Last Updated on February 17, 2022 by Grow with Bovees
Are you a newbie to the world of watermelon peperomias, unsure of how to go about caring for them?
Don’t worry, we have the perfect guide for you!
Welcome to our watermelon Peperomia care guide.
The watermelon Peperomia plant — also known as the Peperomia argyreia — is a super-trendy plant great for beginners.
They are incredibly easy-going, low-care houseplants in need of only minimal care.
Watermelon peperomia plants make for the perfect desktop plants because they remain small even when they grow to become a mature plant.
These gorgeous plants are definitely classified as low-maintenance houseplants.
Native to South America, these stunning plants grow in its magnificent rainforests.
They are tropical plants. They are often mistaken for succulents due to their compact and slow-growing nature as well as their waxy, succulent-like leaves, but they are actually a radiator-type plant.
The watermelon peperomia plant grows in the lower, shadier parts of rainforests. Spreading its gorgeous foliage across rotting wood or other debris lying on the forest ground.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this leafy plant came to other corners of the world, but they are now loved and cared for as houseplants all over the globe.
This indoor plant with leaves shaped like teardrops and with colors of silver and dark green stripes resembling watermelon skin, coupled with its unique and vibrant red stem, will add an attractive look to any indoor plant collection.
Get ready for the ultimate watermelon peperomia care guide.
Watermelon Peperomia Plant Care
Let’s continue by taking you, a hopefully soon-to-be plant expert, through the watermelon peperomia care basics.
In this plant guide, we will discuss the peperomia argyreia light and temperature preferences, proper humidity conditions, and any other care information you might need in order to grow this magnificent piece of greenery.
Watermelon Peperomia As Indoor Plants
Watermelon peperomia plants are usually grown as houseplants.
We will therefore discuss the watermelon peperomia care needs and requirements when growing it as an indoor plant.
This plant can also grow outdoors in places with warm weather.
This is not the norm though. Therefore, we will not discuss outdoor plant care tips for this plant today.
Even though the watermelon peperomia does not take up a lot of room, it is still important to find the proper location to aid in optimal growth.
Bright Indirect Light
Knowing about the right light conditions is an important part of watermelon peperomia care.
These sweet little indoor houseplants grow best in bright indirect light with partial shade.
They will tolerate low light conditions as well, but too much light reduction may slow growth.
They are generally warm weather plants.
Enough light is crucial for the formation of great clusters of leaves. Too little light will slow the growth of their magnificent leaves.
Watermelon peperomia should be exposed to a minimum of five hours of light a day. Make sure that this is medium-bright indirect light and remember to avoid direct contact with the sun.
The rays of direct sunlight make for too intense light, and will damage its fleshy leaves.
A good area to place your watermelon peperomia would be near an east-facing window where there is lots of natural light.
Make sure that the window is covered by a sheer curtain to filter out any direct sunlight. Placing it in the middle of a room would also work, provided that this room is filled with bright light and receives enough sunlight.
Now that you’ve found a location with optimal light, choose a pot of your liking to place the plant in.
The pot of your watermelon peperomia should be the same size as the container that your plant came in, due to its preference to be slightly root bound.
How To Plant
Planting watermelon peperomia is not rocket science.
Let me start by repeating that these plants like to be quite root bound, so refrain from choosing a pot of a much bigger size than your plant.
Once you’ve found your pot of choice, make sure it has a drainage hole and fill it with rich, well-draining potting soil until it’s about one-third full.
Next, sit your entire plant on top of that soil and top it up with some more potting mix.
The ideal potting mix would be mixing equal parts of perlite and peat moss. You can, however, buy any potting soil which is labeled indoor potting soil or perhaps succulent potting soil.
As long as the soil mix is well-draining in order to prevent the roots from sitting in water.
Leaving the roots in water for a prolonged period of time will cause root rot. And root rot will, in return, cause droopy leaves.
Remember how we said that the watermelon peperomia is a tropical plant growing in the understory of rainforests?
This means that temperature and humidity play an important role in the healthy cultivation of the watermelon peperomia.
This takes us to our next houseplant care tip.
Temperature and Humidity
These plants don’t do well when their surrounding air is too dry, too hot, or too cold.
The trick is to mimic a tropical environment. Average household humidity, as well as average room temperatures, are usually sufficient.
Much like other indoor plants, watermelon peperomias thrive best in warm temperatures.
The ideal temperature range would be between 15 and 25 °C. Brief moments of cooler temperatures won’t harm your plant, but hot and cold drafts are a no-no.
Keep your watermelon peperomias away from heating vents, air conditioners, and natural drafts.
Humidity preferences are high and levels should not be lower than 50% if you want optimal growth as well as healthy leaf growth of your watermelon peperomia.
These levels can easily be checked with a household humidity detector.
These plants usually grow fine in average indoor humidity, but if you wish to increase humidity in an otherwise dry house, it is simple to do.
