r/RareHouseplants

I've always loved gardening, houseplants, orchids, etc, and have recently become very interested in the growing popularity of tropicals/aroids. Of course, like many, I had brief dreams of buying, propagating, and selling ultra rare plants as a side gig that I just happened to love. Well, I think I've decided the market is pretty saturated with people who have been at this for years and have many more resources and have decided to simply collect for myself. I can't find the post here, but I think it was a collector's Polynesian Sunset Philodendrum (from what I could find on google) that blew my mind, and steered me back in the direction of buying what makes me eyes and heart happy, instead of what will make me money. There are so many varieties I never knew existed, and I'm hoping for some inspiration from your worthy photos. Also, if you don't have pics but you know it's a beauty, I'm happy for plant names to be listed, too.

I have about $400 to spend on a plant. What are some odd ball plants to look into? I can't keep an epipremnum of any sort alive. But alocasia, philodendron, homalomena, etc I'm great with.

I’m new to the hobby. I’m currently growing Monkey Masks, Corn Plant, Snake Plant, Nepenthes, palms, and one regular monstera (as far as I know). My interest in this hobby is growing as I do more and more research on plant care — especially for bioactive terrariums.

I am surrounded by a lot of plant nurseries where I live (SWFL), but I have a hard time finding one with real expertise on soil/substrate. If there is no retail opportunity, then I’ll go look at wholesale/commercial to create my own mixes in bulk.

Does anyone have any tips?

Hello!

I first want to say that i finally stabilized the situation. But now I’m finding my soil is too chunky given i need to water every 3-4 days. I’ll be traveling more for work soon, so I’ll be less consistent with watering.

Thoughts on what I should add:
I’m not sure if i should add a little more soil or if i should try adding a small amount of coco coir (never used it before).

I also see a lot of people adding charcoal to their mixes, thinking of adding that as well.

What do you think?

Current mix:
• ~35% Fox Farm Happy Frog soil (note that there is sphagnum moss in the mix)
• ~65% Orchid bark and Perlite

Plants i care for:
• Monsteras: Green, Thai, White Monster
• Philodendrons: Choco Red, micans, cordatum
• Alocasia polly
• Begonia rex
• Pending: Anthurium

Some history:
Earlier this year some plants were due for a repot and after letting two Thai Constellations sit in their store bought pots for two months, i decided to repot them as well as my 5 year old green Monstera. Shortly after repotting they all started deteriorating and died. 😭
I never suspected my soil as my entire collection is in the same mix. Though i failed to consider that as i was nearing the bottom of my stored home mix, the bottom had a higher concentration of soil with little aeration.

I have since added 8qts fine orchid bark, 8qts chunky orchid bark, 8qts fine perlite, and 10qts chunky perlite. Did not add any more soil (pictures in the comments. For some reason i can’t add them in the post)