A lot of the discussion here is (understandably) written from a garden perspective, with 'indoor' gardening talk mostly focused on greenhouses and winter gardens. Unfortunately, at the moment I just don't have access to anything like that.

What I have is an apartment where aroids (monstera, alocasia, etc.) are generally very happy. A lot of light over most of the year (though it gets worse in the winter, Northern Europe and all that). Humidity varies between 30 and 60% RH, temperature roughly between 22 and 26C (the building is super well insulated, so even if I turn heating down, the neighbors' heating keeps the apartment above 20C). No balcony.

Beside my planned phalaris field research in the Spring, I'd like to start cultivating a proven 'light' plant. I have an immediate choice between chacruna and jurema, based on my access to seeds without having to order from abroad. If looking at robustness, and likelihood of the plants being happy and growing / producing well in this sort of climate and enviornment, which one would the common opinion of the Nexus recommend? (Or any other tropical plant - acacias, etc. - I might want to look into acquiring...)

Hey PsyDuckmonkey,

I live in a colder environment without much humidity as well. The sensor in one of my grow tents reads 21C and 41% right now, but thats only because I just watered everything (it is usually around 30%). I've got a bunch of plants currently growing in my place, including Echinopsis Pachanoi, Echinopsis Bridgesii, Echinopsis Peruvianus, Mytragyna Speciosa, Mimosa Tenuiflora, Phalaris Aquatica, Phalaris Arundinacea, Acacia Acuminata, and Banisteriopsis Caapi. And some other potentially interesting plants such as Silene Capensis, Plectranthus Scutellarioides, Fittonia Albivenis, Calea Zacatechichi, Delosperma Nubigenum. And then there are some that I used to grow, like Sceletium Tortuosum, Phalaris Brachystachys, Cannabis, Leonotis Nepetifolia and Heimia Salicifolia. And thats not including the other houseplants and cacti I collect.

Yes, my place looks like a jungle and watering takes a long time.

Anyways, most of my plants started out in a small 2'x2'x4' tent with a 600watt led grow light and a little grow fan. Everything grew great in there, with the exception of Delosperma Nubigenum, Silene Capensis, and Banisteriopsis Caapi, which all seemed to dislike the direct light and quickly had wilted leaves. They are now outside of the tent (30-60cm maybe?) and getting indirect light which shows through the open doors on my tents. I have one Banisteriopsis Caapi clone by a north facing window getting indirect light, and right next to it is my Mimosa Tenuiflora. The trick to making these two happy, as well as the Mytragyna Speciosa, was to have a humidifier by them 24hrs a day running on low. Slowly, while keeping an eye on the leaves to see if they wilt or fall off, I would run the humidifier less and less. And if the leaves looked hurt, I ran the humidifier longer. Now I don't even have one in my place at all. And not sure if it mattered or not, but I should also probably mention that the Mimosa Tenuiflora was seed grown, and the Banisteriopsis Caapi and Mytragyna Speciosa were small clones.

Sorry for the wall of text, just thought that you might be interested in that information as well. Or maybe there is someone else who stumbles on this thread and is curious about growing any of these plants indoors.

But, on to your question. While living with limited space, low humidity, and a steady temperature of about 20C, I would grow the following:
1. Acacia Acuminata: Slow growing, but does well under the 600watt and doesn't seem very picky. Mine are still young (~1 years old, so take what I say with a grain of salt here), but they seem to be growing well. Plus, you don't have to rip up roots when they are ready like with Mimosa Tenuiflora. I'm hoping that there is someone else out there with some more experience with this one and can comment

Other plants to consider (Which may interest you or others in a similar situation):
2. TBM (Trichocereus Bridgesii Monstrose): They are pretty small and grow excellent under a small light like the 600watt led. Very easy to clone too - Just cut off a ball and wait until roots show, then plant it.
3. Banisteriopsis Caapi: Very easy to grow even without a light. Just plop it by a window and keep watering the thirsty fella. Also very easy to clone - Just cut off a section and put it into a glass of water until roots show, then plant it.

Having never grown Psychotria Viridis, I cannot really comment on that one. But, Mimosa tenuiflora, while growing well in our similar environment once acclimated, needs a lot of space. Mostly it requires a large pot for roots to spread out and do their thing, which is a pain to move when it gets older. Moving my large ceramic pot around while getting poked with thorn protected branches isn't fun. It is a beautiful plant though

Thank you, I really appreciate your detailed answer!

Yea, I'm considering setting up a heavy duty humidifier (made from an ultrasonic fogger, a bucket with a lid, and a cooling fan). Even a small household humidifier pushes the RH levels to 50-ish in the winter, the only issue is the constant hassle of refilling the accursed thing. A larger container should make it less annoying.

I have no complaints about living quarters looking like a jungle. My dream is to have a proper greenhouse where I can go have my morning coffee and sit down to work among the greenery. Even with the aroids, it's getting there. If you show monstera deliciosa any amount of love, it seems to explode in size and take over the room. I don't use grow lights yet, but I have large windows, and a lot of skylight (with the exception of november through january...) The aroids seem to be okay with it this way, even if languishing a bit over the winter, they seem to make up for it over the rest of the year. Electricity is expensive here - how many hours do you run your grow light? I'm wondering if I could get away with a lower wattage as a supplement to natural light.

I think I'll make an attempt at both, and see how things turn out. I'll have to figure out a protocol for germinating and acclimating them. And thanks for recommending the TBM, it's a delightful plant.

I know what you mean with re-filling the humidifier. Mine had a 3L tank on it, so when it was always on I'd just have to add more water once a day which wasn't that bad. A smaller one than that probably would have been pretty annoying though. I've never tried the setup you are describing, but it seems popular with the serious mushroom growers who have large fruiting chambers.

It's great that your place gets lots of light, hopefully my next one will. Thankfully electricity is pretty cheap where I am, so for now having a couple of grow lights doesn't really matter.

For the first few years I kept my 600watt led grow light on for 16hours a day, and all of the plants in there (like the cacti and Mimosa) enjoyed it and did great. I have a couple of TBM cacti on my balcony which only gets direct light for 2-3 hours a day, and they are doing pretty well, but the segments are not as big as the ones in the tent. Right now I have them by a window because it's too cold outside. This might mean they will grow well for you next to a window getting direct light, and if they seem a little skinny you could try adding a small led grow light to the mix.

The Mimosa was moved to a window during the summer season after it was already 2 years old, but the change didn't really bother it. It lost a few leaves at first, but bounced back to normal very quickly. It was definitely growing faster in the tent, but I don't mind slow growth as long as it's healthy.

There wasn't really a need for me to change the lighting schedule, but for about the past year I have been trying to provide a more realistic growing environment in my tents, so I've been resetting my lights' timers at the beginning of every month to whatever my local daylight is. It's still too early to say if this has been better for them or not, and maybe there are too many factors at play for me to ever really say if this was a good call, but I figure it's worth experimenting with.

And I hope you accomplish your dream of one day having a proper greenhouse to enjoy. It sounds like you're already off to a good start