Misting your plant every few hours with a light water spray during the growing seasons, which in this plant’s case are spring and summer, will aid in a rise in humidity.
In the fall and winter seasons, when temperatures become colder, misting is not necessary.
Adding a pebble tray filled with water and placing it under the base of your house plant or placing it near other plants will also improve humidity levels.
The use of humidifiers has also shown great results in attaining the perfect humid environment.
Continue on to learn more about the watermelon peperomia water requirements.
Watering Requirements
The watermelon peperomia has lovely fleshy leaves with dark green veins, that can store great amounts of water.
It’s easier to overwater than to underwater this plant. Though both can cause your peperomia watermelon to suffer.
Proper drainage is crucial. Root rot may occur if water isn’t drained properly.
It is important to let the soil dry between waterings without allowing it to dry out completely. Keeping the soil moist and avoiding soggy soil is best.
A good rule to go by when watering is to feel that the top layers of the soil are dry before watering.
This will give you a good indication of when it’s time to water. Always water with room temperature water.
In the summer months, you can expect to thoroughly water your peperomia watermelon about every 1-3 weeks, whereas, in wintertime, when temperatures drop, watering will reduce to about every 3-5 weeks.
There are a few factors that you can keep in mind which play a role in how frequently you should water your peperomia argyreia.
Light — the soil tends to dry out faster the more light your plant receives.
Temperature — transpiration occurs more frequently in warmer temperatures, which in return means watering more frequently.
Humidity — increased humidity means less frequent watering.
Growth — the growth of your plant will slow during winter. This means less watering.
Appearance — when the leaves start to lose their vibrant darker green colors or when they start feeling thin, the plant is lacking water, and you should quench its thirst. Drooping leaves are also a sign of dehydration.
Drooping leaves can, however, also be a sign of over hydration.
If you have a feeling that your pot feels heavier than normal, and you notice drooping and wilting leaves at the same time, this is a sign of overwatering.
Fertilizer
Watermelon peperomia does not have hunger tendencies — unlike other plants — and so it does not need any fancy plant food.
Regular houseplant fertilizer or a water-soluble liquid fertilizer solution has, however, shown to be beneficial for the peperomia argyreia.
You can fertilize every couple of months by diluting standard indoor plant fertilizer to half of the recommended strength.
This will help your plants maintain good growth during their growing period of late spring through to early fall.
Refrain from adding fertilizer to your plant in the winter months. It does not need it then, and you would be wasting both time and money.
As a rule of thumb, remember, it is best to under-fertilize rather than to overfeed your houseplant.
Grooming and Flowers
The watermelon peperomia can develop flowers.
These flowers are green, very small, and without fragrance. They burst out from flower spikes that appear above the foliage. These spikes are long and red.
The flowers are often trimmed off by growers of peperomia plants as they are really not very attractive.
Flowering also takes a lot of growing energy, which in turn prevents the growth of beautiful fleshy, dark green leaves.
As aforementioned, this succulent is very low maintenance, and it does not wander or stray.
Cutting back the flowers and pinching off any dark leaves makes for a more leafy plant if so preferred.
Is Watermelon Peperomia Toxic?
No, it is not. It is 100% safe to have pets and kids around this plant.
Propagation With Leaf Cuttings
There are a few ways to propagate watermelon peperomia plant cuttings.
In this part, we will mention a few of our favorite techniques for propagating plants.
These are easy to do, even for a first-time propagator.
The different ways to propagate plants include: planting halved leaf cuttings, using whole leaves by planting them in the soil with water and, lastly, using cutlets to propagate in water.
A stem cutting may also be useful.
Let me go into detail about the easiest propagation method, which is the cutting of leaves.
One advantage of this method is that you can get about six plantlets from using only one leaf.
Using sharp sterile scissors, choose a nice, big leaf and start by cutting it in half.
Always cut above the petiole. Choose a pot with a drainage hole and place the leaf cuttings into the soil in such a way that the cut part of the leaf along with the petiole is submerged in the soil. You can dip them in some rooting hormone before planting if desired.
Adding more soil will ensure that the leaf-cutting sits securely.
Use a see-through pot to be able to observe root growth.
Next, add a bit of water. Make sure the soil is only slightly moist. You now want to cover your peperomia with a clear glass or plastic bag in order to create a warm and humid environment, much like the natural environment of the watermelon peperomia and other tropical plants from South America.
Last but not least, place the pot in an area of bright indirect light that is warm and out of direct sunlight, and now you wait for your new plant.
Tiny roots should start forming within 2-3 weeks, followed by your first baby plant in 3-5 weeks.
Voilà, you have successfully propagated your first watermelon peperomia.
As you can see from our care guide, the watermelon peperomia plant is easy to grow and maintain.
With this information, you should manage not to kill your watermelon peperomia. Maybe next, pluck up the courage to get a shrub that needs more intense caring. It is challenging, but fun after all.
