Four Ways to Grow Healthy Variegated Plants

Variegated plants grow at a slower rate than other plants, thus in order to grow healthily they need to be cared for properly. There are various methods on how to grow variegated plants in a healthy manner; the important thing to keep in mind is not to rush them to grow. The slow growth is due to the fact the variegated plants don’t produce chlorophyll; hence it prevents the variegated plants from converting sunlight into sugar. Another important fact to keep in mind is that yellow-foliaged plants grow even slower than other species, thus they may need more care.

    1. Fertilizer

    Fertilizer is a major concern to variegated plants because if you over-fertilize them, they may die. The occurs because fertilizer is supposed to help plants create nitrogen but in variegated plants, if there is a surplus of nitrogen, then it deposits onto the roots of the plant, which will prevent the roots from taking in water. This happens because fertilizer is a type of salt hence it will eventually prevent water from reaching the plant’s roots. This is very dangerous to variegated plants thus, in order to grow a healthy variegated plant make sure to add the appropriate amount of fertilizer, otherwise the plant will wither and finally die.

    2. Sunlight

    Variegated plants need sunlight in order to survive but as mentioned before the lack of chlorophyll in the plant’s leaves can create a bit of difficulty for the plants because apart from transforming sunlight into sugar, chlorophyll also protects the plant. Hence a lack of chlorophyll and direct exposure to sunlight will kill the variegated plant. So in order to grow a healthy variegated plant you have to make sure not to leave it directly into the sun the whole day. Move it into the shade in the peak of the day.

    3. Plant Genetics

    Every species of variegated plant has a different genetic code thus one variegated plant may grow faster than the other or one may have purplish leaves and the other may not. In order to take care of your variegated plant correctly, it’s a good idea to be informed from the plant store you purchased it from or any other sources available, how best to care for the particular specie you purchased.

    4. Pests

    Variegated plants, like the shell ginger plant, is susceptible to spider mites. Spider mites and other pests of the sort are extremely harmful to variegated plant and can be counter attacked by using specific pesticides designed for this purpose or by allowing ladybugs and lacewings to stay on the variegated plants. Ladybugs and lacewings are natural enemies of spider mites. Just keep an eye on your plant, to avoid nasty surprises.

    As you can see it’s easy to grow a healthy variegated plant. It will need good attention and care in order to grow properly. If you adhere to the above mentioned ways you can unquestionably grow a healthy variegated plant.