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Peperomia Plant Care Tips And How To Grow Your Peperomia Plant
Peperomia plant, this name might or might not be easily familiar to most people. This wonderful genus contains thousands of species of tropical plants mainly. These amazing genus of plants are native to South America, Mexico, and The West Indies.
These hearty peperomia plants generate thick and fleshy leaves. These leaves play an immense role in contributing to their vigor and drought tolerance. Are you among those people who are not very lucky when it comes to the maintenance of indoor plants? You are going to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that peperomia plant sports foliage which remains quite largely ornamental in their own light. The leaves of peperomia can be smooth or textured depicting a variety of colors like red, gray, green, or purple. All being extremely beautiful and breath-taking.
The structure of their leaves could be marbled, variegated, and solid along with heart-shaped, solid, or tiny shapes. An amazing fact to note about the peperomia plant is that all the species of this genus look entirely different from one another due to which one cannot notice just by looking that all of the beauties belong to the same genus.
The only thing common between all species of peperomia plant is that all of them are slow-growing and easy to maintain. You can plant them all year long as they are not seasoned specific. Some common names by which you can identify peperomia plant easily near you are baby rubber plant, radiator plant, emerald ripper pepper, shining blush plant, and pepper elder.
| Plant Type | Perennial |
| Exposure to sun | Partial shade and full sun for growth |
| Type of soil needed | Well-drained but moist |
| pH of soil | It can be neutral to acidic |
| Blooming time | Usually summers |
| Colour of slower beared | Brown or white |
| Native or endemic area | Soth America, west indies, and Mexico |
| Toxicity levels | non-toxic |
| Mature Size | 6 to 12 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide |
Care Tips For Peperomia Plant
If you are among the beginners having enthusiasm for houseplants, peperomia plants could be a great choice for you. These plants are forgiving and natural and they will neglect some mistakes of yours. With so many species In a single genus, you can make an aesthetic and super astonishing collection of these plants having different coloured leaves along with a variety of shapes and varieties. All the plants will require the same amount of care so the time you invest will also be less.
Plant peperomia in any pot that has plenty of drainage holes and uses an orchid mix of potting. After potting is completed it is time to keep the potted plant in indirect light that is bright. The attention they require to grow is less comparatively. You have to water these plants when the soil becomes very dry and feed them rarely as it is not mandatory.
Let’s see different care tips by discussing each aspect a plant requires for growth and maintenance.
Light Needed
This plant needs light ranging from medium to bright sort of light. This light is important for these plants to remain vibrant and maintain the amazing colours they possess. The best light is morning light as it is filtered. After the morning, you can place them near the windows to provide indirect light within 12 hours to 16 hours. When the light is not sufficient the plant will bear fewer leaves, the leaves will drop, and colouration will be draped.
Direct sunlight for more hours should be avoided because it can lead to the burning of leaves.
Soil Requirements
Many plant species are growing as epiphytes. Epiphytes generally grow in the wild by settling themselves inside the nook of large trees. They send their roots into slightly decayed bark. An important aspect of the growth of such plants is giving them soil conditions and nature that is able to mimic the original conditions. The soil should be chunky, acidic, and loose.
The potting medium of orchid soil works fine for growth. But, you can also use regular soil for potting. You can use a handful of vermiculite or peat moss to lighten the soil.
Water
The succulent leaves born by peperomia plants stipulate that these plants are not in need of constant watering to maintain the vigour. You have to make sure that the soil is completely dry in between the watering sessions. Keeping the soil dry is always better than wet or saturated soil in the case of peperomia plants.
If the solid remains saturated for long, it may lead to fungus gnat issues and rotting of the roots which are unhealthy for the plant’s further growth. If you already have one and it doesn’t seem to grow at all, try watering it less often.
Temperature And Humidity
These plants are hardy to zone 10 of USDA, this simply means you cannot expose them to temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. As you already know these are tropical plants and perennial in nature, they prefer a steamy and warm environment for their growth.
The growth of peperomia is most actively seen when it is summer. If the plant does not receive any outdoor vacations during summer times, you can grab a tray filled with pebbles to place it and water the plant to increase its ambient humidity. You can always invest in humidifiers on a small-scale to keep them near to the planters.
Fertilizer
Talking about fertilizing and what to use for better growth, in simple words you can conclude that “Less is more”. When you witness signs of discoloured leaves in your plant or the leaves are dropping very frequently you should know that this is due to excessive watering of the plant or providing it with an inadequate amount of light. As it an epiphyte and grows slowly, it can go without use or need of any fertilizer for its whole life surviving on basic and adequate light or watering conditions.
