yrs by all of the hype about letting it dry out, and conflating tales of survival with tales of thriving, my bad. There is a wide distance between those 2 points.

Ponytail did very well in summer in a corner of the deck getting first morning sun which gets warm fast. And there I watered generously. I wonder how cold hardy they are.

Good to see what people are doing. I've been reading through the threads, and wanted to share my setup from this year.

I found that three light strips added to what I've been using (the light strips are offered in three sizes on Amazon( this year) have kept my succulents happy (minimal stretching) and my overwintered tender plants, rex begonia, dwarf papyrus , overwintered dipladenia (minimal lost leaves, just fighting some red aphids from time to time).

Hubby installed the lights by my west facing patio door, and over my garden window where I had an odd contraption of lights last year, and added a 4 foot light strip to my sedum garden downstairs in the basement with an egress south window.

Here's the west facing:



Indoor Plant lighting - Light strips from Amazon in 3 sizes
Seen in the photo, Rex Begonia, Dwarf Papyrus, Transcendentia



Collage: Indoor Lighting for Winter 2022-2023 s in Garden Window West Facing
AND Succulents in South Facing Window, with two special LED lights and Light Strip



I hope that helps. The light strips are fairly economical compared to the original heavy duty light strips I have over my sedums, $50 / unit at Costco a few years ago.
All light strips are on timers, which helps in gloomy grey Michigan of late, especially.

Awesome, Deborah! Your plants look great!

purpleinopp said: Awesome, Deborah! Your plants look great!

nice collection!

So many great ideas here...can't wait to check out all the links!! I'll be honest I didn't know exactly what I was doing but the photographer in me said - light reflection isn't just for photography. So, this is my first year set up for my brugs, plumies and other tropicals in the corner of my storage room - no natural light in there sadly.
*Bought the 'emergency survival blankets' for $1 each to tape on the walls of storage room (next year will place order plants as suggested in this thread) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oza...
*Clamp lights - I think this one https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cha...
*Grow light bulbs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SW76SLB/
I attached the clamps lights to my photography light stands and set them up on a smart power strip (I use the Kasa products because I only have to worry about one app and it works with Alexa) set up to go on at sunrise and off at sunset https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083JKSSR5/

Thank you for sharing that info! That is much more sophisticated than what I've done. You are brave to get into Plumerias. They get so big. I had one for a few yrs but it never would bloom. When it got too big to get through a door, I declared it was not practical for me anymore. I know I could have trimmed it, but that seemed like a step back from possible blooms, not a step toward.

Throughout the day, I see reflected light shining in spots where direct can't even reach, when the sun is out. It's been a mostly dreary winter. I'm really glad I made the small effort that I did.

Tiffany thank you for the acorn!! I've had plumies on & off and have passed on to friends because of lack of blooms. I am giving them one more go. I picked minis from jungle jacks that are both highly fragrant, and considered early bloomers in hopes that that I'll enjoy some blooms. The only big one I have is the San Germain, which was bought last year and did bloom… Smells just like gardenias and jasmines. The picture below was a cutting that I had received in May and threw an inflo by July. I kept that nursery pot on top of the blacktop of the driveway in full sun.

@Chantell
Using emergency foil blankets is a brilliant idea! They go up fast and the 'brick effect' is quite pleasing. I'll keep this in mind for the future!

Brief scan of the last couple pages since last time, but I think the plants look amazing.

Thrifty and very effective.

DH snagged 2 big mirrors from a remodeling project. One is 4ft x 4ft and the other is 4ft x 5ft. They are in plant room now. Very exciting!

If you set them up opposite each other (parallel) it will create endless tunnel effect (full of plants, of course) : very nice for a small room.

Good suggestion, thank you very much! It kind of worked out that way. The door & windows kind of dictated where they would go, sort of opposite.

skylark said: If you set them up opposite each other (parallel) it will create endless tunnel effect (full of plants, of course) : very nice for a small room.

That sounds like a plot device in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I can see the headlines now..."Woman driven insane trying to exit mirrored plant room."

Tiffany, be sure to unroll a ball of string when you go in there!

NMoasis said: That sounds like a plot device in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I can see the headlines now..."Woman driven insane trying to exit mirrored plant room."

Tiffany, be sure to unroll a ball of string when you go in there!

but what a way to die! lost in your own plants