In numerous past articles I have mentioned that my all time favorite plant is called Hypoestes phyllostachya -- commonly known as the Polka Dot Plant, Freckle Face Plant, Confetti Plant... and so on and so forth. I usually call it the Polka Dot plant, since that's what the label on the packet of seeds I bought from Target said. But you should know that its scientific name is Hypoestes phyllostachya. I wanted to talk about this plant because, even though I just like talking about it, this is where I truly started exercising all the knowledge I'd been learning in my Home Horticulture class, and I think it made all the difference.
Here are two of my polka dot plant babies. I've got three, but I'll get to the third one later. To the right is the straight species of Hypoestes phyllostachya, which is green leaves with pink speckles and splashes. The straight species of any plant just means the 'original' one, the one that cultivars and varieties come from. To the right of that one is my variety, called Hypoestes phyllostachya 'Wit'. You could probably guess that this means it has white instead of pink leaves. There's another variety with red leaves, and I believe there's a variety with all three colors... but that might just be three different plants potted up in one pot. A marketing ploy.
Before we continue, I want to mention that there is nothing special about this plant... minus the fact that it's pink, which is dope. It has no botanical value from what I've researched, it's just pretty. And I like that it's pretty, so it's one of my favorites.
I studied abroad in Prague this past summer and we all took a weekend trip to Vienna. While we were at some castle, there were these BEAUTIFUL gardens. I cannot express to you how beautiful they were. Roses and hedges and just... flowers. greenery. It was so beautiful... but there was also a greenhouse that you had to pay to enter. :/
So I paid $5 to go into it.
And it was GREAT. The greenhouse was set up more like a garden, with water features like koi ponds and fountains and benches and gravel paths... it was amazing! I took pictures of lots of plants I'd never seen before, including this magical plant that looked like it'd been splattered with paint.
At the time, I thought this was some expensive, mythical plant grown only in foreign lands, but I was completely mesmerized by it. Flash forward 6 months and I find out I can buy it for $4 at Harris Teeter.
Dope. I bought it.
I've learned a lot about this plant since I've bought it, including what the comment 'bright, indirect lighting' means. And which windows in my house were east facing -- good news, the ones in my room are east facing! I actually fried the living hell out of my polka dot plants the first week of their lives, whoops. I hadn't paid much attention to the word 'indirect', and just plopped them right on the un-curtained window sill. Though bright, the little guys got too much direct light and the edges of some of their leaves got super crispy... I don't have curtains, but I moved them back a few feet and they are much happier (and a lot less crispy). I understand now what they need and how to get them to grow to the best of their ability. If I hadn't learned about scorching in class, those suckers probably would've been dead and overwatered right now. So, phew.
Polka Sot Plants aren't known for their hardiness. They prefer moist soil, but are still pretty susceptible to root rot... which is something I worry about a lot. When I first got my white cultivar, it dried out almost every other day despite how much I watered it, and it looked wilted more often than not. Even though I wanted to keep it in it's nursery pot for a little bit longer to get it used to it's new environment, I had to upgrade it to a bigger, nicer pot soon enough. Since then, it's stayed happier for longer, and the soil has stayed moist. I still worry about root rot, but I guess I'll just keep checking up on it.
So far, I've seen new growth on both plants! The pink one has grown tall and leggy, which I know means it might not be getting enough sun, so I'll have to keep experimenting with where it lives to see exactly where it would grow the best. That being said, the white cultivar has stayed nice and bushy where it is, so I guess we'll see!
That brings us to my third polka dot plant. And if you'll remember me mentioning a seed packet I bought... you could probably infer that my third Hypoestes phyllostachya is one that I've been growing from seed all by myself.
Which has been a... ride.
Here is the polka dot plant seedlings that I have been so affectionally referring to as Lil Marble. I learn a LOT about the species just from growing these plants, and look at them! They've barely even sprouted!
First of all, when these first did sprout, they sprouted with two, round cotyledons. Then, they sprouted with two, more triangular leaves. They won't grow any more of those circular leaves, but unless they die and fall off, they'll probably be around for a while! I noticed a few of them on the bottom of my white cultivar later on.
Also, when these began to sprout there was a weird white fuzzy at the bottom of each of their stems. Since the soil was moist (it was a self watering system originally) I thought it might be mold, but a little bit of googling and I learned that most Hypoestes phylloastachya sprouts develop this! So there was nothing to worry about, I just kept a close eye on them, and it eventually went away.
Soon after the first set of triangular leaves began to grow, their spots began to appear!! They were few and far in-between, but I'm hoping that they'll begin to develop more the older that they get! Right now they have a second pair of leaves growing, and I'm hoping they just keep growing and putting out new leaves! I'm constantly afraid that they're all just gonna fall off.
As I mentioned, originally, this was a self-watering system. Since polka dot plants like humidity and moist soil, it made sense! But the longer I kept this system, the more worried I became. The brown spots on the leaves (which you can see above) made me wonder if the little roots on these sprouts weren't getting enough oxygen, drown by the constant wetness. I think they're too young to pull out and check for root rot, but I still worried nonetheless, so I removed the water from the system and have just been regulating the water on my own. So far so good, but these little guys have a long way to go...
Either way, I've learned a lot through these plants. And everything that I learned in class, I've been able to apply to my plants. I'm hoping they just keep growing and thriving, and I'm really hoping that my little sprouts will make it all the way to adulthood! Well, I guess we'll see. Maybe I'll buy a red one.
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