We live in the desert in Carlsbad, NM. I really do not like succulents. We love tropical plants and mostly take vacations at the ocean. Are there any tropical plants that we can grow indoors as house plants?

welcome to the forum, gina!

there are a lot of succulents that don't actually LOOK like the succulents you usually think of - the cactus and aloe.

jade plants are lovely. and then there are hoyas and pepperomia. not all pep's are succulent. kalanchoe is another one...there are many different varieties - some look the the usual succulent and other don't look like they are succulents at all!

there are plenty of other tropical plants you can grow indoors...you will need to take a/c into consideration tho.

i've got a variety of plants - chinese evergreens, parlor palm, a few pepperomia, aluminum plant, coffee plant, a couple of rubber plants, arrowhead plant/vine. any of these would be suitable for your house, too.

most of those are low-light things - there's not too much natural light coming in the windows (just a matter of how the windows are placed and that the house next door blocks a lot).

there are plenty of other plants that would do well inside with more light. citrus trees are one thing that comes to mind.

I believe you can grow any tropical plant you wish indoors.

Milin

gina, how much effort you have to put into your "non-succulents" will depend on a few things. one of which is if you have a/c or a swamp cooler. a swamp cooler will let you grow more things with less effort.

one plant that comes to mind that i grew when i lived in the desert was a creeping charlie aka, swedish ivy. they get so large, tolerate the low humidity, and have beautiful white flowers.

any other plant can be grown indoors, but you may have to utilize a pebble tray to keep the humidity up high enough.