The first thing you should do when you consider bringing a new plant into your home is google where it is found natively in the world. Seriously, if you know where a plant is indigenous to, that will tell you most of what you need to know about its care requirements.
Got a plant that grows in the jungle understory? That plant probably likes bright indirect light, rich soil that stays consistently moist but not soaking wet, and higher humidity. Let's break that down into what those things look like for houseplants.
In your home, bright indirect light translates to putting your plant close to a window where it can see an expanse of the sky but out of range of a direct sunbeam. This type of light mimics the intensity of light that would filter through the dense canopy of a rainforest.
That richness of soil and moisture preference informs your choice of pot, planting medium, and watering frequency. You may want to opt for a glazed ceramic pot or a plastic nursery pot as they tend to lose moisture more slowly than terra cotta. Nursery pots might be ugly, but they are easy enough to hide in a cachepot. You'll want to water when the top inch or two of soil is dry. These plants will want a consistent moisture level, but not wet feet.
You also know that your plant wants rich, well-aerated soil. Jungles have a massive, thriving web of biodiversity moving around in the soil. The constant movement of subterranean worms and insects allows for quite a bit of airflow around roots. We can't give our plants quite the same thing at home but we can make sure that the soil breathes well by adding perlite and/or orchid bark to it.
The richness of the soil refers to the layer of loam on the forest floor, constantly being enriched by a layer of decaying plant matter as well as insect and animal contributions. At home, this means that your plant will probably like to be fertilized regularly.
Lastly, a tropical understory plant will probably enjoy being near a humidifier or in an area of your home that gets higher humidity such as a bathroom with a window. Jungles are often described as having a "wet heat," meaning high humidity and warm weather. If your home does not have adequate humidity, you may notice crispiness in your plants or browning leaf tips.
Tropical plants will be sensitive to the cold. Generally, this means that these plants dislike temperatures under 10 degrees celsius - that's 50 degrees in Fahrenheit.
Good examples of this type of plant would be calatheas, marantas, or ctenthe. Monsteras, pothos, and philodendrons for the most part also fall into this category but are less dependant on high humidity because of their leaf structure. That's the subject of a whole other post though. For now, we'll test drive another type of environment.
Let's say you have a plant that grows in the open forests or scrublands of the tropics. It will like similar conditions to the first plant but would like more light and a little less humidity.
The lighting difference between jungle understory and open forest or scrubland is pretty big. Instead of bright indirect light, this plant would want more direct sun on its leaves.
Open forest and scrubland will have more airflow than a densely packed jungle will, meaning that it will be a touch less humid. These plants might still appreciate a humidifier but won't require it in the same way the first type of plant will. They will still be sensitive to the cold, so looking at the annual lows of their native area is a good idea.
Crotons are a great example of this type of plant. Many people hate them because they often do poorly indoors as their light requirements often exceed what we can give them.
Lastly, desert plants. It's hot in the day, and cold at night. It's arid, and plants most likely will go long periods of time without rainfall. The soil is loose and sandy.
At home? This plant is going to want all the sunlight you can give it, and maybe more. It's going to want to dry out completely, and then wait another few days before it's watered. We can also deduce that this type of plant will probably want a cactus mix type of soil or a sandy medium. A terra-cotta or nursery pot will be the best choice for them as we don't want too much moisture to be retained in the soil.
This may be why even though succulents and cacti are marketed as being "low maintenance" because they have low water needs, they are still easy to kill because of high light requirements.
This post by no means covers the enormous amount of diverse environments around the globe, and it's not meant to. It's more an introduction to a more intuitive way of looking at plant care.
Translating natural conditions into a checklist of plant requirements isn't hard once you know what to look for. It takes a little bit of practice, but it could be easier than memorizing several dozen plant care sheets. There isn't anything wrong with memorizing plant care sheets for specific plants, and if you only have one or two plants that might be more efficient. If you're a little bit more like me though, and you have a lot of plants or live in an indoor jungle, this more intuitive approach might serve you better.
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. Have a great day and happy growing!
Photo credits: Calathea Zebrina in the wild by Bamboo Land
Cacti in the desert from unsplash