The Captain's Cabin
Indoor plants
Houseplants in a north-facing Chicago apartment, which means fighting for light half the year and drying out from radiator heat the other half. Everything here is shortlist, not owned yet: it is the light, watering, and pest gear I am working through before the first plants come home.
Not photographed yet9
Picks I have not photographed yet. Each is labeled owned or shortlist, and each fits a gap I can name.
- SANSI 36W Full Spectrum LED Grow Light BulbView on AmazonShortlistA north window in a Chicago winter is not enough light for most houseplants. A screw-in grow bulb in an ordinary clamp lamp fixes that without a purpose-built rig.
- Battery-Free Plant Soil Moisture MeterView on AmazonShortlistOverwatering kills more houseplants than anything else. A probe that reads the root zone beats guessing from the top inch of soil.
- Self Watering Pots for Indoor Plants, 5 SizesView on AmazonShortlistA reservoir under the pot buys a week or two of forgetting, which is the honest way I am going to keep plants alive during busy stretches.
- Fiskars 40 oz Indoor Watering Can, Long SpoutView on AmazonShortlistThe long spout reaches the back pots on a shelf without soaking the leaves or the shelf.
- Govee Bluetooth Hygrometer Thermometer H5075View on AmazonShortlistRadiator heat drops indoor humidity into the 20s all winter, and most tropical houseplants want double that. You cannot fix what you are not measuring.
- Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix, 6 qt 2-PackView on AmazonShortlistRepotting is the first thing a new plant from a big-box store needs, and indoor mix is blended to drain faster and not attract fungus gnats the way outdoor soil does.
- Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips, 6 inchView on AmazonShortlistKitchen scissors crush stems. Sharp micro-tip snips make clean cuts for pruning and for taking cuttings to propagate.
- Captain Jack's Insecticidal Super Soap, 32 oz SprayView on AmazonShortlistFungus gnats, spider mites, and aphids all show up eventually. A ready-to-use soap spray handles them without bringing harsher chemicals into an apartment with a cat.
- Bamworld Tiered Wood Plant StandView on AmazonShortlistApartment floor space is the limit, so plants have to go up. A tiered stand puts a dozen pots in the footprint of two.