Chinese Evergreen

No window? A small grow light does the trick.

Check your light →

Overhead lights or a dim corner will keep it going. By a sheer-curtained window, or back from a bright one, it grows best, and may even bloom.

Its native home is the humid, heavily shaded floor of tropical forest across Southeast Asia (University of Florida), so the even, shadowless light of an office is closer to home than it looks.

A north-facing window works, or an east one with a sheer drawn. Facing south or west, set it well back from the glass so the afternoon rays fall short of its leaves.

Light decides whether it flowers at all: kept low, it often won’t (NC State).

Born in the tropics, it takes cold badly. NC State gives 70-80°F by day as its range, so in winter keep its leaves off the window glass.

Dim offices are where it made its name: the University of Florida calls it a favorite for low-light homes and workplaces.

Every 7-10 days from spring to fall, letting the top dry first, and every 10-14 in winter. Overwatering brings on root rot, so it would rather wait a few days than drink early.

A tropical plant that dislikes cold, it doesn’t care for cold water either: NC State advises against it, and a can filled the night before takes care of that.

Clemson ranks it among the most durable houseplants, tolerant even of drought and air-conditioning. Its tell is at the leaf edges: it prefers humidity, and very dry or drafty air may brown them (NC State). If that bothers you, move it out of the blowing air; it’ll keep going either way.

Gone for a while? Two weeks is fine if it’s watered the day you leave. If you turn the heat down while you’re gone, move it away from the window first.

A dense, multi-stemmed clump, often 1-3 feet tall and about as wide, at home on a side table, reception desk or plant stand. An old stem can go bare and jointed like sugarcane; cut it back and root the top to fill in.

The leaves run 4-8 inches long and 2-3 inches wide (NC State), rising on short stalks from several stems at once. It fills out slowly (University of Florida), so the plant you bring home stays close to that size for a good while.

Lower leaves fall away as it ages, so the stems build into trunk-like canes topped with tufts (Missouri Botanical Garden). To rejuvenate a crowded old pot, split it at the roots into smaller pots, the method NC State recommends alongside cuttings.

Because it fills out as a clump of stems rather than one trunk, it reads well low: on the floor at the foot of a tall, bare-legged plant whose base needs company, or as a centerpiece on a long counter.

A bite may bring on mouth pain, drooling, and vomiting; the ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs and cats but rates the severity low. In kids, a chewed leaf can burn the mouth, and the sap may leave a rash.

Every part of it carries calcium-oxalate crystals (NC State). These are raphides, microscopic needles packed into leaves and stalks that lodge in the mouth when bitten (ASPCA), which is why a pet may paw at its face or shake its head.

Most cases can be handled at home with no lasting effects (ASPCA). A little milk or yogurt soon after can soothe the mouth; check the label for xylitol first. If symptoms don’t settle, or anything worries you, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (a fee may apply); for a child, Poison Control can help. In the rare case that swelling makes it hard for a pet to swallow or breathe, go straight to a veterinary hospital (ASPCA).

Trimming it? Gloves spare your hands from the sap.

If a toddler or a chewing pet shares the room, snip off any flowers before they turn to red berries, and set it on a shelf or stand above their reach.

1. ASPCA: mild for dogs.
2. Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for dogs (rates the whole genus).
3. Pet Poison Helpline: mild for dogs.
4. ASPCA: mild for cats.
5. Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for cats (rates the whole genus).
6. Pet Poison Helpline: mild for cats.
7. NC State Extension: mild for kids.

Cats and dogs: Most of the leading sources agree.

Kids: No poison-centre listing; rated from university extension sources.

Happiest at 68-80°F, and it shouldn’t sit below 55°F. Keep it away from cold glass in winter. Humidity can drop to 25% without trouble.

Temperature

68-80°F

Rarely bothered. Mealybugs hide in leaf axils, stem joints, and under leaves, and scale sits on stems and along the veins underneath. Spider mites lurk under leaves, and aphids favor unfurling new growth.

• Mealybugs
• Scale
• Spider mites
• Aphids

Not many. Mealybugs are the one that turns up most, then scale, and root rot if the soil stays wet.

Mealybugs look like tufts of white cotton tucked where the leaves meet the stem. Wipe them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, then check again next week.

Scale looks like small brown bumps stuck to the stems and the undersides of the leaves; lift them off with a fingernail or the same swab. Spider mites and aphids turn up less often: rinse the whole plant in the shower, undersides included, and try an insecticidal soap if they come back.

Root rot shows as yellowing leaves and a wilting plant while the soil is still wet. Let it dry out, empty the saucer, and water less often from then on.

Turn the pot every week or two to keep it symmetrical, and feed monthly, lightly. Wipe the leaves 4 times a year, and snip off dead or yellow ones. Repot in spring every 1-2 years; remove summer flowers.

• Feed12× a year
• Rotate26× a year
• Clean leaves4× a year
• Deadhead1× a year
• Prune2× a year
• Repot1× a year

Any ordinary potting mix, in a pot with a drainage hole: soggy soil is what rots its roots.

Repot only when the roots fill the pot, and wait for spring to do it, when the longer days give it a growth spurt.

Food is optional: a houseplant fertilizer at half strength a few times in spring and summer is plenty. Too much burns the leaf edges.

Each broad leaf carries its own markings against the green, and some cultivars blush red. The leaves are smooth with a gentle gloss, and they crowd into a dense mound that covers the soil.