How to Grow Pilea in Pots and Points to Note
Pilea is a perennial herb with creeping stems. It is a rather fashionable small foliage plant; because it is highly adaptable, easy to propagate, and relatively easy to grow, with compact, simple and elegant clumps, clearly defined green-and-white leaves, and beautiful patterns.
Pilea prefers a warm, humid climate and loose, fertile sandy soil, and grows best at 15°C to 25°C; in winter it must not go below 5°C.
1. Light management. Pilea is an indoor flower with very beautiful leaf color. It is very shade-tolerant, but prefers ample light, and direct strong light should be avoided.
2. Fertilizer and water management. Follow the principle of moist management; keep the potting soil dry without cracking, and moist rather than wet.
What Is Pilea? How to Grow Pilea
Pilea has beautiful leaf patterns, like falling white snow, and is a very easy-to-grow foliage plant, so many flower lovers grow it indoors. Below, we will explain what Pilea is and how to grow it.
Introduction to Pilea
Pilea (scientific name: Pilea notata C.H.Wright) is a perennial herb with creeping stems. The stems are fleshy, slender, slightly swollen in the middle; the petioles are slender, usually hairless, rarely with short pubescence; the stipules are large and greenish. The flowers are dioecious; the tepals are greenish yellow, the anthers are white or pinkish, and the filaments and connective are red. The achenes are small, round-ovoid, greenish brown when ripe. The flowering period is June to September, and the fruiting period is September to November.
It is distributed in Guangxi and Guangdong, China, through the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River provinces, and north to southern Shaanxi and southern Henan; it is also found in Vietnam and Japan. It grows in valleys, beside streams, or in shady, damp places under forests, at an altitude of 300-1500 m. Pilea is a rather fashionable small foliage plant. The whole plant is used medicinally, with effects of clearing heat and draining dampness, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, and reducing jaundice and protecting the liver.
Morphological Characteristics of Pilea
Perennial herb, with creeping stems. Stems fleshy, slender, slightly swollen in the middle, 25-70 cm tall, 2-4 mm thick, hairless, rarely with short pubescence on the upper part, densely covered with linear cystoliths. Leaves papery, the pair nearly equal in size, narrowly ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or ovate, 4-11 cm long, 1.5-4.5 cm wide, apex caudate-acuminate or acuminate, base rounded, rarely broadly cuneate, margin from the lower part to the apex with shallow serrations, rarely double serrations, dark green and glossy above, light green below, cystoliths linear, 0.5-0.6 mm long, densely distributed on both surfaces, obvious, basal veins 3, the two lateral ones curved, extending to the upper part and loop-connected with the lateral veins, lateral veins 8-13 pairs, slightly spreading and netted; petioles slender, 17 cm long, usually hairless, rarely with short pubescence; stipules large, greenish, oblong, 8-12 mm long, deciduous.
Flowers dioecious; male inflorescence cymose-racemose, 2-5 cm long, with a few branches, glomerules loosely borne on the flowering branches; female cymose inflorescence shorter and denser. Male flowers pedicellate or nearly sessile, about 1 mm long in bud; tepals greenish yellow, 4-parted nearly to the base, ovate-oblong, apex acute, with a short horn-like protuberance on the outside near the apex; stamens 4, anthers white or pinkish, filaments and connective red; pistillode small, conical.
Achenes small, round-ovoid, apex oblique, nearly 0.8 mm long, greenish brown when ripe, with obvious spiny small tubercle protuberances; persistent tepals 3-parted nearly to the base, equal in size, ovate-oblong, apex obtuse, about 1/3 the length of the fruit.
In a few specimens of this species from Zhejiang, Fujian, and Sichuan, China, the leaf margins are more or less double-serrate, and in a few specimens from eastern and southern Sichuan, short hairs grow on the stems, petioles, and veins on the back of the leaves; this is morphological variation in this species.
How to Grow Pilea
1. Placement
Pilea has beautiful leaf patterns and a graceful plant shape, and is fairly shade-tolerant, making it a good plant for balcony arrangement. It can be placed long-term on a tea table or flower stand with scattered light, or combined with other plants, or hung as a hanging basket in a corner or conspicuous spot.
2. Repotting
Repot in spring when the temperature is stable at around 10°C; the potting soil should preferably be a humus-rich, loose, fertile loam. Before repotting, prune the plant appropriately; potted plants with poor shape can be heavily pruned. Keep the potting soil moist, but not overly wet, otherwise the roots easily rot; it has a relatively high demand for air humidity, and under higher air humidity the leaf color is bright green and the patterns are beautiful. Water and mist around it frequently to increase air humidity. After new leaves emerge, fertilization can begin. Mainly use decomposed organic fertilizer; do not apply too much urea, because when nitrogen fertilizer is excessive it easily grows leggy, which is unfavorable for a beautiful plant shape. When phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are insufficient, the markings on the leaves easily fade.
