Plants that do well in direct light?

bbyoda

Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm having some trouble keeping plants alive higher up in my cage. I'm using a Sansi LED spotlight and thinking the direct light could be an issue after moving the plants around a bit and seeing how they react.

In your experience, which plants fare well directly under those spotlights?

Doing well:
schefflera, pothos, ficus microcarpa

Not doing so hot:
creeping fig, birds nest fern, prayer plant
 
I have a hoya, monstera delicioso and a nerve plant higher up in my enclosure with a 46" uva t5 up top and they're all very happy. The nerve plant prefers medium light so it might start to get stressed but so far so good.
 
Generally, when we research a plant for an enclosure, after verifying it's safe for the inhabitant, we check (among other things like size) for growing conditions: light, water, feeding, etc.
This helps coordinate the whole setup. ;)
 
What does that have to do with the question by OP. They asked for plant recommendations.

Hahah I had the same reaction like...I already tried that ?

Generally, when we research a plant for an enclosure, after verifying it's safe for the inhabitant, we check (among other things like size) for growing conditions: light, water, feeding, etc.
This helps coordinate the whole setup. ;)

Since I'm still a gardening novice I didn't quite land that step - I did try and pick and place plants according to their care needs but didn't realize how harsh the plant light would be, so now I'm troubleshooting a bit.


I put a nepenthes in there to see how that goes and I'm gonna get a bromeliad or two and see how they fare.
 
Other people read these threads, and find them via google searches.
It's just something that might help folks looking at plants to consider.
 
Nepenthes and bromeliads will go nicely. Mine absolutely thrived in my enclosure not far from jungle dawn LED spots. Nepenthes have the bonus of killing off little soil gnats and other bugs. Mine got huge from all the critters in my substrate wandering up to it lol.
 
I hope mine springs back! One of its pitchers shriveled. I'm watering it a bit more (purified water only) and put it directly under the light. I got one to help with fungus gnats. Plus carnivorous plants are the coolest!
 
I hope mine springs back! One of its pitchers shriveled. I'm watering it a bit more (purified water only) and put it directly under the light. I got one to help with fungus gnats. Plus carnivorous plants are the coolest!

For sure, they're a little hobby of mine. Just make sure the purified water doesn't have any minerals in it. So RO, RO/DI, distilled, or rainwater. Sometimes the pitchers will die and new ones will sprout
 
I rearranged and repotted some plants today! Got a couple bromeliads and a few airplants. Hoping these are happy under the plant light!

IMG_20200802_142907.jpg IMG_20200802_142911.jpg IMG_20200802_142903.jpg IMG_20200802_142913.jpg
 
Looks good. Be cautious using that small pebble rock though. Not sure what species you have but if a feeder gets on it and they go for it that is a huge impaction risk.

Was wondering about that, thanks for mentioning it. I'll switch out with bigger rocks - I just ran out and used what I had on hand!
 
I rearranged and repotted some plants today! Got a couple bromeliads and a few airplants. Hoping these are happy under the plant light!

I hope the following article may be helpful. I have some tillandsia in my enclosure, and they seem to do better in medium light.
Generally, you want to keep all of your air plants out of direct sunlight as much as possible, however, some tillandsia can take more sun than others depending on the species of the plant and its environment. If your plant has thinner, wispier leaves, then it probably will not do too well in direct sunlight. Thicker, fuller leaves can hold moisture better so this type of air plant may better tolerate some direct sunlight for portions of the day. The air plant species that have silver leaves, such as xerographica, tend to do best handling direct sunlight.
https://www.airplantcity.com/blogs/featured-blogs/hot-summer-sun-air-plants

Maybe you've already read some of these:
air plants sunlight
 
I hope the following article may be helpful. I have some tillandsia in my enclosure, and they seem to do better in medium light.


Maybe you've already read some of these:
air plants sunlight

I might shuffle them around!! It seems like no plants like direct light for 12 hours a day >_> Makes sense when you think about how the sun moves throughout the day.
 
It seems like no plants like direct light for 12 hours a day >_> Makes sense when you think about how the sun moves throughout the day.
Many succulents (e.g. cacti) do, but they can wait until you add an ackie, beardie, or uromastyx to the family! :LOL:
 
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