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Add a Touch of Zen to Your Home With Polka Dot Plant
Is your indoor garden looking a little tired? Are you bored or growing your usual go-to plants?
Meet Polka Dot Plant, a cheerful little shrub that’ll give you an instant pick-me-up during the gray days of late fall. Its beautiful colors and patterns will help add a little peace and tranquility to your home, office or school.
Here’s a quick introduction to Click and Grow’s Polka Dot Plant and some handy tips for growing it in your smart garden.
Bio
Native to South Africa, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia, polka dot plant is known for its beauty. It’s also called ‘freckle face plant’ and ‘flamingo plant’ due to its striking appearance.
It’s believed that polka dot plants first grew in English homes in the 1800s. At this time, many imported plants were brought over to Europe. Victorian life is often viewed as dreary but they certainly seemed to love colorful plants!
Benefits
- Boosts your mood by bringing vibrant colors into your home
- Creates a stunning display in your outdoor garden when you transplant it
- Very low maintenance, very little debris
- Fast experience. Its beauty is apparent even in its early growing stage. Its first true leaves will already reveal whether their base color is pink, white or red and dotted with darker green spots.
Polka Dot Plant care
While polka dot plant requires very little care, there are a few things you can do to maximize your growing experience:
- Ensure your room temperature is within 18-30 °C / 64-86 °F.
- Don’t thin any of the seedlings. Just let them thrive.
- Polka dot plant produces very little debris. If you notice any withered leaves, just gently remove them.
- Remember that polka dot plant is not edible!
- Only use one Click and Grow lamp arm for your smart garden. If the plant grows tall and is about to touch the lamp, cut it back by half its length.
- A well cared for polka dot plant can last up to 3 months
Propagating your Polka Dot Plant from stem cuttings
If there’s a strain of leaf color or spots that you really like on your polka dot plant, you can easily propagate countless numbers of young plants from stem cuttings. You can do this by rooting them in water or in a Grow Anything Plant Pod.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Use a healthy stem with two pairs of true leaves. You may use the same trimmings from when you trim a plant that’s grown too tall. Allow the Grow Anything pod to become fully moist and make a small cavity.
2. Push the cutting into the soil as deep as possible, leaving out at least one pair of true leaves. Keep them in the Grow Anything pod that provides all needed nutrients, in your smart garden.
3. Water and care for the garden as usual.
Holy Basil and Polka Dot Plant rooting process Day 7 / Day 28
4. After two weeks, check the roots by gently lifting the pod. If you see fresh white roots and new growth at the top of the plant, you’ve been successful. If not, wait for another week or two before checking again.
5. Once you see that there are sufficient roots on each stem, you may carefully transplant them in a bigger pot filled with fresh soil, or keep them in your indoor garden for up to three months.
Don’t worry if you end up having too many plants. Polka Dot plant makes a great gift. It’s one of those plants that doesn’t come from a deep spiritual background but it spreads good vibes thanks to its colorful foliage. You may interpret the meaning of the plant in whichever way feels right for you.
So, there you have it. Polka Dot Plant’s a great way to add colorful, vibrant greenery to your home. It's also easy to care for and requires minimal time and effort on your part. Have fun with it!
