What Is Polka Dot Plant?
The polka dot plant is an attractive houseplant that is also called the Polka dot plant for its ornamental leaves with variegated white and green. This lovely, shade-loving tropical perennial is a great addition to any home or office decor.
This fascinating plant has soft grass-like foliage and thick stems, which display beautiful multicolored polka dots on the top of its leaves. Along with the attractive leaf patterns, this gorgeous houseplant also displays beautiful pinkish-white flowers that cover and surround the plant like a halo.
The polka dot plant is native to tropical areas, where it withstands hot temperatures all year long with no problem. In fact, if you can’t give your indoor plants enough heat, then this tropical perennial may be perfect for you because it thrives in temperatures between 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).
The polka dot plant is one of the most popular varieties because of its dramatic coloration and easy maintenance requirements. It’s also an excellent choice for growing indoors since it requires a low amount of sunlight and has few requirements when it comes to soil.
The polka dot plant is also known as Hypoestes Phyllostachys, is native to the tropics of Africa, but can be grown in Australia or any other warm climate without a problem. It is one of the few tropical plants that can be grown as a succulent indoors.
To thrive in its optimal environment, this tropical perennial requires bright indirect sunlight and should not be placed near windows with direct sunlight. If you are growing it indoors and notice yellowing of leaves or if they fall off easily, then your plant isn’t getting enough light. Move your indoor polka dot plant to an area with more indirect light until the problem is resolved.
If you don’t provide any special care, then your beautiful plant will grow up to a height of one foot (30 cm).
Polka Dot Plant Care & Maintenance
Since polka dot plant is a tropical perennial that requires warm temperatures, it should not be planted in colder regions. Also, because of their thick stem and leaves, these plants cannot handle low temperatures since they can’t move to another place when exposed to freezing temperatures.
With proper care and maintenance, polka dot plant has small requirements that are easily satisfied. They don’t like too much water, so keep the soil on the dry side. The best time to water your tropical plants is in the morning. Watering them in the evening can drown your plants if you use a watering can with holes or if you have a leaky pipe.
Don’t over-water your plant because it will cause root rot problems which usually lead to death due to the lack of oxygen in the soil. Over-watering is usually a problem for people who keep their houseplants near doors or windows that constantly let in cold air during winter.
Polka dot plant requires regular fertilization every 2 weeks throughout the growing season. Apply balanced liquid fertilizer when you water them. They will also need monthly applications to help control any pests that may be trying to eat your plants or leave you with brown leaves and stems.
Be patient enough and don’t throw it away if one or two of its leaves have fallen off, since this happens naturally for most houseplants, but if all of your polka dot plant’s leaves start falling off regularly then it means there is something wrong with your plant which needs to be addressed or your plant is just too weak to handle its regular conditions.
Light Requirements
If you are looking to grow a polka dot plant indoors, then you better give it bright indirect sunlight or close to a south-facing window. If your leaves look pale green or yellowish and the flowers eventually fall off, this means that your plant is not getting enough light.
Follow the next steps as a guideline when moving your indoor plants from one room to another: Move them gradually — don’t move them during cold days because it could freeze and die if left outside for too long. Water them thoroughly before putting them in their new location.
Place it in an area with similar conditions (light, temperature). Don’t place it next to a drafty door where temperatures can change dramatically throughout the day. Wait a whole day before moving it to its normal spot.
Once your indoor polka dot plant starts getting enough light, you’ll notice that its leaves will start to look greener and the plant itself looks healthier. Don’t stop there. Keep checking on it every few weeks and adjust its position or rotate it until all of its leaves are green.
If you have more than one polka dot plant, then make sure that each plant is being exposed to as much in natural light as possible instead of just placing them near a window facing the same direction with similar sunlight exposures.
Water Requirements
Indoor polka dot plants like having their soil slightly moist, but it should not be soggy. To check if your potting mix is completely dry, dig one inch (2 cm) into the soil and pull out a pinch of it — if it breaks apart easily with little or no resistance, then your plant’s soil needs to be watered.
