Polka Dot (Freckle Face) Plant Care
Common Name: Polka Dot Plant, Freckle Face
Scientific Name: Hypoestes phyllostachya
Lighting: Moderate to Low
Watering: Moderate
Polka Dot plants are really neat little houseplants. Their red, pink and white dotted foliage add character to any space. Plus they are a small, delicate looking houseplant. Polka Dot (Freckle Face) plants can also be placed in your outside garden as an annual. The distinct colors make a great contrast next to other outdoor plants.
The Polka Dot plant requires moderate light. Keeping the plant within 2 feet of a window is perfect as long as it doesn't receive much more than 5 hours of direct sunlight. Correct lighting will help keep the plant maintaining its spots.
For this houseplant, you should keep the soil moist at all times, however do not over water the plants so that the soil becomes soggy. Make sure you do not allow the soil to dry out in-between watering. If the foliage begins to wilt, you are probably under watering the plant. After watering, the houseplant will usually spark back up, similar to what a Peace Lily will do, however do not make a practice of waiting until it starts to drop before watering. If you continually under water the plant, overtime it will drop the lower leaves and continue dropping. This houseplant also prefers higher humidity levels, so a daily misting will provide additional results.
Polka Dot plants are very easy to start from seed. You can then move them to their own pots. You can also easily take cuttings from the plant. Put them in water to root and now you have even more Polka Dot plants. Giving your Polka Dot plant a little haircut as I call them, will not harm the plant, it will actually help it to retain its compact shape and become more full and lush.
As a little extra tip, if your pinch out the new growth, most of the time this will also encourage the plant to be more compact and full.
posted by drayas @ 8:53 AM
13 Comments:
i just got one of these..I love it..
thanks for all the info...I love house plants..
I got one a month ago... and it's flourishing! Though, I think it's not getting enough light as the spots are fading on the tops....
I love mine but the leaves are now covered with fuzz and the smaller ones are turning yellow and falling off. What am I doing wrong?
Ingrid,
It sounds like some kind of pests has attacked your Polka Dot Plant. Spray the plant with a soapy dishwater mixture twice a day for about a week. If there's no improvement, you may need to go to your local garden center for a more direct spray.
Is the white fuzz sticky? It could be mealy bugs. If it's sticky you may also want to wipe the leaves with the fuzz with rubbing alcohol.
Keep me posted.
Thanks,
drayas
My little polka plant looks healthy but as it is growing tall, it is beginning to look like it's having trouble holding itself up.
Any thoughts?
Erica,
You can pinch out the new growth. This should help to keep the plant more compact.
Otherwise somehow stake the plant.
Thanks,
drayas
I bought my polka dot plant for my office, figuring that the flourescent lighting would be just enough for it. It was doing fine for months until I went away on vacation. Someone was watering it for me, but I'm afraid that she may have either under or over watered it. Right now, the leaves are all crinkly and curling in at the edges. Some of them are yellowing and the stems are having trouble holding themselves up. How do I save my plant?
theladyrayne,
The foliage crinkling sounds like they underwatered the plant. Is the soil dry to touch? Now if the soil is moist, then don't water it anymore. The person taking care of it may have underwatered it and then seeing it not look good, overwatered it. Get your plant back on a normal watering schedule.
Also, I'd give it a dose of houseplant food to give it some extra spark.
Keep us posted.
Thanks,
drayas
It seems like this plant wants a lot of water! I got mine to get its lower foliage fall off because I didn't water it enough.
Now the problem is that this plant is potted together with a ZZ plant, which doesn't want much water at all. However, I heard of people watering ZZ plants often and as long as there is drainage at the bottom of the pot, there should not be big problems.
We will see though!
I love my little Polka plant (which i named Cecil). Unfortunately, due to too much love, i think i have overwatered it and its dying :-(
The tips of the leaves are brown and crinkly, and the leaves have lost their coloured spots and feel damp. The stems were still strong and new shoots were coming through, but even they seem to get damp & brown up. Soil didnt seem to be dying out so i repotted it. Not sure if that was right? Havent watered it yet - too scared to now!!
I remember when I first had this plant and I hated them because I kept killing them lol.
I have a new one now, I have pinched off the new growth and it has gone crazy! In a good way. It totally works. I am always afraid to pinch anything off of plants but it works magic for them because it forces the plants to produce new leaves elsewhere.
These plants can be a bit finicky but when you learn to know what they need, they are really simple to care for.
I have had one of these for a year and it has done really well in my kitchen window. However, I went on vacation and when I returned my plant was in poor shape. It was completely wilted and all of the leaves had dried. I watered the plant and it slowly perked up. I pinched off all of the dead leaves and trimmed the dead off the 'branches.' My plant started to come back a little bit and sprouted 2 new tiny leaves. I thought it was on it's way back, but this morning I'm not so sure. The new little sprouts are droopy. The soil is moist, so I know it's not water related. Any ideas? Thanks!!
Could you post a link to see a pic of this plant?I have never heard of it and am curious to see what it looks like.
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