Check her water weekly and give her a drink if the top two inches of soil are dry. She likes her soil slightly moist.
She’s a great choice for rooms that don’t get much light as she’s adapted to cope. The one thing she dislikes is harsh sun.
Because she’s used to steamy forests, she likes moist air. A good misting every few days is all she needs.
Botanical name
Homalomena rubescens
Nickname
Queen of hearts; shield plant
Air purifying
Yes
Plant height
90-100cm
Pet/Child friendly
Toxic if ingested
Nursery pot size
24cm
Mostly found in Southern Asia, homalomena rubescens makes its home on the grounds of lush tropical forests. All those huge leaves on long, deep red stems help it reach out and catch as much sun as it can in the shady forest. In the wild, those leaves can grow over 30cm long.
Homalomena has been treasured by the Tamil people of India for over 3,000 years. They value it as a medicinal plant and used for many different ailments. We can’t tell you how to make those treatments and it’s probably best you don’t experiment.
Fending for itself in forests has made it surprisingly tough and it lives happily as a houseplant. It’s used to fairly low light and will make the best of most situations. You can help those red stems and big leaves grow healthily by giving it a feed with liquid fertiliser once per month in spring and summer.
Did you know?
The name homalomena roughly translates from Malayan as ‘flat moon’.
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