Tropical plants have become one of the more popular choices when it comes to indoor gardening. Easy to care for and often drought tolerant – there are a lot of beautiful species.
A lot of these plants evolved in a soil condition that's often sandy, so caring for tropical plants will involve offering a sufficient alternative with ideal drainage. A good option is tiny rocks combined with loamy soil. Pots used for tropical plants need at minimum one or more drain holes. If necessary, include a layer of wire meshing to avoid an out flux of earth, however be cautious not to clog up the pot.
Watering a tropical plant is easy as very little is required – some can go for as long as two months between watering in the winter. Imagine the tropical climates, dry, hot, and followed with a monsoon for two or three weeks once a year. The Sansevieria, for instance prefers the soil to become dry in between each watering.
Tropical plants often do well with little to no fertilizer in the soil. As the exact mixture is likely to vary with each species, adding a low nitrogen fertilizer is often ideal. Even these tropical plants will benefit from several micro-nutrients - a chemical that's essential to a plants health, but to be given in small quantities.
Micro-nutrients are elements such as copper, calcium, magnesium, and manganese. Nitrogen aids in the growth of the leaf and stem, phosphorus is needed to maintain healthy roots, and potassium will contribute to fruiting and flowering.
Fertilizer is set in amounts that are relative – such as 30-10-10, this implies that there are 3x as much nitrogen as potassium or phosphorus. For example, this mixture would be ideal for the Hibiscus. Some flowering plants will favor a 15-30-15 split. It is necessary to find out that ideal amount or each species.
It's not surprising that tropical plants like the sun, but care is needed to not overdo it. The smaller plants can overheat if placed near a window – this includes damage to the roots.
The Spider or Peace Lily is one of the more cold hardy tropical plants. Consider something like that if the houseplant is to be located on the front porch for a period of time.
The Monique or Wintergreen plant is able to tolerate the cold weather reasonably well. In the colder temperatures leaves might drop, so be set to clean up as necessary.
Midnight is one plant that can do well in low lighted conditions, even though warmth is still necessary. With leaves that grow upwards and dark, they are ideal for a hallway. Then again, a caring for tropical plants such as the Bougainvillea will call for plenty of sunlight.
Birdhouses
