Houseplants for bright direct sun + growing in water (no soil)
May 27, 2024 2:45 PM   Subscribe

Are there any houseplants that *both* can live in just water (longterm, no soil) and handle "bright direct" (not "bright indirect"!) sun?

I've got shelves over windows, where plants would get "bright direct" sun much of each day. And I like the look and effort-level of plants I've grown in water (longterm with no soil) in the past (e.g. monstera, lucky bamboo).

I keep reading lists of "houseplants that love sun!" that all turn out to only be "bright indirect sun, and direct sun will scorch the leaves dead".

(That's what made me give up on crosschecking the many Googlable lists of bright-sun plants, against the many lists of can-live-in-water plants. Hoping to avoid doing that more!)

Thanks!
posted by rollcredits to Home & Garden (5 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: You could do lots of herbs. Use Leca (as asked about here recently) for a little more stability and more robust plants than just water.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:34 PM on May 27, 2024


Best answer: You could try Papyrus or Umbrella Papyrus. They're very pretty.
Note that if you have cats they'll absolutely do Simone Biles level gymnastics to bite the pretty grass thing.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 4:22 PM on May 27, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: my coleus does well in direct sun in just water, but I'm canadian so my direct sun might be a bit softer.

I have a purple "flaming katy" in just water - mine is quite leggy and it's in the sunniest spot in my house, I suspect it would love direct sun.
posted by euphoria066 at 6:22 PM on May 27, 2024


Best answer: Seconding Coleus as the easiest/prettiest option here.

Epipremnum aureum (commonly called 'pothos' but not actually Pothos) does very well in just water.

There are also several truly aquatic floating plants that might look good on a windowsill. Water hyacinth has nice flowers, as do many species of bladderwort.
posted by eraserbones at 8:05 PM on May 27, 2024


Best answer: I've heard legends of sansevierias grown in hydroculture. I wonder, if thicker leaves might be the key anyway? Aloe?
(unasked for advice - consider leca with special food rather than just "water")
posted by Dotty at 6:06 AM on May 28, 2024


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