With its watermelon-esque leaves and purple stems, watermelon peperomia is the next plant you need to add to your indoor plant collection. Before you make an excuse about how you already have enough indoor plants, you can never have enough. Here is our growers guide to the one and only watermelon peperomia.
Watermelon peperomia or Peperomia argyreia was given its name as its leaves closely resemble that of watermelon skin. This plant falls into the easy-grow category and it actually is great for new green thumbs, it is native to South America and grows up to 30cm tall so great for the Aussie climate and small spaces.
During spring and summertime, you might see flowers appear although the thin stalks look more like spikes than flowers.
Care Instructions
To keep your watermelon peperomia happy and thriving there are a few simple rules to follow:
- Keep them in a bright room but out of direct sunlight.
- Do not overwater them, water them just enough to make the soil slightly damp.
- Fertilise them once or twice a year with light natural fertilizer.
- You’ll rarely need to repot these guys as they love growing nice and compact.
Plus, watermelon peperomia is non-toxic to cats and dogs.
Troubleshooting
Leaves looking a bit washed out or dull – your plant is sunburnt! Move it out of direct sunlight
Lower leaves drooping – your plant is thirsty. Place it in a small bowl of water and let it drink as much as it needs.
Leaves are going brown at tips – too much water! Put the watering can and leave it be for at least a couple of days.
How to propagate
Once you have one plant it is easy to grow more! Simply snip off a healthy leaf at the bottom of the stem and place it in a vile of water in a sunny position. It will take between 6-8 weeks but soon you’ll start to see white roots appear. When a couple of roots have grown between 3-4cm long plant in soil and enjoy.
Another way to propagate your peperomia is to take a leaf cutting. Cut the leaf in half horizontally and insert cut side down into the soil.
Where to buy
Once a rarity you can now purchase watermelon peperomia from Bunnings or your local hardware. Make sure you don’t pay more than $30 for a large plant as they are growing in trend so are the prices!
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