Growing Peperomia Pellucida at Home: How-to and Its Benefits

You may never guess it when you look at the delicate heart-shaped leaves of the peperomia pellucida plant, but it has a long history of medicinal and culinary uses.

You are more likely to encounter this exotic plant in a houseplant collection than in a garden these days. You will see it called pepper elder, shining bush plant, or crab claw plant.

Most people grow peperomia pellucida because of how attractive the plant is. You should also consider the other benefits of growing peperomia pellucida at home.

We will describe how to grow this amazing herb to get the most from it.

Traditional Medicinal Benefits

Peperomia pellucida grows wild in parts of Central and South America. It’s used as medicine and differs from one culture to another. It is frequently taken to soothe upset stomachs, treat acne and boils, and as a dressing for wounds. The leaves, stems, and roots have anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and analgesic properties.

The plant is used fresh or dried. Both forms are applied to injuries and eaten for health benefits. The anti-fungal and analgesic properties have been demonstrated by researchers testing the effects on lab mice.

Peperomia Pellucida Culinary Use

The leaves of peperomia pellucida are fleshy and waxy green. They have a succulent likeness when healthy. The leaves and stems are eaten raw in salads. The plant provides a mild, mustard-like flavor. It grows wild throughout the American South, the Caribbean, and Central and South America as a food staple.

Peperomia is frequently cooked in soups and stews or braised for edible greens. The fleshy, water-rich leaves make it a perfect choice for mixed greens with garlic. A type of tea is also made by boiling the leaves of the plant and steeping. It has an herbal flavor.

Peperomia Pellucida Care Guide

Now that you know about the delicious and healthy benefits of growing peperomia pellucida, you will want to know how to grow this plant in your home garden.

The most frequent way these plants are grown is indoors as a houseplant. They will grow outdoors in USDA Hardiness Zones 9b-11. In Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, peperomia pellucida grows wild.

Providing this plant with the ideal growing conditions will ensure you have a constant supply of edible leaves.

– Light Requirements

Peperomia pellucida grows in dappled shade in the native range. Your plant will tolerate bright light, but you should try to keep it out of direct sunshine. Choose a bright window that faces south or east for the best conditions.

This plant will grow leggy when it doesn’t get enough light. You will learn to gauge when the plant has too much sunlight by watching the color of the leaves. They should always be bright green and have a waxy appearance. Too much sun will make the leaves dull and lighter.

The peperomia pellucida benefits from artificial lighting when grown in places that lack the ideal light conditions. Many people grow these plants in vivariums and terrariums to add color and life to otherwise impossible rooms to grow plants. This plant is easy to raise under grow lights with a light spectrum focusing on vegetative growth.

– Temperature Conditions

The peperomia pellucida originates from tropical and sub-tropical areas and prefers warm weather. The ideal temperatures range from 65 to 80 degrees. A fully mature plant can withstand moderate cold and may even survive a short frost. Young plants will wilt and die back when temperatures are below 50 degrees.

These are ideal house plants because they prefer the same temperatures as most of us. They also make fantastic plants in greenhouses. The warm conditions keep this plant growing all year round.

– Humidity for Healthy Growth

Peperomia pellucida is particularly susceptible to dry air. The plant prefers humid conditions above 60 percent. Since this is more humid than most homes, you should consider methods of increasing the humidity. When the plant is not humid enough, you will see the leaves looking limp, wrinkled, and bleached.

One way to help improve humidity is to grow your peperomia pellucida near other plants with similar light and water needs. The plants help increase the humidity in the area around them, mutually benefiting themselves and their neighbors. You will find many exciting and beautiful house plants that share similar light, water, and temperature conditions.

An evaporative tray works well for adding humidity. A small tray makes an attractive way to display this plant on your desk at work, on an end table at home, or on a window sill. You can create an evaporative tray for your peperomia plant with a shallow dish that is a few inches larger in diameter than your pot and at least an inch deep.

Fill the tray with small stones, pumice, or some type of object to rest the pot on. Set the pot on the rocks and add water to the tray until it is just below the bottom of the pot. If you overfill the tray and the pot sits in the water, you run the risk of providing perfect conditions for bacterial and fungal infections.

– Water Requirements

The amount that you will water your peperomia pellucida will depend on the conditions. Warmer areas and plants in smaller containers will require more frequent watering. In some places, you will need to water every two or three days.

There are a few ways you can learn to spot the signs that your plant needs water. The thick, fleshy leaves of the peperomia pellucida will look slightly deflated and may curl or wrinkle when in need of water. Too much water makes the leaves droopy.

You can feel the soil to determine when it is time to water. Stick your finger to the first knuckle into the soil. If it is dry, add water. These plants prefer to live in moist soil, but you must avoid overly wet conditions.

During the growing season, you will water more frequently than in the dormant season. Keep an eye on the various indicators to tell when the plant needs water as the seasons change. During the dormant season, you may only need to water this plant once a month.

– Repotting Requirements

The roots of the peperomia pellucida are small and don’t run deep. These plants will not require a larger pot for many years. When you do select a new pot, don’t increase the size by very much. Peperomia pellucida enjoys a compact root ball, and too much soil provides conditions for infections and disease.

You will likely repot your plant to replace the soil more frequently than to increase the pot size. Replacing the soil every one to two years helps provide fresh nutrients and encourages healthy growth. Whenever you choose a new pot for your peperomia plant, make sure there are plenty of drainage holes. Winter and spring are preferable seasons for repotting peperomia pellucida.

– Soil Requirements

Peperomia pellucida prefers a light, airy soil but also one that retains moisture. The soil must drain so that it doesn’t pool in the container, but it shouldn’t drain too fast. The best way to get the perfect soil conditions for peperomia pellucida is to mix your own.

