Upon arrival, carefully remove all paper surrounding your leaves and cut out of the plastic baggie holding the soil in and replace any soil that has fallen out of the bag. Water, if needed, and acclimate your plant to the light. Your plant has been on a long journey in the hands of people who do not care about it as we do, so it may need a day or two to perk back up. However, if you have any issues with your order at all or your package arrives damaged, please message me and let me know so we can start working towards a resolution right away.
Hypoestes phyllostachya (The Polka Dot Plant - Freckle Face Plant) likes to be indoors when temps dip below 61 degrees & does not like direct sunlight. Cold hardy outdoors year round in Zones 10 - 11 in shade. Normal room temperature inside is ideal.
Soil should be a fast draining and light mix that is kept moist year round while decreasing water over Fall and Winter. Prior to arriving at its new home, your plant has only been given rain water and may need some time to adjust to tap water. Fertilize weekly during the growing season from Spring to Fall with a very weak and balanced fertilizer. Up until this point, your plant has only been fertilized aquaponically to ensure that they are safe for pets in terrariums.
To increase humidity, mist twice daily or place on a tray of rocks or pebbles so that the pot has, at most, “wet feet” but is not sitting in deep standing water, allowing the roots to suffocate and rot. In especially dry conditions, such as during Winter in heated homes, a humidifier may be especially beneficial.
Polka Dot plants are easy to grow and will spread on the ground or trail in a hanging basket if not pruned. To prune plants, pinch shoots that grow more than 12 inches long and place the leaf tips back in the soil to propagate and help them grow fuller and more bushy. If your plant looks sad or has damaged leaves upon arrival, don’t panic. Once it has been repotted and given a chance to get established in its new home it will stop focusing on new roots and will start focusing on new leaves. Upon arrival, water thoroughly and let it get settled to help it perk back up.
To propagate, take leaf tip cuttings about 1 - 2” tall and replant them back in the soil or in another container with a peat based soil mixture and keep moist to allow new roots to grow.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to shoot us a message and we will help in any way that we are able. And if you have questions about other plants that we carry, please check our other care guides
Remember: No care guide is going to be perfect for every situation. Plants in rainy Seattle will have different needs than plants in hot and dry New Mexico. We recommend that all customers read their care guide thoroughly, follow the instructions, listen to what your plant is telling you about what it needs and adjust accordingly.