Shop plants

[BruceMc]

With winter closing in, I'm thinking about adding some green foliage to the garage this year. I have two 3x4 windows with a nice, full southern exposure and the garage is heated all winter. Anyone with a green thumb have advice or experience to share? What's hardy in a typical hobby garage environment and what to avoid?

 

[LS6 Tommy]

If it isn't heated, given your location, just buy silk plants...

Tommy

 

[AldeanFan]

I have a lime tree.
Sits outside in the summer and in the garage in winter.
Nothing like coronas and fresh limes


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[BruceMc]

If it isn't heated, given your location, just buy silk plants...

Tommy

It is heated. 65 during the day and the thermostat rolls back at night. I was repotting some of the house spider plants in there the other day when it struck me - why not some permanent greenery out here, too?

 

[4xdog]

I have spider plants in my shop, which grow like weeds in diffuse sun and are highly tolerant of variable conditions.

The plants I have are descendants from a start my paternal grandmother gave my mom over sixty years ago. If you were here, I'd be HAPPY to give you some spider-shoots so you could be overrun with this thing, too.

One of the advantages of spider plants is their ability to clean the air. My first job in the 1980s was at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus Ohio, where in the building one over from my polymer science group housed an airborne chemistry group. They had a big sealed "smog chamber" testing all kinds of things around photochemical pollution. IIRC, a NASA contract at the time led to the conclusion that spider plants were one of the best at scrubbing chemicals from the air. That study and others are probably on line someplace...

So in addition to having the family connection to my cultivar, it's easy-peasy to grow and it's probably earning its keep by cleaning pollutants out of my home workspace.

The tiny plants on the windowsill of this photo from 2012 have now grown so much that the window frame is filled with green and the spiders are spilling halfway to the floor. And I've cut and started dozens and dozens of new plants from these in the meantime.

 

[Rory Bellows]

If your putting plants in the garage an aloe plant is good for burns. Might come in handy.

 

[tym]

I agree with either spider or aloe plants. They're tough and need so little care, they'd be perfect for a heated garage.

My aloe plant at home loves diffuse light and has gotten huge with some of its leaves over a foot long. I feel like one day it might attack me like a face hugger from Alien.

 

[4xdog]

Good point on aloe -- one of those lives in the other windowsill in my shop!

 

[BruceMc]

One of the advantages of spider plants is their ability to clean the air. My first job in the 1980s was at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus Ohio, where in the building one over from my polymer science group housed an airborne chemistry group. They had a big sealed "smog chamber" testing all kinds of things around photochemical pollution. IIRC, a NASA contract at the time led to the conclusion that spider plants were one of the best at scrubbing chemicals from the air. That study and others are probably on line someplace...

This looks to be it:

https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19930072988/page/n11

https://www.lovethegarden.com/community/fun-facts/nasa-guide-air-filtering-houseplants

I saved at least a couple dozen of the biggest shoots and planted six already, so I think I'll get to planting the rest this weekend

 

[machsnell]

I have a lime tree.
Sits outside in the summer and in the garage in winter.
Nothing like coronas and fresh limes


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Pic please. That is awesome. Makes me thirsty.

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[4xdog]

This looks to be it:...

I think that’s follow-on work to the original study. Certainly related to the work I was watching underway.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Did the voracity of testosterone just fall out of the sails?


The "green" in my garage is the liquid in a rattle can- or the ink on a certain beer bottle label!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Did the voracity of testosterone just fall out of the sails?

I figured it wouldn't take long....

Many of us are secure enough in our masculinity that we aren't afraid of having plants around.

 

[wssix99]

Lot's of people grow "green foliage" in their garages where I live. Personally, I'm not in to it. But I understand you don't even need natural sunlight.

I suggest you cover your window up if you are going to get into this sort of thing.

 

[BruceMc]

Did the voracity of testosterone just fall out of the sails?

The "green" in my garage is the liquid in a rattle can- or the ink on a certain beer bottle label!

Not much need for sails around here this time of year. From Tuesday, this is the green in my view for the next 6 months.

 

[BruceMc]

I suggest you cover your window up if you are going to get into this sort of thing.

No need to anymore these days - AK legalized it. I had a neighbor confess to me last summer they had renter with a small grow op once upon a time.

