Tropical plants take us on a journey around the world where the scents and colors intermingle with the beauty of shapes. Find out which tropical plants are easy to maintain at home to create a real jungle without having to cross the South Seas.
Whether by their majestic size, their shimmering flowers, their intoxicating scents or their whimsical foliage, tropical plants are sure to evoke an escape into the distance. A veritable breath of greenery, they give your house or your garden an exotic jungle look.
Let yourself be guided by our advice to create a little corner of the tropics in your living room or at the bottom of your garden.
Understanding tropical plants
Before embarking on choosing tropical plants for your home, it is important to understand how these exotic plants flourish.
The tropical climate in which they are used to grow is humid and hot. These plants also grow in a rich environment and provided many plant species in the shelter of gigantic trees. They are therefore very often protected from direct sunlight. This is one of the reasons that gives them these particular shapes and colors, a way for them to capture the slightest source of light.
Things to do to care for a tropical plant
For the maintenance of a tropical plant, it is therefore necessary to be able to reconstitute its natural environment as closely as possible:
- Offer them rich, drained soil
The soil must remain moist but without retaining water, at the risk of freezing during temperature drops. As well as indoors, these plants do not like to stay with their feet in the water at the risk of molding. The land must also be rich. You can enrich the soil with humus or fertilizer.
- Offer them light and warmth
An exposure to the South, South-West is ideal to benefit from the heat and the light but always in the shade, sheltered from the direct sun.
Avoid sources of cold and frost. In a garden, place the plants sheltered from the wind either near a ventilated barrier or against a wall of the house which will have the advantage of being warmer than another.
Protect the soil from mulching or fallen leaves.
Bring potted plants indoors in the winter.
- Give them humidity
Regular watering is recommended if you are in an arid region.
Indoors, spray their flowers and foliage daily. You will see, some tropical plants have roots that grow outside to capture as much moisture as possible.
Maintained well, these perennials and climbing plants multiply easily and can become monumental. It is often easy to cut them off.
They are also very robust. Some can live 30 to 40 years indoors.
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The easiest tropical plants to maintain at home
Discover in photos, the easiest plants to have at home, for the house or the garden.
The monstera or philodendron
We no longer present the monstera deliciosa, star of social networks with its large graphic leaves of a deep green and dotted with holes. Native to the tropical forests of Central America, it adapts very well to our interiors.
The fern
Majestic, Dryopteris wallichiana is a large fern that is fairly easy to grow, in deep soil and very rich in humus. It will be superb in beds or in a pot for the home.
Banana
Contrary to what one might think, it is not a tree but a giant herbaceous plant. There are several varieties, some of which are hardy and adapt very well to our outdoor environment.
The most common is the Musa Basjoo, also known as the Japanese banana. It is ideal for outdoor planting. This banana is cold-resistant down to -15 ° C on condition that its stump is mulched. It will not bear fruit but deploys its long leaves with panache if it is protected from the wind.
The other more fragile varieties can be planted in pots and kept indoors without problems, following the rules of sunshine and watering necessary for the development of a tropical plant.
Chlorophytum
Native to South Africa and Asia, it is also called a spider plant for its jets of drooping stumps which proliferate easily.
Indoors and outdoors, this plant resists well, placed in a dry and protected place. Installed in height, it will be able to let bloom its jets of foliage in fireworks.
It is very easy to cut.
Cuttings pot, 10 €, Mon petit coin vert
Pineapple
Native to South America, pineapple makes a very beautiful houseplant with an atypical style. You can get one easily by cutting the stem of a pineapple. Its original foliage will give a real exotic touch to your interior.
Avocado
As with pineapple, it will be easy for you to obtain an avocado tree by sprouting the kernel of an avocado. Once the shrubs are pruned (it takes several years) you can consider planting them in the ground in your garden.
The orchid
Orchids are the most diverse family in the plant world. There are nearly 25,000 species. They adapt quite well to our climate, one of the reasons why they are very easily found in commerce.
The challenge ? Succeed in restarting a flowering. With a little skill and patience, the flowers always end up budding again.
The CANDIDE orchid, € 36.90 at interflora
The Palm tree
The Trachycarpus fortunei or hemp palm, native to the mountains of China or Japan, is very resistant to our climates (down to -18 ° C) thanks to its thick fiber which protects its trunk.
In pots for indoors or planted directly in the ground in the garden, it will flourish and give your home an air of vacation in the islands.
Tillandsias
Tillandsias are very atypical plants, called epiphytes, which cling to organic supports such as stone or wood. They are called the air girls for their elegance and lightness in the breeze.
They have a wide variety of shapes and require little maintenance. A small jet of water every 15 days is enough for them to develop.
Anthurium
Anthurium is a tropical plant recognizable by its flower ranging from bright red to white through pink and orange, from which springs a “tongue of fire”. It acclimates very well inside our houses with a lot of light (indirect) and humidified regularly.
The tradescantia
Also called Misery for its ability to expand and invade the space it colonizes. It is very easy to maintain indoors. It keeps water in its stem and forgives occasional watering forgotten.
Keep it in a pot as it could invade your garden and suffocate surrounding plants.
It will make a very beautiful hanging plant. With its rapid growth, your interior could quickly take on the appearance of a jungle.
Calathea
Calathea is a plant with very graphic foliage, with contrasting patterns. This ornamental plant acclimates very well indoors with regular watering.
Bamboo
Bamboo is a great classic of tropical plants which is acclimatized both in the garden and indoors depending on the variety.
Hibiscus
The hibiscus and its emblematic flower reminiscent of the Pacific Islands are easily cultivated in pots or in the ground, both indoors and outdoors. Well maintained, it will live two to three years in a pot at home and 10 years in the ground in your garden.