Peperomia
Happy a few feet from a window. Water every two weeks — the thick leaves store their own, so it needs far less help than it looks like it does.
The most common way people kill this one
Overwatering. Those leaves are a water tank, and the roots are small and rot easily. If the soil’s still damp, it isn’t time. If the leaves feel firm, it isn’t time.
How big it gets
Stays compact, around ten inches. Good for a shelf, a desk, a windowsill that isn’t in the sun.
What it doesn’t get along with
Cats and dogs: fine. Safe for cats and dogs.
The sun’s actual path. Window light, yes; sitting in the beam, no. Radiators and heating vents dry the air and the soil faster than you’d think — a foot or two away is enough.
A pot with no drainage hole, and anyone who waters on a schedule. Both drown it.
What it’s trying to tell you
Where it came from
Cut from a peperomia in Wicker Park and rooted slowly — they take their time — then potted and grown on.
Grown in Wicker Park, Chicago. Most shelves are a few blocks from where it was potted.
If you’ve killed a C, start here
A C wants a rhythm — a fern, a calathea, a fiddle leaf fig. Losing one says nothing about you. This one is a Grade B: it forgives two weeks away, or one persistent bad habit — not both.
The list for people who’ve killed a C. · How the grades work.
Something else? hello@pilf.me. Replies come from a person, usually the same day.