Oh? Really? I never would have guessed that from the tinfoil and foam board insulation you had year-round in all the windows.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Lol Don't they know to just drywall over the blinds?

Id advise look into compost tea, doesn't really matter what kind of plant, it will do better, esp in soil that's been stagnating in a pot. If there's a hydroponic store nearby, they might have a vat of it bubbling away, or know someone who does. If you decide to DIY, it should be kept aerated, and made with chlorine free water.
Here's a decent DIY video.

I don't think I've seen anything as low impact with such a positive and broad effect.
You don't need it if you soil is already great, but it's hard to keep your soil great in a pot.

 

[fsae0607]

+1 on aloe. Working on stuff, sooner or later, you will burn yourself.

 

[wssix99]

No need to anymore these days - AK legalized it.

You still have the problem of people seeing what you have and stealing your plants.

... the way kids are these days, even if you put aloe up in the window, you'll probably get some degenerate that will break through to try to smoke it.

 

[kbs2244]

I have been in "fern bars" a few times
But when I was in the Ford dealer shop on Hilton Head was the first time I was in a fern garage.
A pot hanging between each work station

 

[Scsbronco]

Good info

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[welder4956]

Last winter we brought our potted lemon trees and guava trees inside the garage and used grow lights to make sure they got enough light. Problem was after we brought them back outside in the spring they did not produce again till late summer. I'm wondering if the grow lights being on 24/7 affected the fruit growing cycle.

 

[PNWguy]

You still have the problem of people seeing what you have and stealing your plants.

... the way kids are these days, even if you put aloe up in the window, you'll probably get some degenerate that will break through to try to smoke it.

Chicago must be much worse that I was aware of.

If you have to break into a house to get some weed (that isn't even dry yet) you're doing it wrong. I am much, much more concerned about people taking tools than if I was growing weed. I may put in a few CBD (and very low THC) plants this spring, and they'll be outside, in full view. My tools will be hidden behind the blinds.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Last winter we brought our potted lemon trees and guava trees inside the garage and used grow lights to make sure they got enough light. Problem was after we brought them back outside in the spring they did not produce again till late summer. I'm wondering if the grow lights being on 24/7 affected the fruit growing cycle.

Absolutely. They were also probably waiting for winter to start. Some winters here it doesn't really freeze, then some plants will get really confused and do stuff at the wrong time. Others don't need the signal so much. it really threw my apples off.

 

[Ak Jim]

Not much need for sails around here this time of year. From Tuesday, this is the green in my view for the next 6 months.

Cool, someone else from interior AK!

 

[larry4406]

Last winter we brought our potted lemon trees and guava trees inside the garage and used grow lights to make sure they got enough light. Problem was after we brought them back outside in the spring they did not produce again till late summer. I'm wondering if the grow lights being on 24/7 affected the fruit growing cycle.

We have a lemon tree that winters inside in the basement. I have grow lights on a timer. I think I have it set for about 16 hours of light a day. It blossomed and set fruit while inside. I had to use a Q-tip to pollinate the flowers.

 

[Chris4x4Gill2]

Mine will get all of the overflow from the wifes potted plants that don't fit inside the house for the winter. Some will live, some will die. Come Spring time I will have a few hundred Chestnut seedlings in the garage for a few months (hopefully). I use to have 3 lime trees. They finaly died over one extra cold winter.

I might have to get a spider plant, would be nice to have a little extra 02 when the doors stay closed mostly during winter.

 

[AldeanFan]

Glad to know about the spider plants.
I have one at my office that will soon take over the world.
Now it’s spawn are hanging in my garage.



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[BruceMc]

Wikipedia to the rescue --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study#Chart_of_air-filtering_plants

 

[tym]

Wikipedia to the rescue --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study#Chart_of_air-filtering_plants

Neat! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Kevin54]

If your putting plants in the garage an aloe plant is good for burns. Might come in handy.

Good point on aloe -- one of those lives in the other windowsill in my shop!

Did the voracity of testosterone just fall out of the sails?


The "green" in my garage is the liquid in a rattle can- or the ink on a certain beer bottle label!

 

[rburke65]

Ah no......no plants in the shop.