The Secret Sauce

Identifying and replicating the native environment of a plant will help your plants thrive and reduce stress. Stress robs your plant of its natural resiliency to fend off pests, and survive periodic under/overwatering, and seasonal changes in light and temperature.

Here are some specific characteristics of a jungle understory:

• Low-filtered light: The jungle understory receives only about 2-15% of the sunlight that reaches the canopy. This means that plants in this layer must have adapted to low-light conditions. They often have large leaves to capture as much sunlight and dew as possible.

• High humidity: The jungle understory is very humid, with average humidity levels of 70-80%. In a home, high humidity can lead to problems with mold + mildew if there is no space between the plants.

• Moist soil: The soil in the jungle understory is always moist, as it is constantly being watered by rain and dew. For some plants, wet-feet is a death sentence.

Despite the challenging native conditions, many plants thrive in the jungle understory and tend to be houseplant favorites. Ironic, right? Since we don’t live that way in our homes it’s counter-intuitive. The allure of the exotic foliage calls to us so strongly that intuition goes out the window. Colors, texture, patterns, + wild, unfurling new growth are all too great to resist.

Take a minute. Do some research. Find the origin story. Honor the new life you are about to be responsible for and build an environment where neither you nor the plant will be stressed. Now - let’s check out 20 cool plants.

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