• Biên tập: Dũng Cá Xinh
• Người dịch: Mai Nhung

ENGLISH

Most good houseplants are tropical, adapted to warm nighttime temperatures and rainforest conditions. Piggy-back plant (Tolmiea menziesii) is an exception. The maritime climate from which this native Pacific Northwesterner hails is very different from the typical home environment, and yet piggy-back plant holds its own as a houseplant. Its tiny inconspicuous flowers are reddish brown and carried on 1- to 2-foot-tall stems. The softly hairy foliage is roughly heart- shaped with scalloped and lobed edges. The leaves, 2 to 5 inches long, are borne on hairy leaf stalks that likewise vary in length. Leaf color is typically bright medium green, but variegated cultivars are available. Piggy-back plant has the distinctive habit of growing new baby plantlets where the leaf stalk joins the leaf blade. As these baby plantlets grow larger, they form little plantlets of their own, and the result is a cascading chain of foliage. These long chains of leaves, with plantlets attached, are especially attractive dangling from a hanging basket.

Some people are sensitive to the hairs on the leaves and stems of piggy-back plant, from which they can acquire a contact der- matitis. If you think you might be sensitive, or just want to be cautious, wear gloves when handling this plant.

OPTIMUM HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT

Read the Introduction for the specifics of each recommendation.

MEDIUM LIGHT.

Filtered light with no direct sun suits piggy-back plant best.

LOW TEMPERATURE.

Daytime 65 to 75°F, night- time 55 to 65°F.

MODERATE WATER.

Water whenever the top of the potting medium becomes dry to a depth of 1 inch.

HUMIDITY.

Mist your plant occasionally with a spray bottle of water on a mist setting, or use a handheld mister. Put the pot in a saucer or tray of water, making sure the bottom of the pot never sits directly in the water by raising the pot up on pot feet or pebbles.

POTTING MEDIUM.

Use any good organic, general-purpose potting soil that incorporates organic fertilizer, mycorrhizal fungi, and other beneficial microbes.

FERTILIZER.

Use any balanced organic fertilizer. Apply every two weeks through the growing season and monthly in winter.

POTTING.

When your plant needs up-potting, shift it to a container with a diameter 2 inches larger than the current pot.

PROPAGATION.

Piggy-back plant is easy to propagate from leaf cuttings and by division of the rhizome.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Watch for brown leaf tips (page 246) and spider mites (page 263).