Chinese Evergreen/Aglaonema

Very good morning Friends!

Today we will talk about a gorgeous plant that is perfect for our normal home environment. It needs average temperature, normal amount of water, average mix of sun and shade and a little fertilizer to thrive.

Yes, we are definitely talking about Chinese Evergreen plants which have lovely colorful foliage. They may be placed as indoor plants or kept in outdoor garden as well. Be it your dinner table or a window, office desk or a lonely corner, doorway or garden, they are suitable to fill every nook and corner of your home with wonderful colours.

The leaves of this plant are decorated with splash of colors like, yellow, cream, pink, red or orange over a green background. Some varieties of this plant have bright and bold shiny colours like dark green and red while some other varieties have calm and soothing colors with pastel shades like beige, pink, cream and light yellow and lime green. You can always choose plants with your desired size and colours among tens of varieties.

Sun and Shade

These plants like mild sunlight and plenty of brightness. Keep them in a window of a room, veranda, balcony or any place where they may receive one or two hours of morning sunlight daily. They remain happy and healthy and their colours bloom beautifully In such places. In harsh Sun, the colours will get spoiled and the leaves get burnt. In dark places, their leaves turn yellow and eventually fall. If there is no bright place or if you want to keep them inside the house where no natural light is available, install a grow light above them to keep them happy.

Water Needs

Average amount of water is needed for Chinese Evergreens. They neither love nor hate water. Hence, watering them once in three to four days is sufficient. If the weather is extremely hot and the water is drying up quickly, they may be watered every alternate day or daily even.

Season

Chinese Evergreens like normal weather and temperature. They get troubled both in extreme heat and extreme cold. Do not keep them under the open sky in such extreme weather conditions. If such conditions of extremely high or low temperature persists for long time, they may eventually die.

New Babies

In spring or beginning of summer, new little cute plants start peeping out of the soil. You may be separate them from the parent plant and propagate as new plants or just let them grow in the same pot for a dense foliage look. This is the most common and simple way to make new plants.

There is another way to propagate these. When these plants get old, their lower leaves fall and the stem starts looking long and ugly. After uprooting such a plant, divide it into 2 to 3 inches long parts in such a way as each part has at least one node. Use a sharp and sterilized knife for cutting. Dry these parts for 1 or 2 days. When the cut dries up, bury them in soil or sand 1-2 inches deep. After 15-20 days, roots will emerge and some time later, new leaves will also sprout.

There is another way to grow new plants of Chinese Evergreens. In mature plant, a stalk pops out of the plant in which small flowers develop and seeds form afterwards. New plants may be grown by sowing these seeds. However, this method is very difficult. It takes lot of time and fewer plants survive in this method. Further, in absence of proper temperature and moisture, the flowering stalk never emerges. Therefore, this method is seldom used for propagation of Chinese Evergreens.

Rather, pluck out this stalk not to waste the strength of the plant in producing not so showy flowers and seeds. Then, the plant will produce leaves with all its energy and always remains laden with plenty of leaves.

What to Feed

Aglaonema plants do not require much fertilizer. At the time of growth and propagation (in spring), they may be fed with little balanced fertilizer once every fortnight.

Problem and Cure

A problem often seen in these plants is that when they grow, their lower leaves fall and the plant becomes leggy. When it happens, uproot the plant and cut the lower leafless part. Now plant it again in moist soil. Keep it moist but waterlogging must be avoided. After a few days, new roots will emerge and the plant will be gorgeous once again.

Lower part of the plant may also be planted separately to propagate.

So friends, these exceptionally beautiful plants are very easy to care for. Get these wonderful plants from a nearby nursery today only and decorate your Paudhayan with some splash of colours.

We will meet again with another wonderful plant very soon. Till then take care of your Paudhayan.

Bye!