A plant with attractive leaves is best for your house decorations. Nowadays everyone tries to refurbish their houses by growing some indoor plants as they have such attractive nature. A plant name Watermelon peperomia or peperomia Argyreia is a tropical evergreen herbaceous shrub that is erect and around 9 inches tall and can be used as an indoor house plant in a temperate climate.
Peperomia’s leaves resemble the rind of watermelon that’s why it’s called watermelon peperomia. these plants can tolerate low lights and can live in dry soil that’s why they are perfect for indoor planting. And the plant won’t have any serious insect or pest diseases and problems that’s why it’s better to have it as an indoor plant.
The leaves are smooth and striped like a watermelon, petioles and stems are red, inflorescences are numerous creamy spikes, and leaves are attached to peltate, all these characteristics differentiate them from the others.
Watermelon peperomia care
With watermelon like rinds, watermelon peperomia is the next plant you have to add to your bucket list of indoor plants. It’s the native of South Africa and it can grow up to 30cm tall and during summers or springtime, you also can see flowering. to keep your watermelon peperomia happy you have to follow some care tips;
- The first tip is you have to place them in a bright room but not in direct sunlight, these plants can tolerate low light, that’s why they need a low frequency of light
- And the second tip is you don’t have to give their excess water, they belong to a dry climate that’s why excess water can harm them you just have to give enough water that’s can slightly dumb the soil.
- Be aware of their fertile and yes that’s your third trip, which means you have to give fertilizer twice a year with light fertilizer.
If you are a pet lover then this is the best plant for your collection becomes these plants are non-toxic to dogs and cats.
How to propagate watermelon peperomia
There are so many ways you can go about propagating peperomia Argyreia or watermelon peperomia like:
- Cutting the leaf and placing then into the soil
- Or like planting the whole leaves with petioles in water
- Propagating cutlets in water.
The easiest propagating method is to cut their leaves and through this method, you can get more than 6 plantlets from the single leaf
Things you need;
- Leaf
- Sharp, scissors or a knife would work,
- Potting soil
- Pot or a container, nowadays there are so many pots ideas present the market like plastic and cemented but we suggest you get a plastic container as this makes it much easier to monitor humidity as well as the root grows.
- A plastic bag or a glass container that you can place over the container which you can place over the pot.
- And some water,
For propagating new plat you have to pluck a leaf cut them into half,
- Cut the leaf from above the petiole.
- Place that leaf into the container or pot
- Place the leave into the soil, but the part where the leaf is cut inside the soil, pore some more soil, and secure it from the sounding, normally with the leaf half that has petiole, you have to submerge the petiole in the soil however it sounds propagates just fine above if it’s above the soil.
- Add some water just to make the soil slightly wet but not overwatered.
- Cover the plant with a plastic bag that’s will work as a greenhouse and help them to grow faster, as long as the soil is moist and you see condensed water on the bag or that plastic container, you don’t have to add more water. You just have to add a couple of water drops per two weeks as the plants needed.
- And now put the pot in a warm, moderately bright spot but not in direct contact with the sand, and then the waiting begins
- Around in two or three weeks you may see some roots and maybe around in four or five weeks a new cute baby plant,
- After around two to 4 weeks afterward depending on the conditions, you will see the baby plants sprouting out from the top half of the leaf, there may be more than 5 babies you can expect from a leaf.
- When the baby plants are big enough place them in their separate pots.
Common pest and diseases
These plants can easily be infected by some common houseplants and diseases like fungus gnats and sap-sucking pests such as mealybugs and scale and aphids can all create problems for your watermelon peperomia.
Common Problems With Peperomia
They are usually problem-free plants maybe sometimes they have some problems because of bad watering and less nutrient soil. Like:
curling leaves: it indicates that’s the soil is too dry or the leaves are getting too much sunlight.
Drooping of leaves: drooping leaves can indicate that your plant is thirsty and need some water
Leaves turning brown: Several reasons your peperomia’s leaf can turn yellow like environmental damage, pest damage, lack of humidity, overwatering.
Should I mist my watermelon peperomia:
a great way to increase moisture in the air for your regular plants is by misting them. Meeting watermelon peperomia helps the leaves to access the moisture if the plant is in a more humid environment.
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