Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to my indoor jungle. This is the place where I can grow tropical plants. I really like big and tall leafy plants indoors because they make me feel alive in a space that normally feels very dull and sterile. Even though I don't get to travel very far away from my home town, I can bring far away places closer to home by growing plants native to far away places.

Pictured Above (from left to right):

• Bird of Paradise
• Jade
• Ginger
• Philodendron

Apologies for the poor quality photos. I work long days, and it is after 9:00 pm, which is actually the earliest I am home on a week night. This is as much light as I can get in this room.

These are my bonsai lemon trees.

Ginger in the foreground. Hoping they will grow back after they adjust to the new warm climate indoors. They probably need to go through a few months of rest first before they kick back into production.

In the background is my Jade and the stalk of a Bird of Paradise. It has problems staying upright, so I am using a wire and some bamboo poles to help prop it up. I don't want to put it into a new pot unless I have to, because they like to be root-bound.

Lime tree. Wired to help the branches open out into lateral shapes. Will need to remove those wires as soon as new leaves start to increase in size and acclimate.

Two types of Philodendron I grow. The one on the left is turning red under the leaves. Sometimes it turns red on top. Normally the leaf is all green. The more direct sunlight it gets the more red it shows. The less light it gets, the deeper green it becomes. I think in the winter the sun angle is lower, which causes the leaves to change into the red color they are now showing recently. The leaves are very delicate, and tend to fall off easily if pulled. I believe this variety is called "heart shaped". I enjoy that the leaves angle out towards the window sunshine, because I can see the warm color underneath the leaves. The top of the leaves are also beautiful, and almost shimmer like glitter. Perhaps this is due to an oil coating it secretes.

The Philodendron on the right has a larger, thicker leaf, and it has a waxy sheen. The leaves are always full green. It has a thicker stem, and it doesn't mind being knocked around a bit. In the past, I have grown this in a bathroom with almost no sunlight except for a skylight, and it continued to thrive. I like that it cleans the air and brings lush nature life into a place like a bathroom that otherwise feels like a mold laboratory to me. This is one of the easiest indoor plants to grow.

My recommendation is to grow Philodendron in a high place next to the light so the lovely vines can cascade down. This is the shape it was meant to grow in. Growing it on a flat table is a waste of space, and the vines will just cover the table surface so you can't put anything else nearby on the table. So try to grow it on the edge of a shelf of some kind to let the vines hang off the side.

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Hope you enjoyed viewing the plants I am growing inside. I'm on the hunt for another carnivorous plant to grow this winter. I keep finding little fungus gnats ambling about now and then. Much better to let plants equipped to deal with bugs restore balance in the area than for me to spend money on harmful sprays and fly traps, right? Last year I grew a Sundew, but it did not survive past Spring. Maybe I'll try again.

Have a wonderful day!