Plants for Cubicles?

Frank of Earth asks: "Our company recently moved to a new location and I was lucky enough to get a cube with a window. Now that I actually can benefit from sunshine, I thought it would be cool to grow something in a potted container. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on growing plants in your cube. Most of the indoor plant growing topics I found are related to illegal types of plant growing you do in your closet. What types of plants make good cube plants with a geek flare? Rather than just growing a boring spider plant, I would like to grow something cool like a fruit or vegetable. If you've had experience growing something unique, please post your thoughts!" What kind of plant would you grow in your cubicle?

Get an Amarilys

[Pig Hogger]

They look strange (perfect for a geek) and the three huge flowers, then they pop-out, are a huge gratification.

Plus the time it takes to grow will make everyone wonder what's going on, and before long, everyone will pay you a visit everyday to see how it's doing.

And when it finally blooms, everyone will congratulate you for a job well done!

A large tray of wheatgrass?

[Klowner]

Imagine a potential client visiting your cubicle, and you feel like you could use a little energy boost, just stroll over to your tray of wheatgrass and graze for a few moments, then rip some out and offer a small handfull to your client.

I think it would really impress them.

You could start wearing animal hides as well, that's also impressive.

(seriously though, wheatgrass is easy to grow, and you can nibble on it or juice it)

bonsai!!

[St. Arbirix]

I have several bonsai all over my computer desk, on the computer speakers, and sitting in the window by my desk. Azaleas are perfectly suited for indoor life. Also nice is the rabbit's foot fern on one of the speakers which just looks weird and multiplies as fast as a spider plant. Behind my computer (a laptop permanently fixed on my desk) is a small cluster of palms of some sort which enjoy the heat that my laptop's fan pumps out at them.

Occasionally the fern will droop down low enough to get in the way of my screen. This is a really good indicator that the plants need watering.

Re:you know you want it

[phaze3000]

Heh, was going to suggest the same.. :)

Take a look at this excellent video guide [pot-tv.net] for step by step instructions..

Re:Get an Amarilys

[white1827]

Amarillys only bloom once a year near christmas. The rest of the year they are an ungly bulb half sticking out of dirt. Although that could be an interesting conversation piece in it's own right.

Everybody loves lemonade...

[tibike77]

You can try a lemon tree ; sure, you'd have to wait a couple of years (or buy an older plant) before you can actually get a lemon out of it :p
Anyway, the plant smells nice and it's quite resilient - my sister had a larger one in her room for almost 15 years.

Cactii

[Loacher]

I would recommend a cactus.

They require little care (water once a week during the warm months, none at all during the cold months, fertilize once a year), so they can survive vacations and weekends unattended.

Cactii come in all kinds of strange, unique geeky forms, and several produce weird looking edible fruit.

Look up epiphyllum catus, beautifull flowers, and fruit that tastes like passionfruit (smell before eating, goes bad very fast).

Most mammillarias produce small red edible fruits, and some have very interesting shapes. Look up mamillaria elongata cristate, or Mammillaria bocasana 'Fred', one of my favourites.

If you like really weird shapes, look up Euphorbias, I specially like my Euphorbia obesa cristate.

Note: Cristate means a Crested fromd of the plant. They usually look like brains.

Small bamboo plant...

[dubious9]

I've had luck with small bamboo plants. I keep mine filled with water, so there's no overwatering. It doesn't require a lot of light, but they'll grow faster if there's more.

They do grow very slowly though. However, there are many very nicely arranged ones.

Start with some Basil....

[empirionx3]

The first thing that you should try is some Basil. True, it is not a veggie or a fruit, but it is an amazing plant that is great to start a window-box-ish type work project. Start with one of the smaller leaf varities (which should grow very quickly in direct sun... try 'small leaf greek') and see if it's for you, and then you can move onto one of the larger leaf varities (opal or italian large). I've had many co-workers enter my office and comment on how nice the smell is.

Re:Bonsai Tree

[douthitb]

I would agree that a bonsai tree is definitely the way to go, although I will admit that they can be a bit difficult to care for. I have two of them in my house, and everyone who comes over asks about them. If you put one in your cubicle, you will instantly transform into Mr. Popular.

Another thing to consider is that there are actually many types of bonsai trees, each with their own distinct style. Check out http://www.bonsaisite.com/ [bonsaisite.com] for lots of good info styles, growing and care of bonsai trees.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:If you're looking for something different

[Rattking]

Venus Fly-Traps are fun but they are not a hardy plant.. you'll have to water them with distilled water.. tap water will kill em
as for light they don't like direct light
think swamp floor
I grow many house plants and Fly Traps are the only ones I cant keep alive :(

Dwarf tomato plants

[drokus]

I have grown Japanese dwarf tomatoes in small containers indoors with no problems. The tomatoes are about the size of a large cherry with some plants producing yellow and some red. Pretty cool 12 to 15 inch plants with more tomatoes than you would think.

Re:Everybody loves lemonade...

[mls]

If you are in a Northern climate, and don't have a sunny Southern facing window, I would avoid the lemon tree. They can be hard to keep alive during the Winter months when you live in someplace like Minnesota for example.

Avacado

[mattsucks]

Growing an avacado from a pit is pretty cool. After you use an avacado, take the pit and suspend it, round side down, in a small bowl or glass of water. I use 3 toothpicks, stuck into the outside of the avacado, roughly equidistant around the middle and halfway down. You want maybe the lower 1/3 in the water. After that, some references will tell you to give it a week in the dark, and some say to just sit it in the sun. I am lazy, so I just put mine on the windowsill and let them go.

After a week to a month, the darned thing will sprout. You'll want to keep water in the bowl, and let it grow until you have 3 or 4 strong leaves. Then transplant to a small pot, keep it watered, and there you have it.

You won't get a full-sized tree (they grow 60' 70' tall in the wild) and you probably won't get fruit, but the leaves are pretty, and its cool to tell people that you're growing an avacodo tree.

This is a decent refs: at AllSands.com [allsands.com]. Of course a google for "growing avacado" will get 100s of results as well.

I've also grown small herbs (ha ha, not THAT herb) in office settings. Basil, oregano, thyme, some mints .. the plants are pretty, they smell great, and if they get plenty of sun they'll flower. Nothing big and showy, but quite nice overall.

Word of Warning

[RedHat Rocky]

Watch for nasty visitors your plant may introduce or attract to your workplace.

A coworker once had a plant in his cube, it became infested with some kind of mite. These mites then migrated through the halls to some other plants, can't recall if they killed the plants or what the deal was. Caused quite the stir, plants at desks were banned from then on.

Re:you know you want it

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently you have never grown it. Since it grows so fast, it takes a lot of care. You need to water it often, feed it nutrients often, and it requires a lot of sunlight (not only in the energy of the light, but in the duration of the light).

Not something that is going to do well in a cubicule with minimal sunlight coming through the window.

Very fun to grow though if you are trying to save some money.