Easy To Grow Houseplants – Peperomia

Peperomia’s most interesting feature are its leaves, which vary in shape (heart shape to narrow), texture and colour (green, reddish or silvery gray). Plants occasionally produce slender flowery spikes that resemble rat’s tails. Use on tabletops and as a companion in dish gardens and mixed baskets. The plant tolerates the low light of a north windowsill and stays small enough to fit on a desk or to be used in a terrarium.

Size: To 6 – 12 inches high and 6 – 12 inches wide

Growing conditions: Low to medium light; 60 – 75°F; moderately dry soil

Peperomias are widely used in dish gardens, bottle gardens and other environments where space is limited. They are slow growing, compact, and some species produce curious ‘rat tail’ flower heads made up of tiny greenish flowers on an upright spike.

Peperomias can be used in any number of different ways, depending on the species and variety. As a pot plant, in terrariums, as small indoor shrubs, hanging baskets, and in some cases, complementing floral arrangements.

The most widely produced species is Peperomia obtusifolia Oval-leaf Peperomia (Columbiana, Golden Gate) and its cultivars. Oval-leaf Peperomia is an upright sprawling plant with dark green, glossy, nearly-oval-shaped leaves. Peperomia obtusifolia `Variegata’ (Golden Gate), or Variegated Oval-Leaf Peperomia has leaves with a border of creamy white and a central zone of dark green and grayish green.
Peperomia caperata varieties (Ripple, Autumn, Beatle, Suzanne) with their rosette growth habits have dark green leaves with deep creases along with major veins, giving the leaves a wrinkled appearance.