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Monstera Deliciosa
Monstera Deliciosa
Aka The Swiss Cheese Plant. This is the one that started it all for me. My mother had a beautiful, 5 foot tall Monstera Deliciosa at the entrance of our house that was a major show stopper. I remember everyone complimenting her on this plant as soon as they walked in to our home and saw this rich green foliage against her stark white decor. Unfortunately, I was away at college and she gave the plant away before moving back to Jamaica.
I have at least 7 of these Monsteras in my house now and I'll be chasing the beauty of a Monstera as gorgeous as my mother's until I achieve a five foot beauty of my own. Some of the things I've learned is that this plant needs a chunky aroid soil mix. You can purchase these or make your own. Depending on how busy life is, I've done both. Check out my list of must-haves to build your own.
I've started most of my monsteras in water to track their root growth before I pot them in soil. So far that's worked out really well for me. I've also had trial and error is finding adequate light for these babes. They now live in an East facing window that gets great light starting early in the morning and they enjoy being side by side with other similarly tropical plants generating ambient humidity.
Monstera Andansonii
Monstera Andansonii
Philodendron Micans
Philodendron Micans
Velvet Heartleaf Philodendron
The Monsetra Adansonii and the Philodendron Micans are two of my favorites because of their climbing and vining capabilities. They add a lot of character and their gorgeous foliage really brighten my day. They can both thrive, in my experience, a little farther from the window. My Adansoniis are, however, right up against the window because my cat seems to have a thing for its new growth. The Micans is a vigorous grower and I have SO many cuttings that are thriving throughout my house.
Berry Allusion Syngonium
AKA Arrowhead Plant
I really really really love these syngoniums. The blush pink center of these leaves are so so striking and delicate looking against the varying greens. This is another plants that is living well in my homemade chunky mix. The leaves take their time growing in the winter months and really thrive and shoot out lots of new leaves once the weather is consistently above the mid 70s. I've split these off and gifted them more than once.
White Bird of Paradise
White Bird of Paradise
Strelitzia Nicolai
This six-foot beauty takes up the South East corner of my bed room. It gets sunlight from two angles and has incredibly beautiful foliage. This baby gets bottom watered deeply every two to three weeks depending on the moisture levels. Its truly my favorite show stopper.
Ponytail Palm
Ponytail Palm
Beaucarnea Recurvata
This is one of the few desert plants that I own. The curly, lime-green foliage of this plant is adorable and admittedly my partner's favorite plant. It's whimsical and super low maintainance. I place this in a bright, south-facing window water this monthly or every few weeks. The trunk of the plant will expand when it's sufficiently hydrated and wrinkle when it needs watering making it very clear when it needs to be watered. 10/10 communication skills!
This is a direct link to some of the things that I use to keep my plants happy, healthy, and thriving
A 70/30 soil mix is ideal for most tropical plants. It allows the roots to dig deep in the planter while also providing adequate drainage for your plants. Im my experience planting any of these in regular potting soil and watering regularly will lead to root rot 100% of the time. You can also buy premade chunky soil mix which is still a perfect option if you don't have the time to build your own. I've linked some of my ideal components below.
Vermiculite
Perlite
tree bark
potting soil
Leca
Leca
These clay pebbles are a major part of my chunky soil mix profile. They add fantastic drainage to the soil and retain moisture in the porous pebbles. I also rely on these exclusively for plants that I grow in water. The roots thrive on the minerals and enjoy snaking through and around the leca.
Soil Ammendments
Adding bone meal to your soil mix promotes root growth. This is ideal for repottings and separating offshoots and pups.
I use Grow Queen liquid fertilizer specifically on my water propogations and so far I have had complete success. I highly recommend this for taking the guess work out of making sure your plants succeed.
Lime for plants is something I exclusively use for my outdoor garden plants like tomatoes. Raising the Ph of the soil on my indoor plants hasn't been an issue thus far although admittedly it's not something I pay much attention to. It's still something I'd recommend keeping on hand as calcium is also a great soil additive for healthy plants.
Organic Bone Meal
Liquid Fertilizer
Lime Granules
Planters
The options are endless when it comes to plants. The most important thing to be mindful of is drainage. If you're using a planter without drainage holes, I recommend using it as a cover pot so you can make sure that your soil is never sitting in an unapproved pool of water. There are self watering plants that are great for smaller plants, typically 6 inch planters or smaller. I find self watering planters cant really meet the needs of larger plants and dont hold an adequate amount of water to get the job done.
Propagation Station
Propagation Station
At one time or another all of my cuttings, plants, or their pups have spent time in some sort of propogation medium. Miniature starter pots, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, spray bottles, makeshift humidity domes, stakes, and moss poles are vital in growing plants to a place where they're ready for their own pots.
Sphagnum Moss
Mini Greenhouse
Moss Pole
Starter Pots
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