Indoor Tropical Plants

[Fishfaced]

After watching hundreds of aquatic videos on YouTube I fell into watching people with tropical plants.
One women stood out to me ' Tropical Plant Addict'
Her home is filled with an amazing array of tropical plants, her garden and tiki bar are also something to appreciate.
It has inspired me to get a couple myself and have them around my tank, why not I thought. Will enhance my tank corner.

Does anyone else here have tropical plants who can share their favourites, care and knowledge.

These are my first couple

 

[Essjay]

I have orchids and succulents, not that many as I've run out of space.

I have 7 orchids and 3 types of Easter cactus in the lounge, and more succulents on the kitchen window ledge.

 

[Fishfaced]

I have orchids and succulents, not that many as I've run out of space.

I have 7 orchids and 3 types of Easter cactus in the lounge, and more succulents on the kitchen window ledge.

Very nice, I like all the types you mentioned.
I planted this a few weeks back but one of my succulents got a white fuzz on it and practically turned mushy. What do you think caused it?

 

[Essjay]

I've has the odd cactus do that and I suspect I may have over-watered them

Does the glass container in the photo have any drainage?

 

[Fishfaced]

It doesn't but I've kept the plants in pots level with the gravel.
I've barely watered them, when i have I've syringed tank water and put a few drops directly into the pot.

 

[Essjay]

I've barely watered them

That's possibly what happened. Contrary to popular belief, cacti do need watering regularly during the growing season, but left almost dry outside the growing season. It's a balance between under and over watering.
I have mainly lithops in the kitchen with the odd cactus nowadays. The pots are in a tray which I fill with water every couple of weeks, let the pots stand for 10 minutes then put the pots in the sink to drain before putting them back in the empty tray. That seems to work for me.
The sansevierias and haworthia are in their own pot holders and they get watered like the lithops, though I add cactus fertiliser to the water with these.

 

[Fishfaced]

That's possibly what happened. Contrary to popular belief, cacti do need watering regularly during the growing season, but left almost dry outside the growing season. It's a balance between under and over watering.
I have mainly lithops in the kitchen with the odd cactus nowadays. The pots are in a tray which I fill with water every couple of weeks, let the pots stand for 10 minutes then put the pots in the sink to drain before putting them back in the empty tray. That seems to work for me.
The sansevierias and haworthia are in their own pot holders and they get watered like the lithops, though I add cactus fertiliser to the water with these.

So going forward, now that the weather is cooling how often would you recommend watering?

 

[Essjay]

Going forward, just enough to stop the compost getting totally dry, a tiny amount once a month should be OK. Then next spring slowly increase again. Don't over water and make sure any excess water drains out of the pot (I do that by standing the pots in the sink for a few minutes)


My main problem with cacti has been mealy bug. That's impossible to get rid of. If I ever get back into cacti I'll set up a quarantine area until I'm sure they are pest free before letting them near the ones I already have. A bit like quarantining fish

 

[Fishfaced]

Going forward, just enough to stop the compost getting totally dry, a tiny amount once a month should be OK. Then next spring slowly increase again. Don't over water and make sure any excess water drains out of the pot (I do that by standing the pots in the sink for a few minutes)


My main problem with cacti has been mealy bug. That's impossible to get rid of. If I ever get back into cacti I'll set up a quarantine area until I'm sure they are pest free before letting them near the ones I already have. A bit like quarantining fish

Going forward, just enough to stop the compost getting totally dry, a tiny amount once a month should be OK. Then next spring slowly increase again. Don't over water and make sure any excess water drains out of the pot (I do that by standing the pots in the sink for a few minutes)


My main problem with cacti has been mealy bug. That's impossible to get rid of. If I ever get back into cacti I'll set up a quarantine area until I'm sure they are pest free before letting them near the ones I already have. A bit like quarantining fish

I appreciate your advice. Thank you

 

[Stan510]

I worked in Horticulture..so I could go on for a few hours as a warmup Mostly tropical and subtropical plants. I don't live in the tropics but the 10a zone allows some to do well here by SF bay.