3. Light
Pilea is an indoor flower with very beautiful leaf color. It is very shade-tolerant, but prefers ample light, and direct strong light should be avoided. In summer, place the pot at a north window; in winter, move it to a south window. If the light is too dim, the leaf color will fade; if the sunlight is too strong, the leaves will be scorched.
4. Fertilizer and water
Follow the principle of moist management; keep the potting soil dry without cracking, and moist rather than wet. In summer, frequently mist the leaves to keep them clean and glossy. Keep the potting soil moist; do not fertilize when the temperature is relatively high. In winter, mist the leaves less, otherwise black spots will appear on the leaves, or they may even turn black and rot. During the growing period, apply a 20-80 or 30-70 nitrogen liquid fertilizer about once every two weeks to promote robust growth. After autumn, increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to strengthen the stems and prevent lodging.
5. Pruning
Pilea tolerates pruning. After the cuttings are potted, pinch once; when the new side branches grow to 4 leaves, pinch again leaving 2 leaves, and repeat this to form a full, hemispherical plant shape with many branches. When the old plant grows too tall, at spring repotting leave 2-3 nodes at the base and prune it back heavily; after new branches emerge, pinch 2-3 times, which can again form a short and compact plant shape.
6. Pest and disease control
Common leaf spot disease can be prevented by spraying 200-fold Bordeaux mixture. If the potting soil is too wet, root rot easily occurs, and it can be drenched with 1000-fold Topsin solution. If root-knot nematodes are found, 3% carbofuran can be applied for control. If there are scale insect pests, spray with 1000-fold 40% omethoate solution to kill them. If scarab beetles eat the leaves, they can be caught by hand or sprayed with 1000-fold trichlorfon solution.
The above is the relevant knowledge about Pilea introduced for everyone. We hope it can help you. For more home knowledge, please stay tuned.
How to Grow Pilea? Introduction to Pilea Growing Methods and Points to Note
Pilea is a perennial herb with strong adaptability and is relatively easy to grow, making it a very popular small foliage plant. Pilea blooms with small yellow-white flowers in summer and autumn, delicate and elegant, and the whole plant is fresh and lush, cute and charming. Placed in a study or bedroom, Pilea is elegant and pleasant; hung in front of a window, its green leaves hang down, charming and lovely. This article focuses on introducing Pilea care methods for the reference and learning of flower lovers.Care Points
1. Light management
Pilea is an indoor flower with very beautiful leaf color. It is very shade-tolerant, but prefers ample light, and direct strong light should be avoided. In summer, place the pot at a north window; in winter, move it to a south window. If the light is too dim, the leaf color will fade; if the sunlight is too strong, the leaves will be scorched.
2. Temperature management
Pilea is relatively cold-tolerant; it will not freeze if the winter room temperature is not below 6°C, and it begins to grow above 14°C.
3. Fertilizer and water management
Follow the principle of moist management; keep the potting soil dry without cracking, and moist rather than wet. In summer, frequently mist the leaves to keep them clean and glossy. In winter, mist the leaves less, otherwise black spots will appear on the leaves, or they may even turn black and rot. During the growing period, apply a 20-80 or 30-70 nitrogen liquid fertilizer about once every two weeks to promote robust growth. After autumn, increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to strengthen the stems and prevent lodging.
4. Propagation method
Pilea is mostly propagated by cuttings, which can be done in both spring and autumn. For small quantities at home, people mostly use stem tips as cuttings in May, with river sand or vermiculite as the medium; under suitable temperature conditions (20°C to 25°C), roots develop in about 10 days. After the new shoots elongate 3 cm to 5 cm, pot them in sandy soil. Water thoroughly to settle the roots, then return to normal management.
5. Soil
Pilea has no strict requirements for soil, can tolerate weak alkalinity, is relatively tolerant of waterlogging, and is not drought-tolerant.
6. Pruning
To enhance the potted ornamental effect of Pilea, prune regularly during the growing period to promote branching and maintain a full plant shape. To dwarf the Pilea plant, prune appropriately or pinch 2-3 times. Be careful not to prune excessively, otherwise Pilea leaves easily become numerous and small, affecting its beauty.
7. Pest and disease control
Repot once every year. When an old plant becomes messy in shape and its ornamental value decreases, use cuttings to propagate young plants for renewal, which can improve ornamental value. At the same time, it can also reduce pest and disease damage. Under poor ventilation, it is easily harmed by aphids. When the potting soil remains muddy for a long time, the roots often rot, so water and soil should be reasonably controlled.
Summary: The above are issues related to how to care for Pilea. We hope it is helpful to everyone.