Tropical Planter Centerpiece

This tropical planter can be put together in about 20 minutes and makes a cute spring or summer centerpiece. Customize it with your favorite plants and add-ons!

I took a tropical planter class last weekend at a local garden center {West Coast Gardens if you happen to be local}, and I wanted to share this simple tutorial with you. It’s super simple to put together and makes a pretty centerpiece idea for spring and summer.

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Materials

• container of your choice {similar ones here and here}
• potting soil
• a variety of tropical plants and ferns. Look for different heights, textures, and coloring. I don’t know the names of all of the ones I used but here are a few of them in mine: plumosa fern, fragrans maidenhair fern, pteris fern, and club moss. The flowering plant is a Kalanchoes.  This can be either trimmed back once the flowering is done or it can easily be replaced with another flowering one.
• small rocks of various sizes
• wood pieces or other add-ons for extra texture and interest
• small paint brush or old make-up brush

Instructions

• Place soil in the bottom of the planter.  Add your three taller plants. Plants are said to have a “face” so move them around to put their best face forward! 😉 Once you have the look you want, take them out of their pots and slightly break up the roots.

• Place 2-3 wood pieces around the container.  Play around with their positioning until you get the look you like.

• Fill in any holes with smaller plants. Look for smaller trailing plants, moss, or lower height plants. Top up with any soil in any remaining gaps.

• Use a small paint brush to remove any loose soil.

• Top with decorative rocks.

How to Care for Tropical Planters

Tropical plants are usually not too hard to care for so they’re a good place to start if you don’t have the best luck with keeping plants alive! Most tropical plants have similar care needs but it’s always best to check the little care tags in your plants to see if they have any specific requirements.

Water

Generally speaking, tropical plants like to have their soil evenly moist but not wet.  To see if your plants need more water, stick your finger into the soil about 1 inch.  If the soil still feels wet, it doesn’t yet need more water. You can also use a water gauge if you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Overwatering tends to be more deadly for tropcial plants than underwatering, so go a little less on the watering if needed until you get to know your plants a little better.  Avoiding overwatering is even more important if you have a planter container that doesn’t have the best drainage. I like to use a water mister to get into the little spots on the planter to give it a nice even watering.

Humidity

Given where tropical plants originate from, they obviously love humidity. That being said, they do tend to adapt pretty well to less humid indoor living. While you could run a humidifier, spritzing it down with a mister is much easier. For smaller planters, you could also try putting them under a decorative cloche to give them the humidity they would like.

Light

Most tropical plants will adapt to lower level indoor lighting but some still like to have that brighter, more direct sunlight. Check the requirements on your specific plants or try a different spot in your home if it doesn’t seem to be doing well. If you notice that the leaves are starting to burn, it should be moved to another location out of direct sunlight. If, on the other hand, your plant is starting to lose its color and getting a little long and leggy, it needs to be moved into a brighter location. Our tropicals do best in our house in our east facing light. A good rule of thumb is that the light in any location you place your plant should be bright enough to read by.