Plants
Polka dot plant
Hypoestes phyllostachya
BeginnerFine in a closed jar
Leaves splashed with pink or white. Fast and cheap, leggy in low light.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 5,000 to 15,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 50 to 90 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 16 to 27 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below 10 or above 35 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 7 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 3.5 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 2 cm/month
- How fast its edge creeps outwards.
- Copes with wet
- fair
- How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
- Copes with still air
- fair
- Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
- Copes with shade
- fair
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- fair
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.1 ml/cm²/day
- Water drawn up from its roots per cm² of leaves in room air; a sealed jar cuts this to a fraction and returns it down the glass.
- Leaf drop
- 3.5 %/month
- Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
- Soft leaves
- no
- Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
- Full size
- 45.5 cm tall, 26.5 cm wide
- Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.
Care
- Day length
- 10 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- root rot in waterlogged soil
- temperatures below 10 C
- powdery mildew
Description
As a quick filler it does the job well. Pinch off the tips regularly to keep it bushy. It is prone to root rot and a white powdery mould on the leaves, so avoid soggy soil and give it some light.
Also called freckle face.
Estimated, where sources were thin: growth rates; temp_lethal_c max; light_lux.