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Firstly what is meant by "exotic plant"? It usually means a plant that is unusual or one that isn't native to your area. The latter rather depends on where you live; Eucalyptus are exotic everywhere except Australia. I suppose "home" is rather uncertain too. Do you consider your garden or a greenhouse as part of your home? Even in colder climates, indoor plants can be placed outside in the warmer months, blurring the distinction between houseplants and garden plants.

There are unusual plants that are hardy in cold climates. I'm going to interpret this as how to choose indoor plants.

Things to consider:

How much light do you get in your home (and are you willing to put up artificial lights for plant)? South facing windows get most light. East facing windows get less light, mostly in the morning. West facing windows get about as much light as east facing ones but mostly in the afternoon. North facing windows get least light. (If you live in the southern hemisphere, you should reverse the information about north and south facing windows.) Florescent lights are cheap but they really have to be close to the plants so are probably only useful for seedlings or collections of small plants. For some reason cacti (even forest types) don't flower under florescent lights but Mesembrianthemums, Stapeliads and Euphorbias do. I've yet to see any evidence that the more expensive florescent tubes which are suppose to create a more natural spectrum grow plants any better than the cheep cool white ones. HID's are expensive to buy but probably give you a bigger bang for your buck in the long term. You can use them to light a large area and grow large plants but some people find them too bright.

How much space do you have do you want a tree or something that stays small?

How warm is your home?

How humid is your home?

What sort of look are you going for? Succulents (including cacti) will tend to give an open, warm, bright, desert look. Pretty much anything else will give more of a leafy, crowded, cool, dark, jungle look.

Do you want just the odd big plant or lots of small ones (lots of big ones or the odd small one)?

Do you want plants that climb or look good in hanging pots?

Do you want plants that have lots of flowers?

How good are you at growing plants?

Do you want something that other people won't have?

Do you want to collect a group of related plants? Some people will even specialize in one genus.

Some people are concerned about poisons (Euphorbias and Dieffenbachias

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