A jungle in your living room? That's right! You heard us.
House plants are more than pretty decorations to fill lonely corners or a backdrop to Instagram-worthy bedrooms. It's a prickly topic here at Prickle - we're super picky when it comes to plants. We believe that tropical indoor plants can create the most awe-inspiring jungle in your home – big or small.
Air Purifying Indoor Plants
One of the best things about growing tropical house plants is that they have air purifying qualities. They have the natural ability to filter out the toxins and nasty chemicals and convert them into lovely breathable oxygen. Ahhh, just the thought tickles our prickle.
When we clean our homes, we often use chemicals. While some of these chemicals are harmless, some of them can be very toxic to humans in large concentrations, as well as our little pricklettes.
Air purifying indoor plants filter out a range of prickly pollutants and toxins making them the must have plants to have in your home and office. The list below isn't exhaustive, but it gives you an idea of the harmful things plants can remove from the air.
Birds of Paradise (Strelitzia Nicolai)
If you want to add a burst of colour to your living room, you can't go wrong with the Birds of Paradise indoor plant . It is named after its bright colouring that resembles the gorgeous feathers of parrots and macaws. These plants like bright light, warmth, and humidity, making them a must have plant to place in a sun facing window. Make sure you mist the plant regularly and keep the soil nice and moist to keep your Birds of Paradise indoor plant chirping away.
Calathea Medallion (Calathea roseopicta)
We're not going to lie, this is one of the trickiest small house plants to grow at home as they love, love, love being bathed in heat. To keep your Calathea Medallion in tip-top condition it should be placed near a radiator or in indirect sunlight (they need a minimum of 16C year-round) . Like the Birds of Paradise indoor plant, they like to be kept moist too, so have some water on stand-by at all times. Set an alarm on your phone so you don't forget! Don't be a prick. For best results, feed your Calathea Medallion with a little plant food fertiliser during the growing months (spring/summer) and make sure to keep them away from direct sunlight, as true to their tricky nature, they don't flourish in direct light.
Kentia Palm
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- From £53.00
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- Sale price
- From £53.00
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Kentia Palm (Howea forsteriana)
Now that you have taken care of colour and filled out your living room with small house plants, it is time to introduce big plants to turn your bungalow into a jungalow – specifically the Kentia Palm. Kentias are amazing for a number of reasons; they aren't fussy and grow in colder conditions, they love the shaded areas of your home, and they grow at a slow pace, so you won't find you're crowded out by a rapidly growing tree. There go your plans for an indoor treehouse.
Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)
Like the Kentia Palm, the Rubber Plant is another house plant that can fit into the big house plants category. They are an evergreen plant that will provide a lush green colour all year round. When grown indoors, it is important to trim them when needed as these plants can grow to astronomical proportions. Outdoor varieties can even reach a stellar 100ft in height! Take that, beanstalk. They like moist and well-drained soil and if you're lucky, they even bloom on rare occasions.
Ficus
Rounding out our prickly list is another plant that’s larger than life. Ficus plants, coming in many different varieties, are really common house and office plants as they are relatively easy to care for. They're also quite a catch with their glossy green foliage and a distinctive shape. The Ficus resembles a tree, making it ideal if you want the bonsai look in your jungle living room. They grow well with indirect light and are fond of warmth. Try to avoid keeping your Ficus by the door or open windows as cold drafts can cause leaf damage. Like us, they can get prickly during chilly weather! Mist your Ficus regularly and make sure the soil is moist but well-drained. Waterlogging a Ficus will likely kill it as they have sensitive roots that rot in very wet conditions.
Finishing Touches
The last thing you need to get that jungle look is a wild pot collection. We have created a Prickle pot collection that is perfect for adding colour and all sorts of shapes and sizes to really set your tropical indoor plants off a treat. If you have high ceilings, you might find some cool hanging plant types to add some height to your jungle display. And, if you enjoyed this natural dive into the truly wild side of house plants, make sure you follow us on our Prickle social media channels now @prickleplantsuk for more prickly adventures in the future.