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Growing Instructions

Soaking - It is highly recommended that your rainforest seeds get the following treatment before they are planted.  The result is an "easier birth" and a healthier plant. 

Place the contents of each seed packet in a small glass bowl.  Add fresh water.  Let soak for 24 hours, changing the water after 12 hours.  Soaking of large seeds may continue for 2 or 3 days until they are visibly plump.  Don't forget to keep changing the water every 12 hours.  It is important that seeds which have a hard casing/shell should be shaved down with a knife, nail file or sandpaper to open their pores for receiving water.  This helps shorten the germination time.

Planting - Do not use soil from your garden as it may contain harmful bacteria and weed seeds.  Utilize the potting soil sold at your local garden center.  It should be loose and porous.  Use planting trays, jiffy pots, etc.  Cover seed with soil to a depth of no more than 3-4 times its thickness.  Very fine seed should be barely covered and watered only by spraying with a mist.  Plant flat seeds edgewise, winged seeds with wing pointing upwards or removed.

Heat & Humidity - Rainforest seeds like warmth and humidity to help them germinate.  It must remind them of their origin.  Best germination occurs at a temperature of between 70 and 80 degrees F (20 - 25 C).  One way of maintaining that level of warmth is by using either an inexpensive gardening heating cable or a mini greenhouse propagator.  Once the seed sprouts, revert back to room temperature to harden the seedlings.

To retain moisture, cover the planting trays or pots with clear plastic such as saran wrap.  This method works very well.

Germination should take from 10 to 40 days depending on the species and the hardness of the seed.  Palms usually take a bit longer, so be diligent. 

Watering - When watering the seeds, be gentle.  Avoid sloshing the soil with water.  The soil should stay moist, but never soggy as you could easily rot the seeds with over watering.

Light Exposure - When the seedling do appear, remove the plastic wrap and introduce them slowly to full light, over a period of a month or so.

Transplanting - When the seedlings get their second set of true leaves, transplant them individually to a pot of your choice.  It is recommended that you start with a 6" (15 cm) one and move on to a bigger size a year later.

Fertilizing - Rainforest houseplants require light feeding once a month.  However, this should be done only during the months when they are in active growth and rarely, if at all, when they are resting or dormant.

Water soluble fertilizers tend to produce the best results because they give the most even feeding.  These may be purchased as powder or as liquid, to be mixed with water.

In general, leaf plants should be fed with a fertilizer containing an even amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, a ratio such as 15-15-15.  Flowering plants tend to prefer more phosphorous, as provided by 15-30-15; while fruiting species need an extra dose of potassium such as exists in 15-15-30.

Locations - For indoor plants a location near a window is the best.  Natural daylight is better for the plants, but where necessary, it may be supplemented with artificial light.  If using supplemental light, it is best to get bulbs or tubes that simulate natural sunlight as closely as possible.  Generally these lights would be left on for a minimum of eight hours per day, preferably twelve hours.

If you find your rainforest plants "stretching" or getting very long, soft growth, or very light green leaves, they probably do not have enough light.  If they appear to be sunburned, with round or oval brown patches near the center of the leaf on the window side of the plant, then they may have too much light.

Insects - Insects are quite a common problem on indoor plants and can quickly multiply to a huge number as there are no natural predators to control them.  The most common are Spider Mites (very tiny and difficult to see - the first sign is usually webbing on the young foliage), Aphids (green, red or brown), Scale (small raised bumps) and Mealy Bugs (cottony masses).  They may all be controlled with proper use of insecticides.  The most common insecticides for indoor use are usually made up of Pyrethrins (a chemical naturally made by chrysanthemums) and with repeated applications (usually once a week for four weeks) they will clear up most infestations if started soon enough.

The most important thing to remember about insects is not to give them enough time to reproduce and spread to other plants which makes them much more difficult to eradicate.

Plant Size - In case you ever wondered, remember that a giant rainforest plant can become a gentle dwarf indoors.  The height and spread of the plant will be determined by the size of the container used.