So after much thought I'm thinking about extending my plant collection into my bedroom and living room.

So I'll begin with the living room... I have a Monstera in there that is starting to grow all over the place, I will need to stake it with a moss pole that I will make from roof guttering, sphagnum moss and wire mesh I will also coat the outside of the gutting with glue and coco coir to make it look more natural and have it blend in with the plant. I also have a golden pothos growing with it, it is located by the glass doors which receives not much light but the monstera is thriving regardless.

The rest of the living room is very dark which is uninhabitable for plant life but I want to change that by adding some grow lights. I will also be adding a grow light for the monstera/pothos because even though the plant receives natural light, there is no light at the top of the plant because of the way the natural light comes in so a light will be added to the top. I also want to create a mini orchid garden with some bits if tree logs covered in moss a sort of woody mossy orchid garden so I will need some light on those and to keep the moss green. I'm not sure how it will pan out over time but I'm going to give it a try.

Moving onto the bedroom, I'll be adding some grow lights in there because its also very dark. I have a few plants at the window but the light doesn't really go far enough to support other plant life further away from the window. The light also travels in a downward angle hitting the floor and the lower part of the back wall at the back of the bedroom. I'm planing on having lots of pothos in the bedroom which will be growing upwards so grow lights will be added and hung from the ceiling where the pothos will be hanging, I will have Chinese ever greens, possibly some peace lilies and two very large terrariums that will house some more smaller plants and giant African millipedes, woodlice and moss, the two large terrariums will have there own ecosystem. That is my plan so far.

exciting!
Remind me later to post a new photo of my White Wizard(?) and golden pothos with my home made moss pole. I'll add a link in a minute.

OK, here you can read Gina's and ardesia's coaching me with my plant pole project
The thread "Climbing philodendron next step" in Tropicals forum

In case this has some useful info

End of second summer potted with the pole. The pole will need dressing up, and/or the whole thing might go to a slightly deeper, but nearly same diameter, pot, but that will require detaching the pole from this pot.


Biggest leaf now 9 inches

^^ wow !

I may need some inspiration on moss pole making, although it is easier said than done making moss poles mainly due to lack of materials and I'd need a lot of sphagnum moss to fill the moss poles and sphagnum moss can be very expensive with the amount I would need so I'm thinking of alternatives I could use like leafs from outside, I can get lots of them to pack out the moss poles with. I could also forage for moss but I don't think I'd find enough of it to use in moss poles. I also thought about tree trunks or making something from tree branches twined together or something...

You don't have to make something filled with stuff. You buy sheets of coir like I did, and wrap around something durable, plastic even. Reptile supply store or online can be a source for these. Or even to buy ready made slim mossy poles. Did you look at my thread?

Have you seen this?
The thread "Photographic tutorial: making a BIG totem for climbing plants" in Houseplants forum
Will give you good ideas, I think, for any size pole.

sallyg said: You don't have to make something filled with stuff. You buy sheets of coir like I did, and wrap around something durable, plastic even. Reptile supply store or online can be a source for these. Or even to buy ready made slim mossy poles. Did you look at my thread?

Have you seen this?
The thread "Photographic tutorial: making a BIG totem for climbing plants" in Houseplants forum
Will give you good ideas, I think, for any size pole.

Coir cloth is ok but I need my pothos aerial roots to be able to absorb nutrients so I'll probably go with mesh and sphagnum moss it seems to be the most popular method.

Just an update... its possible I can extend my plant collection after working out my energy costs of running lights. I have a fixed budget of how much energy I'm using on my grow lights which aren't using much so that means I can expand

Aglaonema's & Pothos are going to be my first choice but aglaonema's seem very hard to find here in the UK, mostly only available online here. That will be my starting point for the bedroom, maybe some peace lilies too.