Water houseplants when the top inch (2 cm) of soil becomes dry by using room temperature water on a regular basis. Avoid watering in the evening when temperatures are already cooler and most likely will do more harm than good. You’ll be doing yourself and your houseplant a favor if you use bowls or trays which retain moisture longer because they don’t allow water to drain out in a hurry.
If you live somewhere where the temperature is very hot for most of the year, then water your plant every 2 to 3 days during summer and once or twice a week during winter months to avoid over-watering. Let it be dry before you water it again so that its soil doesn’t get soggy.
Fertilizer Requirements
If keeping an indoor polka dot plant healthy is one of your goals, then feeding your plant with fertilizer regularly is a must! Fertilizing promotes new growth, balanced development, and overall vigor in plants. It enables them to grow more quickly and handle difficult growing conditions much better than if they were unfertilized. The period when plants need fertilizing the most is when they are actively growing.
Fertilizing your plant can help in creating a green and healthy environment for you to enjoy — not only this, but it can also control the growth of its flowers and its overall size. Follow these simple steps:
Get an organic, water-soluble fertilizer with micro nutrients from your local garden center or store which specializes in gardening supplies.
While commercially available fertilizers do contain micronutrients like iron, potassium, and phosphorus needed by plants to grow strong and healthy, they may contain substances that are harmful to humans at high concentrations such as lead, ammonia nitrate, etc. Use a product with nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) ratio of 5-10-5 or 10-10-10 .
Follow the instructions on your fertilizer container thoroughly. A general guide when it comes to indoor houseplant fertilizing is to do controlled release fertilization — for this, you’ll be feeding your plant by using 25% of the recommended amount and give it once every 2 weeks until flowering.
After that, switch to mature bloom and then start tapering off slowly until you’re no longer adding any nutrients to its soil mix. This process should take approximately 6 months from start to finish.
Make sure not to feed your polka dot plant too much because there’s always the possibility that it can burn if exposed too long to high concentrations of fertilizer. If you want advice on how often and how much to feed your plant with fertilizer, then you can always ask the staff at your local garden center for help — they are there to guide and assist you.
Do not use fertilizers with high concentrations of nitrogen during the winter months; this is because plants hardly grow during winter so adding more nitrogen will only promote excessive growth which may stress the plant. Instead, use an all-purpose slow-release type of fertilizer throughout the winter season instead.
Soil Requirements
The soil mix that you’ll be using for your polka dot plant should have good drainage. This is because the roots of this plant are vulnerable to root rot (a type of fungal infection) which can lead to its death if not treated right away. The soil’s composition must also allow the water to pass through it and drain out easily; here are a few examples:
A mixture consisting of 2 parts peat moss, 1 part perlite or vermiculite, and 1 part coarse sand will provide excellent drainage since all three materials have large air spaces within them. Peat moss is acidic in nature so add some lime to raise its pH level to 6 – 6.5.
For those who don’t want their house to smell like soil, you can add scented vermiculite to your mixture which will not only absorb odors but also give a fresh scent.
Another popular potting mix that has excellent drainage is the combination of coarse river sand, peat moss, and perlite with an NPK ratio of 5-10-5. Add some aged manure for nutrients then let it dry before using it in your polka dot plant’s soil mix.
If you live in an area where water tends to drain out really quickly from your pots or planters during rainfall, then use a potting mix with larger particles such as gravel instead.
There are also indoor plants that grow well on just plain garden soil since there are no special requirements that need to be met.
If you have to use a potting mixture that doesn’t drain well, you can add large pieces of polyester fiber or sponge rock (also known as perlite) to improve the drainage in your soil mix and also loosen it up a bit for easier watering.
This also works if you’re using soilless potting mixes that tend to become water-logged when exposed to moisture — not only this, but both materials are inert and will do no harm to your plants.
Temperature and Humidity Requirements
Because polka dot plants are from tropical or subtropical regions, they can tolerate higher temperatures. A temperature range between 65º F to 80º F is ideal for this plant — you’ll be able to push the boundaries a little more if your house tends to stay colder during winter times.
