Indoor Tropical Plants Care

Bringing home a vivacious and dark green tropical plant can spell a mood for your home decor. Not only do plants add a sparkle of freshness to the interiors, but they also help in enlivening the charm of the house. There are plenty of tropical home plants that can be used to add splendor and magnificence to a house. However, keeping plants in artificial conditions is not an easy job. Plants need love and care, and with an artificial environment inside a house, the plant completely depends on the homeowners for all its requirements. One of the basic prerequisites for bringing an indoor tropical plant is to provide it with a warm humid environment for growth. Exposure to light, perfect air temperature, proper fertilization, appropriate watering are other things which should be considered, while keeping an indoor tropical plant. Read on further to find tips on how to care for indoor tropical plants.

 

Light is the most important factor for an indoor tropical plant, as it gets its vital energy from it. Place the tropical plant near a window so that it gets sufficient natural sunlight. In case the plant is placed in a corner, use an incandescent bulb for 5 to 8 hours per day to provide light. For long plants, turn the position of the plant often so that the entire plant is exposed to the light.

 

Novice growers tend to excessively water the plants, which may rot the roots and lead to leaf spots, thereby killing the plant. It is advisable to water the plants only when the soil feels dry on the touch. Watering the plant once in a week, during warm weather conditions will be sufficient for the plant. Rain water is the best for a tropical plant, but you can even use tap water for the purpose. However, before usage, make sure that it is kept out overnight, so that chlorine can evaporate from the water. In addition to watering, tropical plants require humidity because of their slender and delicate leaf structure. Therefore, it is necessary to mist the plants once every day.

 

Excessive low or high temperatures may affect the growth of the plant and cause lifeless appearance and foliage damage or drop. It is ideal to provide the plant a cooler temperature at night for proper growth and advancement.

 

Fertilizing the soil is very important for the effective and overall growth of the tropical plant. Spring is the best time to fertilize, but you need to lightly fertilize all year long, once or twice in a month. While the nitrogen content in the fertilizers promote the growth of the plant, phosphorous help in root development. The presence of potassium accentuates root growth, while calcium aids in the absorption of phosphorous and potassium.

 

Re-potting or changing the pot of the plant is very important to guide its growth. A plant cannot continuously grow in the same pot. At the time of re-potting, you should use a pot which is of the next larger size and has larger drainage holes at the bottom than the previous one. The drainage holes will allow excess water to flow out of the pot. You can even use a potting mixture that allows free drainage of water.

 

A certain amount of humidity is essential for tropical plants. In case the required humidity level is not provided, the tip of the leaves turn brown and start drooping. Plants tend to lose water faster through the openings in the leaves than replacing it through their roots. You can provide the plants humidity by placing them on a tray of wet pebbles. This will make the water evaporate upward from the surface of the stones, creating a humid atmosphere around the plants. You can even generate humidity by simply spraying water on the leaves of the plant. Remember, plants when kept in an air-conditioned room wilt out faster as air-conditioner dries out the humidity of the room completely.

 

If you are not taking proper care of your tropical home plants, they can get vulnerable to several diseases. One of the most common diseases in tropical plants is ‘Fungi’, wherein the plant itself becomes an enemy of another plant. Fungi can be caused due to over-watering the plant, less exposure to light, high humidity and un-sterilized potting mix. Some of the common symptoms of the attack of fungi on your tropical plants are shriveled leaf tips, leaves with dark strips, infected leaves falling off, a grayish-white substance forming on the soil and leaves having white, brown and black spotted centers. You can reduce the risk of fungus attack by treating the plant with a fungicide and by watering them less. By reducing the humidity level and increasing the ventilation, you can protect your home plants from the perils of fungi.