Aglaonema plant
Home Improvement

How to Proper Care for Growing And Maintaining Your Aglaonema Plant

With its lush, variegated leaves, the Aglaonema or Chinese evergreen is one of the most easy-care plants for indoors. Native to subtropical forests in Asia, The Chinese Evergreen can be an extremely forgiving plant, tolerating dry and low light conditions, but it will thrive and produce more colour in bright indirect light. This attractive houseplant makes a great addition to spruce up your office or home.

Lighting

Some varieties of the plant can certainly grow in near shade. Variegated varieties of aglaonema require brighter light, but that doesn’t mean they should be confronted with direct sun. You will notice if the plant lacks the light, as its leaf stems will become long and leggy. As well, aglaonema cannot tolerate sunlight, which in turn causes leaf burns.

Temperature

In winter, the temperature for aglaonema shouldn’t drop below +16 °C (60 °F). An ideal temperature for growth is +20 °C +25 °C (68 – 77 °F). The warmer it is, the better aglaonema plants grow. Drafts, sharp temperature changes are unacceptable for aglaonema. Visit this Caring for your Aglaonema plant to get more insight.

Watering

In nature, aglaonema receives daily abundant watering, and it grows in soil that is well permeable to moisture and air. When kept indoors, during the growing season aglaonema should be watered abundantly. In autumn and winter reduce watering, but remember that overdrying of the soil is dangerous for aglaonema. It’s also advisable to avoid pouring aglaonema during the cool period.

What sort of water to make use of for aglaonema? The years of taking look after these plants at home helped me to learn yet another rule: the water for watering should be soft, well-settled and its own temperature should not be lower than room temperature.

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Air humidity

Aglaonema prefers high humidity. In summer, it is better to spray it daily. Additionally it is necessary to regularly clean the leaves from dust. Do not cover the leaves with shine solution. To make sure proper humidity you can place pots with plants on trays of wet expanded clay.

Fertilizer

During the period of active growth, aglaonema should be fed with liquid mineral fertilizer two times monthly. Do not feed the plant in winter.

Repotting & Soil mix

Aglaonema grows slowly, so young plants should be repotted annually in spring, while adult ones – every 3-5 years or less. Aglaonema gives good growth of leaves when its roots are limited by the tiny size of the pot. Do keep in mind there must be good drainage in the bottom of the pot.

aglaonema plant

The soil for aglaonema should be light and loose, and water permeable. The soil mixture can consist of leafy soil, peat and sand (2:1:1) with the addition of crushed charcoal. You may also make the following composition: 1 part of peat, 1 part of leafy soil, 1 part of light turf soil and 2 elements of sand. Aglaonema also grows well in hydroponics.

Propagation

Aglaonema propagates by seeds, cuttings and the separation of daughter plants. Actually, aglaonema is difficult to propagate as it grows slowly.

The easiest way is to divide the bush during repotting, separating well-rooted shoots with 3-4 new leaves.

Cuttings can be removed when the stem has branched out or when the plant is old and a prominent trunk appears. The most notable of the trunk can be cut as an apical stalk, all of those other trunk can even be cut into pieces 4-5 cm long and planted. Do not get rid of the stump either, new leaves will soon grow from it. In a warm place, rooting takes 2-3 weeks. Aglaonema should be cut through the warm season.

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Sowing aglaonema seeds can be an activity for the enthusiast. Seeds should be sown in February or March in bowls with light, loose soil, sprayed with hot water from a spray bottle and covered with glass. The soil with crops is kept moist and ventilated 2 times a day by removing the glass. The grown seedlings are planted individually in 7 cm pots. Water them moderately, shade slightly from sunlight. In summer, young plants are best kept in the northeast or northwest windows.

Toxicity

Besides all the aglaonema care tips, it is vital to remember that the plant is toxic to cats and can be dangerous for folks. To be sure safety, wear gloves when handling aglaonema. If your pets show signs of poisoning, weakness, disorientation or diarrhea, contact your veterinarian immediately.

Be Aware When Leaves Curl and Turn Yellow!

Curling leaves will be the first signs of negative changes that occur because of viruses that attack the tissues of aglaonema and destroy them. Such viruses are too difficult to eliminate. However, preventive measures can help to reduce the risks for viruses’ occurrence. They include doing tissue culture, cuttings, planting seeds, seedlings and graft separation.

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