It is difficult say what you are doing wrong. It would seem, however, that you do not have any experience at growing plants indoors and probably limited experience at growing plants in pots.
Probably the biggest killer of indoor plants is over-watering. Outside in the stronger light they are doing a lot of photosynthesising. That means the pores in the leaves (stomata) are open and losing water. Add to that the air movement stripping water away from the leaves so that humidity does not get a chance to build up and they will lose a lot of water. This is replaced by taking it up through the roots.
Indoors in an enclosure there is little air movement and humidity builds up. The light is also much dimmer, even though your eyes may not think so. Try walking out on a sunny day and then straight back inside. The difference in light intensity is dramatic. So the plants will not be photosynthesising as much. Therefore they need less moisture.
Most ferns need a free draining mix that retains some moisture but still has good air access. You don’t want to fertilise plants that are not growing rapidly either. Don’t use fresh fern potting mix if is has a raw smell to it. It should be well and truly aged and inert when used. Pay the extra for a good quality brand or just leave it in the mix it came in. Instead of water ferns, just give the foliage a light spray once or twice a week. Take the plant out once a month and water it outdoors. If the mix is too dry, soak it in a bucket of water for half an hour, ensuring all potting mix is immersed. Allow to drain thoroughly before replacing it in the enclosure. Actually, you should apply this method to all your plants used in enclosures.
Plants do not need UV light – look at the plants that grow in offices and under skylights. The best lights for indoor plants are the ones they sell for planted aquariums. They are boosted in the blue and red end of the spectrum as this is what plants absorb (they do not use the green and so that is given back off i.e. green plants).
No plant will thrive in very low light conditions. If this is the case, have two sets and swap them around – one inside, the other outside under decent shade cloth and protected from drying winds. Cutting the leaves off will reduce initial water loss and if regrown in a dry environment, the leaves will produce less pores. Removing some of the lower leaves can help in his respect but you should not have to denude the plant. If previously kept in strong light, the plant will produce more chlorophyll in lower light conditions to help it absorb more light. In other words, the leaves will go a darker green.
There is no such thing as an indoor plant. There are only those plants better able to survive the conditions indoors – dry atmosphere (usually), minimal air movement, dust and low light. Birds nest ferns are good but they are also epiphytes and do not tolerate wet feet (i.e. standing in water) – a quick way to kill them. The tree ferns need quite bright light to do well and grow huge very quickly – not a good choice. I agree with the Dwarf Umbrella as an excellent plant. I have not grown Anthuriums. Devil’s Ivy (aka Pothos), a vine, Syngonium, another vine, Weeping Fig, Parlour Palm, Kentia Palm (while small), Monstera, Aspidistra (Cast Iron plant), Spider Plant and any of the Philodendrons are all good, hardy plants to use.
Wishing you better luck this time around.
Blue
PS. I do agree that Air Plants (Tillandsia spp of bromeliads) are an excellent choice plus Old Man's Beard Usnea species and Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss - a bromeliad) are excellent additions.
RSPcrazy,
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I just wanted to explain why the cutting back of leaves has helped your plants survive. Before I do that, it sounds like you have either Dracena or Cordyline species of plants. These have long narrow parallel leaves they emanate in a whorl from the tp of the plant. If well looked after the leaves also extend down the stem.My guess would be you probably have a form of Ti-plant or Corn Plant (Dracaena fragrans).
The survival of plants due to cutting back leaves has nothing to do with UV but everything to do with water. Many of the chain store providers of plants grow their “indoor plants” under conditions of high humidity and frequent watering, often once or twice a day. Bunnings are a perfect example. The plants become “water soft”. The potting mix they grow them in is designed to be extremely free draining and not particularly water retentive. So what tends to happen is you take it home, put it in a relatively drier environment and don’t water it anywhere near as often. The leaves are loosing water through their pores and insufficient water is being applied to the roots. By removing say half the leaves, you reduce the water stress on the plant by half, because you have reduced the pores by half i.e. it is now losing / using half the water it was. This allows it to survive long enough to adapt.
If bring home a plant like this and forget to water it for a couple of days, it ends up wilted and may even die. The trick is to put it in a humid spot in good but indirect light and water it regularly to begin with. Gradually reduce the water regime. This will cause the plant to harden off (it uses less of its pores in response to the reduced availability of water). At the same time I would re-pot the plant, trimming any long roots that were beginning to curl and removing a portion of the existing potting mix to expose some roots. Using a premium grade potting mix and a slightly larger pot make sure the exposed roots are teased out to sit into the new potting mix, water well a couple or three times and then treat as above. The new potting mix will retain a lot more moisture and once the roots bed in they will be able to make use of this and go for much longer between waterings.
Something I would recommend is to put the plant pots into sealed containers in the substrate - something like yoghurt container or a sealed plant pot i.e. no holes in the bottom. This means you can swap plants around to give them a break without disturbing the enclosure. It also stop moisture from being taken up by the substrate by capillary action. The one thing to be aware of is never water the plant in situ. The outside container will fill up with water and effective drown the roots of most plants. There are a few that can survive this treatment but they are in the minority. So water your plants outside the enclosure and give them time to drain freely before replacing them. I recommend that you do not plant into the substrate. For enclosures it can create problems with humidity and mould growth. If you have a large enclosure that is well ventilated and well lit you might get away with it but you really need to be an experienced plant grower to take on something like that and to have a good chance at succeeding.
Blue
