image of Pilea peperomioides - I finally found one!

Pilea Peperomioides Care – Finally Got One! How Do I Care For It?

This pretty green plant is an unusual looking one, for sure. I must admit that I had never head of it until a few months ago and when I started searching online,  I thought it was way too expensive. I guess for a time, Pilea peperomioides was in demand and sellers were able to ask a lot for it because everyone wanted it but couldn’t find it.

This seems contradictory to how I understand the economics of retail business. For instance, if a plant is hard to grow then the price will be very high. Easier to grow plant are cheaper.

But this one is easy to grow, sprouts come from the Mother plant and one can pot them up to give to friends. It is even called the Friendship plant since that is how I understand it was distributed.

image of price $22.99 for 4in pot - Too expensive for Pilea peperomioides

Who knows the mystery of business? Where am I not understanding why this is not in plentiful supply and therefore not too expensive for everyone to have one?

After all, these are tiny ones, not getting the large already-grown ones, right? Solve this mystery for me, please.

image of Pilea peperomioides - Harvesting the babies and putting them into their own pots.

I have to admit that I felt like I spent a lot for this plant. The Pilea peperomioides came in a small 4 inch pot and I paid $14.99 for it.  I considered it as a late Christmas gift to myself. You see, when I first saw it in the florist section of one of our department stores here in Ohio, I thought “What a cute/weird little plant!” But I looked at the price and thought “Whoa! Not in my range.”

Now I have paid $15 and even higher for larger plants, but this tiny little plant seemed priced way out of proportion. So I put it back down and went on my way. Don’t we all do that sometimes? We pass them by, but think about them later and wish we had done differently?

image of display of Pilea peperomioides - Cannot resist the temptation any longer, I bought one.

In fact, I had earlier seen a pot of Rainbow Moss and loved it! I decided it would be perfect for one of my terrarium and I would get some next trip after I read up on it a bit. As you might guess, came back in a few days all ready to purchase. None. Gone. Nada. Missed my chance.

So what did I do? I went home and read about Pilea peperomioides care and decided that I wanted the plant. It seemed easy to take care of, seemed like a succulent type plant that I love, so I went back and IT WAS STILL THERE!  I took this as a sign that I should get it. 

On that cold day, I had to wrap it up in double bags, but I had my husband park by the door and ran in and got it and right back to the warm truck. Luckily it was a small plant that fit into a bag. But it came with two tiny “share” pots so that one could “Pass Me On!”  Did you see these? They were at our Meijer stores for a fleeting moment , but I still see them appear now and again.

Pilea Peperomioides Care Tips

  • Bright light but not direct sun ( I have mine under grow lights.)
  • Let dry between watering, doesn’t like to be wet
  • Grows from a central stem so rotate for even growth
  • Propagates from new babies growing from its roots or against main stem
  • Might flower with tiny white flowers on pink stems
  • Leaves may need wiping down occasionally, careful of hard water spots on leaves

Dividing My Pilea peperomioides

I made the decision to divide my pilea when it seemed the little plant was too crowded to grow well. There were a lot of small baby plants around the Mother, but not much room in the pot to grow, so I decided to go ahead and transplant right away. Don’t you feel that newly purchased plants need to get out of the “nursery” soil they are in anyway? I always felt that way.

Besides, it will be spring soon and I should expect great growth from this plant so why not take advantage of that?

Re-potting any plant should be done into a new pot that is not too much bigger than the pot it has lived in previously. Since my Pilea was in a 4 inch pot, I am putting the individual new sprouts into their own pots, almost 4 inch pots (give or take, I had to use what I had.)

image of Pilea peperomioides care - separating the new sprouting babies

I am cutting the new little Babies from the Momma, going at least a minimum of 1 inch below the first set of leaves on that new stem. If there are good developing roots already, I want to get as much of those as I can. (See the video.)

Adding a bit of cinnamon to the new potting mix will help to combat any fungus (and hopefully fungus gnat larvae) from developing in the new pot. Since I have been bringing a lot of new plants into my home recently ( I am weak and susceptible to temptation in the plant section),  I must be cautious about bringing in those pesky critters.

Pilea peperomioides - Finally Got One! Now I Have 5!! 😁

So now I have a lot of new plants from the Momma, and she is free to make as many more as she wants.  Let’s hope she is Fertile Myrtle! I will update and let you know how these have grown. Am I going to need new shelving? More lights?  More plant tables in my bedroom? So many plants!

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