True friendship is hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget, it is a pure relationship. So, why not celebrate your friendship by gifting a friendship plant to your loved ones. There are many amazing and beautiful plants available in the market for decorating your interior garden; the Friendship plant is one of them. These can be used for decoration and gifting purposes to your loved ones. Friendship plant is a tropical plant and needs warmth and humidity to thrive.
Botanical name- Pilea spp.
Common name- pilea
Plant type- flowering succulents; herbaceous perennials and annuals; houseplants
Mature size- 12 inches tall
Sun exposure- partial sun
Soil type- well-drained
Soil pH- 5 to 6
Bloom time- spring
Flower color- white and pink
Origin – central and south America
Height – 6 inches and in rare cases 12 inches
This plant is called the friendship plant due to the fact that it requires rapid rooting and cutting. These plants are specially used for gifting purposes. The common height of this friendship plant is 6 inches (15 cm) high, and in some rare cases, it can grow upto 12 inches (30.5 cm).
The color of pilea is pink with small white spots on it. Pilea does not require much care, and thus it is very easy to grow a pile plant in your personal space. Friendship plant does not need much sunlight or water and requires only warmth and humidity.
Read more- Green Chili Plants-Types And Growing Process
How to take care of pilea plant
Though pilea plants are easier to maintain yet there are some tips that may help you take care of your plant for its better health:
Light: pilea plants need 6 to 8 hours of daylight (not direct sunlight). However, it needs direct sunlight once a week.
Water: pilea needs a pot with a hole which drains water. The Pilea plant does not need a large amount of water. In winters, there is no need to water the pile plant. Too much water can lead to soggy soil, which can make plants’ roots rotten leading to slow growth.
Humidity: Since pilea plant is a tropical plant, it requires a humid environment for its better growth. To check the humidity of the environment, it’s better to use a humidity meter rather than guessing. The plant can bear upto a 50% drop in humidity only. Therefore, in winters, when the weather is extremely dry, it’s recommended to place wet rocks inside the pot to maintain proper humidity.
Temperature: the temperature should be 65-80°F/g18-27°C for the better growth of the friendship plant. So, keep the plant away from direct sunlight and air conditioners. In winters, it can tolerate upto 55°F/13°C temperature.
Soil: pilea plants grow better in the moss-based mix of African violet potting mix-based soil.
Fertilizers: For better growth of plants, the ratio of water-soluble fertilizers should be 1:1:1. It is important to feed the plant monthly with the fertilizers.
Propagation: the stems of the pilea plant should be cut in every spring, and the soil should be changed with the new soil and fertilizers for humidity retention.
Types of pilea plants:
Some common types of pilea plants are:
Chinese money plant
Botanical name: Pilea peperomioides
Chinese money plants are also known as pilea sharing plants, missionary plants, lefse plants, pancake plants, UFO plants, or just pilea. Currently, it is the most famous type of pilea plant. These plants were first found in Yunnan province of china.
The leaves of the Chinese money plant are of orbital shape. In some places, money plants are considered to bring good luck.
Aluminum plant
Botanical name: pilea cadierei minima
An Aluminum plant is an indoor plant. The color of its leaves are dark green with white spots. The size of this plant is 12 inches long and 8 inches wide.
Aluminum plants originated in north africa.
These are the rarest plants available in the market. It does not flower but gives a good smell also, this plant is poisonous for cats and dogs.
Artillery fern
Botanical name: Pilea microphylla
The leaves of these plants look like ferns. The other names of artillery plants are rockweed and gunpowder.
This plant needs a drained moist soil to grow faster. The care of artillery fern is harder than the other varieties of pilea.
Temperature to thrive artillery should be 70 to 75 F. (21-24 C.) and 10 degrees.
Friendship plant
Botanical name: Pilea involucrata “friendship.”
Friendship plant is an incredible variety of pilea plants. The care of this pilea plant is very easy, it just needs humidity and warm temperature to thrive.this plant has a long life span.