Pruning
Pruning the planter in your house of peperomia plant is not always mandatory to do. However, if the plant generally stretches taller or elongates larger than your foot, you may consider pruning ones. While pruning, you have to make sure the knife or scissors you are using is sterilized. The aim of pruning your peperomia is just the length you desire for all the planters you own and nothing else. Do not go for heavy pruning.
Heavy pruning usually leads to damage in the plant that cannot be reversed. Also, heavy pruning can inhibit the plant’s growth which is the least you expect from your plant. It’s better to have closer looks and determine the areas having dead and damaged growth to be pruned.
Varieties Of Peperomia Plant
As mentioned above you can expect hundreds of various beautiful varieties of peperomia plant. Many of these varieties are exceptionally good for adding them in the collection of your household plants. We have listed below a few of the most popular and beautiful species od peperomia to merge in your household planters.
Belly Button or Peperomia Verticillata
It is an eye-catching variety of peperomia plant and it has a beautiful, compact form. It bears tiny leaves and it is somewhat similar to the baby tears planters.
Colombiana or Peperomia Metallica
It is absolutely dazzling in appearance as it has foliage of red, silver, and bronze. Another factor due to which Colombiana appears amazing is it’s tri-coloured.
Cupid Peperomia or Peperomia Nitida
If you are looking for a planter that will fit your beautiful and multicoloured hanging baskets, this is the one to go for. It will increase the alluring nature of these baskets. As the name suggests, this plant has heart-shaped leaves and all the leaves are edged in creams.
P. Perciliata
It is a trailing variety of peperomia having tight growth habits and it produces red stems along with oval-shaped foliages.
Suzzane or Peperomia Caperata
This is the only variety among all to have a silver accent. It is unique and the foliage is deeply ridged. By far you can call this the most popular and used peperomia planter available in the markets and its demands are quite high.
Peperomia Argyreia
These are often termed watermelon peperomia. It has oval-shaped beautiful leaves. It grows and elongates extremely fine when it is placed in containers finely.
How To Propogate Peperomia Plant?
This plant has succulent nature and thick in structure. Propagating peperomia plant through is easy when done by means of cutting it. The cutting should be done when the plant has extremely fine growth, that is in the summers and spring season. To cut the plant to be planted in your house, remove a small leaf along with few centimetres of the stem away from the mother plant.
Use a small container to keep this small cutting of plant and fill it with potting soil to be used. Cut both the ends down. You have to cover this with a plastic wrap or maybe a cloche to form a mini greenhouse kind of environment that will help the plant to retain moisture and grow.
At this stage, do not let the soil simply dry out, and for this to accomplish you have to water it more frequently. Within some weeks you might witness the formation of roots. Once this cutting outgrows that container, you can take a pot that is larger and keep the plant in them.
Do you that African violates are propagated in the same way as peperomia plant? You can use the routine hormones that increase the odds resulting in success for the growth of your plant. Make sure to place the cutting in bright light that is warm. Later you can transplant the peperomia into your favourite container, it can be orchid or terra cotta depending on your choice.
Potting And Repotting Of The Peperomia Plant
These plants have the ability to remain in small containers for years altogether. These plants often enjoy an existence in which their roots are bound. This is also combined with the slow rates of their growth period. You may leave the plants as it is for some weeks unless you witness that the roots are coming outside from their drainage holes.
When it starts happening, it is the time when you place it in a slightly bigger pot or container so that it can still enjoy root bound existence it has. Make sure you use acidic potting mix while repotting them. You may also consider using orchid barks.
Container cultures are immensely popular these days for the growth of peperomia plants. This is because container culture allows the owner or gardener to maintain and cultivate these slow-growing planters over different seasons to come.
You have to select the container carefully by considering that the planter should receive aeration for healthy growing roots and drainage holes should be present to foster amazing growth. For instance, you can use an orchid pot having large openings.
To use an orchid pot, make sure the orchid bark you have chosen should not fall out from the holes of drainage. Other than orchid pots, you can always use terracotta pots. They make excellent pot system for peperomia plant due to their porous nature. The porous nature will stop the soil from being soggy even if you overwater the plant by mistake.
Common Diseases And Pests Related To Peperomia
The pests that usually affect most of the planters we usually keep in our houses are the same that affects peperomia plants too. The insects or pests include spider mites, mealybugs, and whiteflies. If you are looking for a solution to prevent or cure this in already existing peperomia plant, you may try using insecticidal soaps. These soaps provide the best and non-toxicated treatment to get rid of these pests.
Other than these, if you are keeping the soil too moist for long periods, you may witness leaf spots occurring on the leaves of peperomia. The planters are more susceptible to get rotten if this condition is not acknowledged and cured in time.
This was everything you need to know to get yourself a peperomia plant and how to take care of it if you already have any variety of this plant. These plants are astonishing for home decor and breathable.
If you are fond of whale fin plants and have one, look at the amazing tips to maintain them as well.
