I lived in a north facing apartment with tinted windows and no grow lights for over two years. We have since moved out of the “black hole” but the sweat and tears experience I had was real. Hope my experience would help you if you are in the same boat that I was.
Living in a north facing apartment is not the dream condition for most plant parent. Yet, here I am.
When I first started collecting plants back in 2016, I lived in a northeast facing apartment. I had great morning light and no problem growing succulents and cacti. So when I moved to a north facing apartment in 2018, I thought, oh no big deal.
Little did I know…
I lost most of my plants. As an inexperienced plant parent, that did not stop me from buying more plants. After losing more plants and shrinking my wallet, I finally learned my lesson.
My North Facing Situation
Not all north facing apartments are the same. The best would be unobstructed untinted windows and a less desirable would be having a wall right outside the windows. Mine fell in between.
All the windows in my apartment face north (340oN to be exact) and they are tinted. Like most city dwellers, a tall building not far from me blocked some of my precious sunlight.
The only “perk” of this configuration is about 5 to 30 minutes of “direct sunlight” reflected from the building across from me every day. I’m not sure what plants think of the fake “direct sunlight,” but it sure fools light measuring apps on my phone. Five to thirty minutes might not sound much, but given photosynthesis only takes 30 seconds, every bit counts.
Artificial grow light is not an option for my houseplants. My boyfriend HATES grow light so our compromise is only one grow light system for our vegetable garden hidden in a cabinet. I tried to shovel as many small plants around it as possible without triggering his OCD, but the capacity is limited.
The Plants who survived
I don’t know if these plants’ ancestors ever wondered that one day a Homo sapien would put them in a concrete box where the sunlight never reaches, but they were prepared. (Plants be like: these mammals call themselves “wise man”?) They definitely can live in a north facing apartment with no artificial light, but they will also show appreciation when you give them more lights. If you have a better lighting situation, give them a better living condition. If north facing windows are all you got, they can still be your friend.
🌱Ball-shape cactus (Mammillaria mystax)
I know what you are thinking, I was surprised too. I bought a very common silver cactus from Home Depot years ago, the type where they glue a fake flower on the top. (It was before I knew better 🤪). After getting stabbed all the time I finally got tired and put it in our powder room with no window as a decoration (secretly hoping it won’t make it. Yes I know, how evil was I). To my surprise, it lived for a whole year! Granted, it didn’t grow at all, but still! A whole year! If it weren’t for me deciding to give it a space with some lights and probably overwatered it, I have no doubt that it would be still alive today. RIP.
🌱Blue cactus (Myrtillocactus geometrizans)
This little guy always gets a spot on the brightest windowsill in my apartments, but there is only so much a north facing windowsill could offer. It didn’t put on much grow after we moved to the north facing apartment, but it survived. Below photos are when I first got it in 2017 and it today in 2021. In comparison, my rainbow hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus), bishop’s cap (Astrophytum myriostigma), lithop, and string of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus) all died and were re-acquired after I moved out from the north facing apartment. The blue cactus, as tough as baby Harry Potter when facing the “Dark” lord’s unforgivable curse, survived. I did notice the blue cactus put on more growth in one summer by a west facing windows than the whole two years by a north facing windows together, so I know it does appreciate stronger lights than what a north facing window could offer.
Great news for the aroid lovers, most of the araceae family can live with north facing lights. In my experience, in terms of the the demand for light, generally speaking Monstera > Rhaphidophora > Epipremnum > Anthurium > Philodendron. That does not mean any plant in the Monsteras genus demand the same amount of light or demands more light than any plants in the Rhaphidophora genus. Different species among the same genus might want different level of lights, and even the same plant might want different levels of lights at different growing stage.
🌱 Most Monsteras (adansonii, deliciosa, esqueleto, siltepecana)
🌱Monstera sp. “esqueleto”, Monstera siltepecana, and Monstera adansonii are three happy-go-lucky Musketeers in my low light home. They will grow in low light, but if you give them more light, they will reward you with bigger leaves.
🌱 Monstera deliciosa. When I bought it, it was a three-leaf juvenile (heart shaped leaf with no fenestration). In two years, with lights only from my north facing windows, one branch developed fenestrations! Then I moved it from a “prime” location to a less lit location (because it was getting bigger and blocking the windows, not because I’m an evil plant step-mom), it stopped growing. Mine oh mine, this plant truly knows how to hold a grudge. For a whole year it did not push out a single new leaf. When I reorganized and put it closer to the north facing windows. Within two weeks, it pushed out a new leaf and continued to give me fenestrations. Now, this has taken me more than three years to achieve the photo you see below with only north facing lights. I have seen people who give optimal light to their plants able to grow the leaves from juvenile form to leaves with secondary fenestrations (with little holes) in just a year.
💀 Before we move on, let me just add that north facing windows will not make Monstera pinnatipartita happy. Below is a comparison from its gorgeous fenestrated leaves to the sad little leaf it gives me now. Ugh.
🌱 Rhaphidophora tetrasperma
Rhaphidophora tetrasperma is not a picky plant either. It will grow with whatever condition you give it. However, the size varies a lot depending on the light. I noticed the size difference of the leaves on west facing window is almost twice as big as the leaves on north facing window.
🌱Some Anthuriums (pallidiflorum and polystictum)
I don’t have a whole of of Anthuriums, but some of them are low light tolerant while some are not.
🌱Anthurium polystictum is quite low light tolerant. It cares more about humidity than light. If you give it high humidity, it can grow like a weed on a north facing windowsill.
🌱Anthurium pallidiflorum is yet another low light tolerant plant. It looks like a high maintenance plant, but it is actually quite the opposite. It is easy even with low light and low humidity.
💀Anthurium red crystallium, on the other hand, is not so easily satisfied. This plant is very sensitive about the amount of sunlight it receives and its dormancy period pretty much aligns with the equinoxes. I bought it when I only had north facing windows, it was so sad. For a whole year it gave me only two sick looking leave. These leaves were weak, paper thin, and they rotted and got crispy easily. You might think I’m comparing the new leaves at different stages below. Nope, those weak leaves never go to the stage to be a pretty firm leaf. All of this plant’s grumpiness went away when we moved and it got some western exposure, as if it suddenly decided to live a good life. It started producing strong healthy new leaves very quickly.
💀Anthurium veitchii is another plant that needs more than what a north facing home could offer. It grew extremely slow and only producing tiny lives when living on a north facing windowsill. Once I have the western exposure, it got significantly larger.
🌱 Ludisia Discolor
This beautiful plant is doing well on my north facing windowsill. It kept growing even during winter and kept producing stunning new leaves. However, it wasn’t until I put it on a west facing windowsill that I saw its full potential. It produced larger leaves, flowers, and quickly grew out of the pot, showing me it’s ready for an upgraded home.
Until next time
Next time, I will share my experience about which plants would thrive in a low light apartment.
Keep working on your indoor jungle dream!
Thank you!