Can a warming pad be put under house trees/plants during the winter?

February 18, 2019 1:44 PM

Specifically for a Draceana Lisa plant.

I just got a lovely Draceana Lisa plant that is roughly 6 feet tall. I want to make sure I keep it healthy.

My place tends to get chilly during the winter and I do have it in the corner by the window so that it can get a little bit of light. Generally the sun exposure by this window is between low and medium which is perfect for the plant. I just have to remember to rotate it every so often so that not only one side gets exposed to light. For the colder days I got this heat mat. I figured I can just put the plant on top of the mat and since hot air rises it would heat up the bottom and the warmth would rise up to the leaves.

Is this a good way to keep the plant warm during the cold days? Is it better to place the mat vertically on the wall (which is right behind the plant) so that it gets heat from the side instead?

If you've owned this plant before and have any extra pointers or things I should know please share.

posted by fantasticness to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I really don’t think it’s going to suffer at all unless its local temp is down below the mid 40s (F).

It might enjoy being at 65F and be a bit more productive than it would at 55F, but unless that’s the kind of chilly we are taking, I wouldn’t bother, and you might even hurt it by creating a sustained and large heat gradient between the bottom of the pot and the tallest meristems.

As long as it’s not dropping lots of leaves or turning yellow or rotting, it’s fine.

Most any ‘houseplant’ tropicals will not mind any room temperature that most any modern Americans would tolerate.

The most common factor of plants getting sad and damaged during winter indoors is lack of light, and even that isn’t usually a serious problem, the main thing that will kill that plant is overwatering, which is easier to do when it’s doing less active growth during the winter.
posted by SaltySalticid at 2:13 PM on February 18, 2019

I've never used one to keep a plant warm, but I do use them every spring to help start seeds for the garden. I think it'll be fine.
posted by gregr at 2:17 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't bake the roots. They are tough, they put up with sitting in most any window. They just don't like being over watered.
posted by Oyéah at 8:53 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Another vote for not heating the roots. In addition to the points made up thread, the heat will dry out the soil faster than normal. Though if you are prone to overwatering, might be a good thing.)
posted by sarajane at 4:36 AM on February 19, 2019