A great way to make your own potting mix for these plants is to combine equal parts of sphagnum peat moss and potting soil. This will provide a good compromise between drainage and retaining. Adjust your particular conditions by adding vermiculite if the soil dries out too quickly. Add a little sand if it gets sticky and holds moisture too long.

The best way to gauge whether your soil is correct is to water the plants slowly and deeply until water drains from the holes in the pot. Set it in the sink for half an hour. If the pot still has water draining out after 30 minutes, it is holding too much moisture. The soil should be moist but not wet.

A popular method of growing these plants indoors is the use of coco coir and peat moss mixtures. It provides the ultimate in light, airy conditions, but you’ll need to adjust watering carefully. This growing mixture also provides very little nutrition, so plan on fertilizing periodically during the growing season.

– Fertilizer for Peperomia Pellucida

These plants will benefit from regular feedings during the growing season. You must remember to dilute liquid fertilizers by half or more to prevent harming the delicate roots.

You can use an organic fertilizer like fish emulsion or a commercially made synthetic fertilizer.

If you plan to use this plant for food or medicine, avoid using anything but 100 percent organic products. The plant can absorb and retain many types of chemicals that are not healthy for you when eaten or absorbed through the skin.

When you mix your potting media, you can add a time-release fertilizer in the appropriate amount for your plant and pot size. These products will feed for about six months, so plan in spring or winter to replace the soil and fertilizer together without risking burning roots during the dormant season.

– Harvesting and Storing Peperomia Pellucida

You can select healthy, fleshy bright green leaves for harvest. Use sharp scissors that are sterile to snip off leaves and stems. You can begin harvesting in the spring, and new growth will continue from the plant throughout the growing season.

Wrap the leaves in damp paper towels and place them in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. You can keep them in the refrigerator for several days up to one week. You can add them to salads or soups or saute them like traditional greens.

The leaves can be dried for use in medicinal concoctions. Snip the leaves and hang them to dry. It will take several weeks for the leaves to dry fully. Make sure there is airflow to prevent molding. Once the leaves are dry, they can be used in teas, ointments, or ground into powders.

Propagation

There are two ways you can propagate peperomia pellucida. These plants will produce seed, and you can harvest the seed in summer or fall.

You can start the peperomia pellucida seeds indoors or directly into a small container with the correct soil type. Covering the container with plastic will increase the temperature and help retain humidity to encourage rapid germination. Seeds may take between a few days and three weeks to sprout.

You can propagate this plant from leaf cuttings. Select a thick, fleshy leaf that is in excellent condition and is mature. Cut three-quarters of the tip of the leaf from the plant.

Make a series of one-quarter-inch incisions perpendicular to the cut you just made. Place the leaf cuttings in a potting mix or peat moss that is moist. Cover with plastic and check it every few days to make sure the soil stays moist. Do not let it dry out. Roots may form in three to four weeks, and you’ll notice new leaf growth after about two months.

Problems

When grown as houseplants, peperomia pellucida has few problems. If you grow this plant in your garden, greenhouse, or patio there are a few common problems you should watch for that can impact the health of your plants.

– Pests

The most common pests you’ll encounter are spider mites and mealybugs.

Mealybugs look like small tufts of white fuzz on the bottom sides of the leaves. Spider mites leave webs in the nooks and crannies around leaf and stem bases. Both of these pests suck sap from the plant and can transmit diseases from other plants. They are most common in moist, humid environments like those that are ideal for peperomia pellucida.

The best way to eliminate mealybugs and spider mites is to catch them before an infestation happens. An insecticidal soap made of clean water with a small amount of alcohol and dish soap mixed in will kill both pests along with aphids and many other types of soft-bodied bugs.

Spray the tops and bottoms of leaves in the evening or in the morning to catch as many bugs as possible. Avoid placing the plant in bright light right after misting.

– Disease

Moist and humid conditions are ideal for numerous types of wilt, blight, leaf spot disease, and fungal rot. Changing your soil every year or two can help prevent these diseases. Each of them will eventually kill your plant if you don’t take action.

Wilt appears when leaves suddenly turn yellow, wilt, and drop off the plant. This might impact just a few leaves, or it may hit most of the plant at once. Cut the infected parts from the plant and discard them.

Blight appears as spots or sessions on the leaves. There is no way to stop blight once it begins, so you’ll need to cut infected parts of the plant off and destroy them. Leaf spot disease appears as brown or black spots. This is another disease for which there is no cure. Cut the infected parts off.

Fungal rot commonly happens when plants get too much water or don’t have enough drainage. The disease causes swelling and yellowing of the roots, stems, and leaves.

The first thing you’ll notice is mushy spots along the soil line. You should immediately remove the plant from the pot and investigate the roots. Use sharp, sterile scissors to cut any infected parts from the plant. It may be necessary to attempt a leaf-cutting propagation to save the plant.

Conclusion

• Peperomia pellucida is an attractive houseplant that is edible and provides numerous medical benefits
• It grows best in bright, indirect light to dappled part-sun
• These plants need plenty of water and do not like to dry out between waterings
• Fertilizer during the growing season will aid in the growth of the leaves
• Soil should be light and airy but retain moisture well without getting soggy or compacted
• Propagation can be done by seed or leaf cutting
• Keep an eye out for bacterial and fungal infections as they are common and will damage your plant

You may have stumbled upon the peperomia pellucida in a nursery or garden center and purchased it for its attractive green foliage. Many hundreds of these plants are grown for their vibrant leaves.

Now you also know that this plant is edible with plenty of health benefits. It’s a unique houseplant that you can effortlessly keep healthy by providing the proper conditions for growth.