Tip of the Week - Focus on Aglaonemas

This is how you pronounce the name Aglaonema. Uh-glon-a-ma. It’s that easy. There are more Aglaonema house plants than any other variety. Beautiful structures, colours and patterns are their trademark features. Family Araceae – Aroids. They will thrive inside but also do beautifully well outside in a warm garden. Like all indoor plants they should not be overwatered and they should be rotated outside when its warm.

Plant Types

Originally found in the rainforests of South-East Asia with 22 species we know of. They have been hybridised and bred into a wide variety of amazingly attractive cultivars. Usually smaller strong leaved wonderfully coloured and shaped perennials that will grow in lower light….especially the greener ones.

Thai Aglaonemas

Have only been introduced into Australia and have a fantastic variety of colour and patterns. We first saw them in Burma a few years ago when they were not for sale in Australia at all.

Multiplication

Mostly propagated by division or by cuttings. If you cut your plant offat its base in summer it will grow back double and the cutting will also take readily.

Water Requirements

Don’t get too wet in the cooler months.

Potting Mix

Needs to be well drained.

Potting Up

Please don’t overpot. Just pot up one size at a time. One size up is say 3cm diameter increase.

Flowering

Not renowned for flowers..the flowering is very interesting however. The whole infloresece bears unisexual flowers in the spadix with a short zone of female flowers and a larger zone of male flowers near the tip The fruit is a fleshy berry that turns red and contains one big seed. The spadix is this structure in the Family Araceae.

Winter Care

The less green in a plant the more light it will need….so in winter try and get as much light as possible to them. They need humidity as well so an artificially heated room may not have enough humidity. Try sitting your plant in a tray with water but sitting on pebbles so the pots nottouching the water. This water is to provide humidity only. Mist theleaves of the plant as often as you can. Use a slow release fertiliser similar to osmocote twice a year. In addition any liquid fertiliser occasionally will be fine….fish and kelpare great but in the warmer months.