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It is indeed possible to grow tropical plants indoors. All it takes is a little know how. Most of the tropicals that can grow indoors are actually trees. They bear fruit. Of course they don't grow as big as if they were outside, but they can grow and bear seasonal fruits for you to enjoy your home. Orchids which are flowers and may varieties are also tropical flowers that can be grown indoors if you know how to do so.
The first consideration in growing and maintaining tropical plants in your apartment or houses is the environment conditions in your home. Tropical plants need moist and warm air. Those are the conditions they naturally grow in. The next issue is they need as much natural light as possible. If you do not get a lot of natural light then it may be difficult to grow and or maintain a tropical plant in your house. The tropics have a lot of sunshine and thats what is needed for these type of plants.
Next you have to make sure you do indoor pollination for this type of plant so it can fruit properly. If your apartment has a balcony or you have a back yard then the process of pollination will occur naturally. For those that have neither a balcony or back yard you will have to enact pollination manually.
The first thing in order to pollinate your indoor tropical plant is to have a camel hair paintbrush. With the paintbrush you are going to transfer the pollen from the flower's plant or fruit's antlers to the stigmatic surface of the plant. The transfer does not have to be exact. All you have to do is jiggle the plant with the brush in the appropriate spot and that helps pollination to occur. You want a plant that has what is called “perfect flowers”. “Perfect Flowers” means that it has both male and female parts and is capable of self pollination. The jiggling just gives the plant a boost to do so.
Many of the tropical trees that are brought indoors are kept similarly or actually the same one's that are grown in Bonsai gardening. Bonsai is originally the Japanese art of miniature gardening.
One good example of a plant you can grow indoors is the Natal Plum tree. Carissa macrocarpa (Natal plum) is a good choice for indoor tropical trees. It grows as a shrub but if left outdoors can grow to 18 feet tall. This particular tree can be found in Bonsai gardens. It requires a lot of light but is drought resistant . Drought resistant doesn't mean to let it dry out, it just means if you miss a watering and the growing medium(soil) is dry it won't die. This tree yields red plums. The natal plum should be fertilized often with a good all purpose plant fertilizer. Its best to start this tree from seeds. It is very difficult to grow this plant from cuttings.
