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I have 3 houseplants that I'm trying to care for despite my poor history with houseplants. I have a gardenia, a peace lily, and a hypoestes. These plants all like humidity so I regularly spray them (plus my apartment tends to be on the humid side), and they all like indirect sunlight. Unfortunately for them, my apartment is east facing. So, they get direct sunlight for a couple hours in the morning and sunlight reflected off the windows across the street in the evening.

How can I create an environment suitable for my plants despite this?

jackwise
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2 Answers2

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Have a look at the plants to see how they cope with the morning sun. If they're suffering you could try some removable plastic film on the window glass over summer to reduce the light intensity without losing your view. I wouldn't worry about reflected light.

Graham Chiu
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  • They seem ok so far. The peace lily has new growth despite being attacked by a cat, and it's the oldest, so I think it'll be ok. The gardenia I got 2 weeks ago, most of the buds it had died + some leaves are yellow but that's due to my overwatering which I'm trying to control. Hypoestes is brand new, so time will tell. But I worry about them, hence the question :) – jackwise May 26 '16 at 15:45
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Your photos from your other post showed sunburn on the Peace Lily. Move it away from the windows. You could put it on a table, or even on the floor across the room, where it doesn't get direct light. Maybe even into another room, with less windows. They really do well in very low light! Once it recovers, and has dark green leaves again, you can try giving it a bit more sun to help it to flower.

This site recommends placing the Peace Lily 6 to 8 feet away from a window. It also says that they have been known to grow fine in rooms with no windows at all, using only a plant light. http://www.proplants.com/guide/peace-lily-care-guide

Your hypoestes, or "Polka Dot" should be fine near your Eastern window. But, you may find that the new leaves are less vibrant, or grow in solid green if they aren't getting enough sun. http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/polka-dot-plant.html

Gardenias prefer indirect light (preferably near a southern) window where they receive sun for at least half of the day. So, I wouldn't worry about your gardenia getting too much sun near your eastern windows. http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Gardenia_Indoor_Care

Diane
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