Tropical plants are used to sandy soil, which naturally drains well. Because of this, it is important that you give the same conditions in your pots. Using loamy soil with pebbles embedded in it is a good option. There should be at least one hole at the bottom of the pot to help with drainage. To keep the soil in while letting water out, you can cover the hole(s) with wire mesh. If the mesh is too small, however, it will clog up.



It is easy to water your tropical plants. They don't need very much water. In fact, in the winter a ZZ plant may be able to go two months with no water. The tropics have a hot, dry season followed by a very moist, wet rainy season. They can do fine, therefore, with long waits between waterings. It is fine to allow the soil to dry out between waterings.

The plants don't need much fertilizer. Providing it with a low nitrogen fertilizer will help for most species. Micro-nutrients are more important, however. These chemicals are essential for your plant. It is similar to fertilizer, but the plant needs just a very small amount of the micro-nutrients to be healthy.

Typical fertilizer has more common nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These help to provide healthy leaf and stem growth, root strength, and bountiful flowers and fruit. Micro-nutrients, on the other hand, are elements like manganese, magnesium, calcium, and copper. They are important for plant health, but not in very large quantities.

Fertilizer for houseplants have different mixtures of the 3 main elements. They are measured in numbers such as 30-10-10, meaning there is three times as much nitrogen as phosphorus or potassium. You need to find which mixture works best for the specific plants you are growing.

Although not a lot of water is necessary for tropical plants, plenty of sunlight is essential. If plants are placed to close to a window though, the greenhouse effect can cause the leaves to receive too much sun. In addition, the soil can overhead, which will harm the roots. In general though, a moderate amount of sunlight is needed - just don't overdo it.

Most tropical plants naturally like warmth, but some species can handle cold weather. You should choose these varieties if you live in a climate that gets cold and the plant will be on a porch or near a window in the winter. The peace lily, spider plant, and wintergreen or Monique varieties of ficus all can survive some cold temperatures. Some versions of the ficus, such as Midnight, can do well in lower light as well. It cannot survive low light and cold though. Warmth is necessary for this variety.