Looking for a tall plant for privacy that I can put in front of a fairly sunny window. Only drawback is that it is very near a floor furnace /Air conditioning vent. I have had a dracaena marginata plant there , which has been a trooper , but now that I have my Christmas tree up in its spot and moved it away about eight ft. from the vent, it is looking much happier even just after a week.Wondering if there might be another tall plant that can take the abuse of hot and cold air blasting up from the floor.

Hmmm, I don't know what plants, but have you considered hanging baskets?? You could do those if you can't find any plants to put on the ground

rosebuddy2 said:Wondering if there might be another tall plant that can take the abuse of hot and cold air blasting up from the floor.

Quite frankly, I don't know many plants that tolerate either cold blasting or hot blasting nearby/underneath. The suggestion to consider a hanging basket is a good one. Maybe a huge spider plant with some dripping 'babies' would do the trick? But they do better in filtered light, like behind a sheer curtain. They get quite large and with babies, they will appear quite "tall" from top to bottom. Here's mine I lost in the Texas freeze last February:


Or perhaps a Pothos Ivy that will grow even longer from a hanging basket. You can cut its vines shorter when it gets so long it starts reacting to your HVAC vent drafts in a bad way.

I'm not so pessimistic about your options. Don't many plants experience changing temps out in nature? I put all my tropicals outside for summer. They get day to night ranges of 20 degrees or more and tolerate fall chill under 50 Fahrenheit.

sallyg said:I'm not so pessimistic about your options. Don't many plants experience changing temps out in nature? I put all my tropicals outside for summer. They get day to night ranges of 20 degrees or more and tolerate fall chill under 50 Fahrenheit.

I think the issue is with the air blowing directly on them (if I understood the OP correctly). Especially from a furnace.

I still don't think it rules out 'many' plants. I say avoid the obvious pesky plants like Calathea/Maranta, and ferns..
If enough lighting, I feel any succulent /cacti types would be happy.

I've read a number of posts over the years with folks wondering why their plants were having issues and they noted it was too close to a vent or a radiator. Not your finicky to start with plants either.

I do think depending on how direct it is, the blast of cold or hot air can negatively affect them (especially furnace air given how it is more dry inside in winter--- I do think that it is drier because of the furnace).

I resect your input and admit I have rarely had plants on a vent. Well, my coffee bush is next to my floor vent. Other than drying faster, I don't see any effect yet.

Will tell you, a ponytail palm (Beaucarnea) tolerated the ac/heat unit by the window in MIL's apartment, along with glued rocks on the roots- what a survivor. Didn't really grow, but didn't die or look sick.

sallyg said:I resect your input and admit I have rarely had plants on a vent. Well, my coffee bush is next to my floor vent. Other than drying faster, I don't see any effect yet.

Will tell you, a ponytail palm (Beaucarnea) tolerated the ac/heat unit by the window in MIL's apartment, along with glued rocks on the roots- what a survivor. Didn't really grow, but didn't die or look sick.

I love coffee plants, but boy do they sulk if you miss a watering.

I think ponytail palms might just be indestructible.

Oooh, a ponytail palm. That might be my solution. I have one now that I just love. Don't want to move it as it's doing so well, but thinking I will get a new one to try. Hanging baskets are a great idea but not suitable for this location. Thinking maybe a plant stand that would raise it off the floor, and some sort of vent cover to redirect the air away from it. Don't think I can find any ponytails here much taller than two feet above the soil, but it is a nice bushy plant, and may work for privacy if it is raised. Thanks for the suggestion, still a couple of weeks before the tree is down, and even then may have to wait till spring to go plant shopping.

You could also try Yucca canes. They're almost indestructible if they get enough light. Some tall Aeoniums might work too. Even try outdoor things like Privet or Cherry-laurel. I had an account once that had a blasting hot, full sun window that I put a Podocarpus in and it thrived as long as I kept it watered.

I can't help thinking of more suggestions.

