Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

2 ft 7 in

In-row spacing

2 ft 7 in

Between rows

3 ft 3 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Houseplant · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Bright indirect light, though it holds up in a dim corner.

Watering

Soak it through, then wait until the top 2-3 cm are dry again.

Feeding

A half-strength feed once a month through spring and summer.

Frost tolerant

No

Pruning

A light trim now and then is all the shaping it needs.

Through the year

• Mar–Dec Spring Growth
• Jan–Mar Spring Growth

Pests & problems

• Spider mites Spider mites when indoor air turns dry
• Root & crown rot Root rot where overwatering or poor drainage leaves the roots sitting wet
• Yellowing leaves after too many hours of direct sun

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Big-eyed bug Geocoris spp.
  Hunts Spider mites

  A stubby 3 mm bug with enormous wrap-around eyes, working the soil surface and the low foliage for aphids, mites, thrips and insect eggs. It is the main natural check on chinch bugs in a lawn and it is killed outright by insecticide.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCloverCosmosGoldenrodSweet alyssum
• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts Spider mites

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts Spider mites

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
• Minute pirate bug Orius spp.
  Hunts Spider mites

  A pinhead-sized true bug that is the best natural check on thrips, and happily spears aphids, mites, and insect eggs too. It needs pollen when prey is scarce, so keep something flowering nearby.

  Plant nearby CosmosFennelFrench marigoldSweet alyssum
• Predatory mites Phytoseiulus & Amblyseius
  Hunts Spider mites

  Fast orange mites that hunt spider mites egg-by-egg, and cousins that clear thrips and fungus-gnat larvae. Sold as a biological control for greenhouses; outdoors they follow humidity — mist and mulch, don’t dust with sulfur.

• Rove beetle Staphylinidae
  Hunts Spider mites

  Slim, quick beetles with short wing cases that hunt in soil and litter, taking root-fly eggs and larvae, fungus-gnat larvae, and mites. Mulch and undisturbed ground keep them resident year-round.

  Plant nearby MintThyme