One of my personal favorite ornamental plants is the Silver Queen (botanical name: Aglaonema crispum), a majestic plant with beautifully variegated narrow, spear-shaped leaves.
I had purchased mine about four months ago and it is growing splendidly. It had been growing in the nursery's greenhouse and potted in very healthy well aerated peat; I therefore did not see the need to repot it. Given the rate of its growth, it is certain I will need to pot it on by the end of the growing season.
In this post I write about my experience caring for Silver Queen.
I had purchased mine about four months ago and it is growing splendidly. It had been growing in the nursery's greenhouse and potted in very healthy well aerated peat; I therefore did not see the need to repot it. Given the rate of its growth, it is certain I will need to pot it on by the end of the growing season.
In this post I write about my experience caring for Silver Queen.
As mentioned above, the Silver Queen is a non-succulent plant with variegated leaves that are spear-shaped. It is a plant that requires sunlight, but doesn't tolerate direct sunlight - especially in summer and spring. I have mine placed in the inner corner of a northern balcony, where it gets the sunset light through a grille, and it is thriving there. As a rule of thumb, when you purchase a plant out of a greenhouse, it usually means that it will prefer shade and require a high level of humidity.
Aglaonema requires a moderately moist soil, and prefers regular spraying. I spray the plant at least once a day and wipe the leaves with damp cloth whenver they get dusty, and I find that with this the plant barely requires any watering other than the bi-weekly feeds. I also use the old leaves I cut off as mulch to improve the humidity retention of the soil. Always check the soil moistness before watering.
Agloanema propagate naturally by producing shoots from below the ground level that with time will result in a clump of interconnected plants. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a number of these shoots around the plant base in my pot, but that means I will definitely have to pot-on the plant by the end of the growing season, if not earlier.
The Agloanema seem to be quite pest and disease resistant; and it does not seem to attract insects of any kind - beneficial or not, which I guess makes them very suitable as indoor plants, provided they receive enough light and an adequate humidity level can be maintained for them. No matter where you decide to place the Agloanema, the splendid leaves of this plant will definitely add beauty to your surroundings.