Nandina
Photinia
Holly
Evergreen Viburnums - tinus, japonica, awabuki, suspensum
Pittosporum

Lots of semi-hardy things we grow here as landscape plants will do fine indoors there.

Thank you so much John! I will have fun googling these plants and then shopping around for them. Will try the nurseries around here for sure! Appreciate your thoughts as I have more than one spot in which it is hard to grow a plant in.

I can only think of Yucca (elephantipes is usually the species most commonly sold as interior plants), but that too is actually a plant from tropical wet regions, not the desert. What about a Norfolk Island pine? This is the time of year that they are readily available too.

Ponytail plant ( Beaucarnea recurvata) is a good choice..it enjoys very dry conditions. If you cannot find a tall mature one at this time of the year, consider a smaller version of it, then maybe use a taller plant stand, so it gives it height. But it is a very, very slow growing plant. Needs watering but with good long intervals, so be careful with watering, even indoors, even with a furnace. It is so efficient in stashing moisture in its trunk. Typically this plant ably handles our driest hottest temps here in my area during the warm months outdoors when our temps soar way past 100F. I hope that window with a furnace is a south facing window. Otherwise, you may even need to augment its growing area with grow lights.

As for Yucca, I would not recommend that...it is such a high light level loving plant. It will just suffer indoors. It maybe drought tolerant too like Beaucarnea recurvata, but its growth habit demands better, higher light conditions.

Fairly sunny window should be plenty of light for Yucca.

Beaucarnea need just as much sun or bright light as Yuccas (and both genera are closely related). In fact, I would wager that Y. elephantipes is MORE tolerant of less than ideal sun compared to Beaucarnea. More a challenge, I rarely see Beaucarnea being sold in the trade, especially large ones. But I do love both plants.

CCP, the plants that you list are almost all in my yard. I am not sure any of them would survive in a heated home, air is just too dry, and I cannot imagine being able to get a tall pittosporum in Canada, in the winter.

I have been wracking my brain over potential candidates for your circumstance..., the chief problem, is that forced-air heating, it's lethal. I used to have that kind of heating, now boilers/steam heat and I have thick marble slabs on the top of the radiators and actually can grow tropicals on the top. Also, I don't want you to bust the bank to purchase something that may not survive anyway, and plants can be soooo expensive, mostly for shipping costs these days. I also see you are in Canada and am unfamiliar with your access to the East Coast/Florida interior plant trade, I know in my own area, I see many fewer types of different plants being sold compared to past days. I mentioned Yucca and Norfolk Island Pines (Araucaria) and NIP's are very seasonal around my parts (Christmas time/NOW). Good luck and Season Greetings to everyone!

CPPgardener said:Fairly sunny window should be plenty of light for Yucca.

Yes, if the location is here in the US, especially in the southern part.
But the OP is in Canada. I have lived in Canada before,...it is so cold at winter's peak, and our winters run way longer too.
That bright shiny window remains so icy cold, even with the heaters blasting. We have to consider both the light and the temperature by the window. That is why I would not recommend a Yucca there.

Oh, just going to add, I would strongly suggest to delay any purchase of any new plant till its warmer weather there in Spring..maybe more towards mid May. Do not buy right now. It is already too cold. It takes time for the plant to acclimate, especially Ponytail palm..as I have said...so slow growing...slower reaction time.

Looks like you have gotten a lot of suggestions
My tip would be place a shallow pan of stones with water under your plant , it should negate some of the hot dry air that can dry your plant.
this raised the humidity
The plants pot should not sit IN the water On or above the water


good luck

Did an experiment. I got my kitchen stem thermometer and stuck it in the vent as my oil furnace is running just now. It quickly registered almost 120 right in the vent. Held eight inches above the vent , in the stream of hot air, it was still holding 110. The variable left though would be does it run long enough to significantly heat a plant pot ( pot size affecting that) and /or excessively heat and dry the foliage
the furnace ran for maybe 10 minutes?