Abstract Our work seeks to explore certain abiotic factors that could affect seedling recruitment in neotropical moist forest. We selected three plant species ( Caraipa sp., Tachigali sp., and Dicranostyles sp.) and investigated the role of nutrients, proximity to the parent tree, competition (intra-and inter-specific) and light availability on seedling growth and survival. We planted seedlings in the forest understory and in a shade house and applied four different treatments to evaluate the role of abiotic factors on recruitment. Our results show that the studied species were not negatively influenced by distance-dependent processes or by competition during the study period (6-7 mo.). We found that light availability was the most important factor determining seedlings’ early performance. The studied species showed distinct responses to the different treatments; therefore, it is hard to draw general conclusions about which factors might be affecting seedling recruitment and promoting the high plant diversity of tropical moist forest.