Nowadays, friendship plants are in trend because of their benefits and beautiful fragrance.
Dark mystery pilea
Botanical name: pilea “dark mystery.”
It is a chocolate-brown color plant with a silver streak drawn on the center of each leaf.
Dark mystery pilea blooms small pink flowers with beautiful white shades. The temperature should be 62 to 65 degrees to grow this variety of pilea plant.
Gray baby tears
Botanical name: pilea libanensis
Gray baby tears can be grown in hanging pots only. The leaves of these plants are very small and beautiful.
This plant does not need a large amount of fertilizers and pesticides. The humidity should be between 50%-70% to grow gray baby tears.
Moon valley friendship plant
Botanical name: pilea involucrata “moon valley”
“Moon Valley” has serrated, deeply veined leaves with dark-red undersides. The flowers of moon valley friendship plants are pink-green in color.
There should be a hole in the bottom of the pot so that the moon valley gets air.
Silver tree pilea
Botanical name: pilea spruceana “silver tree.”
Silver tree pilea has dark green leaves with a metallic silver stripe in the center, which looks very beautiful.
Keep in mind that the soil does not dry or have no bacterias or insects in it.
Norfolk friendship plant
Botanical name: pilea spruceana “Norfolk.”
Norfolk friendship plants are also known as angel wings. This variety of pilea has leaves oval in shape with bronze-red color.
To grow a Norfolk friendship plant in house, make sure that at least it consumes 6 to 8 hours daylight.
Creeping charlie
Botanical name: pilea nummulariifolia
The growth of creeping charlie is faster than many other types of pilea plants. The leaves of these plants are very glowing and olive green in color.
The Flowers of these plants are peach in color but very small in size.
Baby tears
Botanical name: Pilea depressa
Baby tears are the most beautiful types of pilea, to plant in hanging baskets. This pilea plant doesn’t require much care, the same as the friendship plant.
It just requires 10 hours of daylight, not the sunlight.
Pilea globosa
Botanical name: pilea serpyllacea
Pilea globosa adds a beautiful color to the garden, with tiny red leaves. The seeds of this pilea are very costly.
Also, it requires a large amount of fertilizers.
Silver leaf artillery plant
Botanical name: Pilea glaucophylla
It is easy to grow silver leaf artillery plants inside the house, but this variety of pilea needs good care.
The leaves of this pilea plant look like silver stars.
Silver cloud
Botanical name: pilea pubescens “silver cloud”
This type of pilea plant is called silver cloud due to its charming silver leaves with a contrasting hue of red on its back.
Tiny red flowers grow with this plant.
Jamaican pilea
Botanical name: Pilea grandifolia
This variety of pilea looks lush and grand, just like its name. Sometimes, these plants grow by themselves because the seeds of this pilea are found in the soil.
Jamaican pilea is the most attractive variety of pilea plant.
Black leaved panamiga:
Botanical name: pilea repens
Black leaf panamiga are not as popular as the other types of pilea. The seeds of these pilea plants are not available anywhere.
Along with the above mentioned types of pilea plants, here is the list of some gorgeous flowers which you can give to your friends on friendship day.
Read more- When And How To Harvest Spinach In Your Garden?
Gorgeous flowers for gifting
- Friendship plant
- Campanula
- Pear blossom
- Sunflower
- Sweet pea
- Pink tulip
- Levy
- Yellow rose
- Snake plant
- Red rose
- Philodendron
- Lily
- Money plant
- Mammillaria cactus
- Luck bamboo plant
- Fern plant
- Earthstar plant
- Palm plant
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Bottom line
Let’s form new relations by gifting these beautiful friendship plants to our favorite ones. There are many types of friendship or pilea plants mentioned above, so you have many options to choose from. These pilea plants are easily available in the market; you can also grow a pile plant to add a little joy to your little garden anytime.