If possible, set its location where it receives lots of bright sunlight but avoid direct sunlight altogether; the direct sun will make its leaves drop faster than normal and will not allow any new ones to take their place leaving you with an empty stem.
For those who live in areas that have high humidity levels (i.e., Florida), then it’s recommended that you add some air circulation within the room where your polka dot plant is by fans or open windows. This is important for this plant since if the humidity level in your home or workplace stays high for an extended period of time, it will rot away.
Humidity levels within rooms with lots of watered plants should be kept at around 60% – 70%. If you want to measure the humidity level of your home, you can use a hygrometer to let you know when there’s a need to water your plants more often — here are some hygrometers online that have good reviews.
Potting and repotting Requirements
To achieve the best results, repot your polka dot plants every two to three years during spring or early summer.
The potting mix that you’ll be using must have excellent drainage which is why I listed out the recommended soil mixes earlier in this post. Also check if there are any dead roots (or too many leaves) since these will just rot away and kill the plant as well — prune these off before placing it into its new home to prevent them from further damaging your plant.
It’s also important that you don’t use a pot that has a diameter larger than 6 inches for polka dot plants since their stems are really thin and can easily break in case they grow taller than expected too quickly.
When potting up a polka dot plant in soil, I usually follow this process:
Step 1 – Plant its stem into the center of the pot. If you’re using a larger pot (with at least 7 inches diameter), then leave about 4 or 5 inches between it and the surrounding edges to prevent it from toppling over when its leaves grow bigger. Water your plant well before placing it into its growing medium/soil — this will help loosen up the material making it easier for you to work with.
Once water is flowing out through drainage holes on top of your pot, gently press down around your plant’s root ball so that most parts are covered by an inch with soil. Let dry slightly then water well again until all the excess moisture has drained completely from the drainage holes.
Step 2 – Go around your plant and use a sharp, sterile knife to remove each of its affected leaves surrounding the edge. Add more soil up to about 3/4 inches below where the old one was removed giving your plant enough room for new growths.
Step 3 – If you want to propagate it or plan on growing multiple polka dot plants, then repeat this process using some stem cuttings that you can easily grow into an independent plant in their own pots — here are some detailed guides on how to take and care for stem cuttings like these:
Polka Dot Plant Propagation info
It’s best to wait for at least a month before you water your plant again. The soil should dry completely out before the next watering cycle begins — it is recommended not to water this plant every day because this could eventually rot away its stem and roots if the conditions are not favorable enough.
If you’re planning on adding more plants to your collection, then make sure that they have their own individual potting mix and place them about 12 inches apart from each other.
To prevent overcrowding of any kind in your home or office, you can go around regularly to check if there’s an excess number of leaves being produced around these plants which will cause problems with light absorption as well as space.
While polka dot plants like to grow fast, their rate of growth will be slower once they enter the flowering stage. Make sure to water them as needed but avoid doing it too often and try to keep them within moderate temperatures if you want this plant to live for many more years to come.
Polka Dot Plant Problems & Pest Control
The polka dot plant is very resilient especially when it comes to pests that feed on its leaves — unless you have a real problem with whiteflies or spider mites, then fungus can easily be detected and eliminated by wiping off the affected parts and then spraying them with a mixture of neem oil and water.
If you want to propagate your polka dot plants, I suggest checking out my detailed guide on how to do that here: Polka Dot Plant Propagation info
It’s important that these plants get at least 12 hours of sunlight every single day but avoid direct exposure under hot afternoon sun since this could cause overheating which will trigger leaf wilting/curling as well as brown spots on the petals.
The only time I see brown spots appearing on my plant is when it has been overwatered.
If you live in a tropical country, then this plant should be fine for outdoor use as long as you protect its leaves from direct sun exposure to prevent it from wilting and drying out.
To keep your polka dot plants thriving throughout summer, try growing them near a water feature or any kind of pool where they can have some sort of humidity around them — that will definitely help with leaf damage caused by severe heat and lack of water in the soil.
