Are you tired of how your living space looks? If this is the case, consider sprucing up the appearance of your home by adding plants.
Houseplants are all the rage — they’re beautiful, affordable and can bring the outdoors inside. When choosing the indoor plant that you can introduce in your living room, you have many options. A couple of plants that we’ve covered in the past are the bonsai money tree and the friendship plant.
Let’s look at another plant that you can grow to enhance your home interior. This plant is the polka dot plant.
Is the Polka Dot Plant an Indoor Plant?
Polka dot plant, as the name suggests, is primarily an indoor plant that sports polka-dotted foliage.
This indoor plant will surely turn heads, as it entertains houseguests with its elegant beauty. The polka dot plant’s flowers against the spotted foliage add to the plant’s prettiness.
What’s more, they come in several striking color combinations. These include red and green, green and white, pink and white and pink and green. If you want to introduce some color in your living room, for instance, you could introduce a green and pink polka dot plant and pair it with other houseplants.
Although the polka dot plant is ideal for growing indoors, you have the option to grow this plant as annuals. This is possible if you live in temperate to warm zones.
Is the Polka Dot Plant Safe for Pets?
The polka dot plant is not poisonous. This indoor plant is safe for cats, dogs and other pets. It’s even safe for wild animals if you choose to grow your polka dot plant outdoors.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you should not exercise care around this houseplant. Pets and even children like to put things in their mouths — and plants are no exception to that.
Although pets and humans won’t experience symptoms of plant poisoning, they may still get sick if they ingest any part of the polka dot plant. If you’re going to take care of this indoor plant, remember to keep it out of reach from pets and little ones.
How to Grow and Take Care of a Polka Dot Plant
Growing a polka dot plant is not especially difficult. This indoor plant, however, tends to get picky with its growing conditions. It also tends to slow down its growth rate if these conditions aren’t perfect.
Caring for a polka dot plant, however, is easy. Once you’ve gotten the hang of maintaining the growing conditions, this houseplant should be good to go.
Here are some pointers that will help you grow and take care of the colorful polka dot plant:
Planting from Seed
If you choose to grow the polka dot plant from seeds, sow them on the surface of moist and warm soil. This indoor plant prefers
Then, place the container in a sunny location, such as a sunroom or beside a window that gets a lot of sunlight, such as an east- or south-facing window. You can expect the seeds to sprout in a few days.
Once the seedling has grown several inches, which usually happens in a couple of weeks, you’re ready to transplant it into a bigger container. You also have the option of moving the polka dot plant outdoors. Just make sure to do this after the threat of frost is over.
Fertilizer
Feed the polka dot plant with an organic fertilizer designed for indoor plants once a month during the warm growing season. Do this every two weeks from April to September.
Also, refrain from feeding the plant during wintertime. Give the polka dot plant a break during winter and begin feeding it again in the early spring to keep the roots healthy and encourage growth.
Watering
Moderation is essential when watering the polka dot plant. Avoid letting the soil dry out completely, as this can result in wilted foliage. You should also prevent the soil from becoming too soggy, as this can lead to root rot and kill the indoor plant.
The key is to water the plant once the top half-inch of the soil has become dry.
Temperature and Humidity
Polka dot plants prefer temperatures ranging from 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, these plants prefer humid conditions. Keep the level of humidity in your home at 50 percent if you can. If you need to bump up the humidity, mist the leaves of the plant.
Pruning
Get pruning shears or a pair of clean and sharp scissors to keep the polka dot plant from developing lanky and long branches. You can promote a bushier growth habit by pinching back or cutting the top two leaves on each stem weekly. Trimming actively can help this houseplant grow healthier and more vigorously.
If you do see flowers growing on the polka dot plant, consider clipping them to extend the growing season. The flowers are not as ornamental as the leaves.
Propagation
You can propagate polka dot plants from cuttings anytime. Your success rate of growing a healthy plant, however, will be best in the summer or spring.
Start by harvesting the cuttings and dipping them in a rooting hormone.
Next, plant these cuttings in the coil. This will allow the new roots to begin to form in a week. Once the cuttings have a strong root system, go ahead and transplant them to a larger container.
If done properly, you can expect the polka dot plant to grow new shoots around the base of the plant in the early spring through the early summer.
Don’t settle for a boring living space or home interior. Brighten up your home by growing a polka dot plant.
