June 2020 – How to Care for Houseplants

Watering Syngonium

The soil of your Syngonium houseplant can be kept somewhat moist during spring and summer, allowing only the top inch or two of soil to dry. There should be a reduction in watering your Syngonium during fall and winter months, allowing the soil to almost dry. Do not allow to dry completely but also avoid constantly soggy soil. See sections on watering your indoor plants and indoor houseplant lighting for further information that will benefit the health of your houseplants.

Other Care for Syngonium

Bright light and high humidity will be beneficial to the Syngonium plant. It will become thin, weak, and leggy in low light so a spot next to a window with bright, indirect light is ideal. Some morning sun is okay but keep out of hot, afternoon sun.

Temperatures for Syngonium should be kept above 60°F. The Syngonium is not a plant to expose to cold temperatures.

Regular showers with room temperature water are great for Syngonium, helping to discourage insects. Water evaporates quickly from the leaves of plants so it is not very effective as a way to increase humidity in the long term.

A new plant can be somewhat prone to insect problems. I have seen Syngonium with mites, mealybugs, and thrips. Purchase healthy, insect-free plants to avoid these pesky problems. Always inspect plant roots and foliage before you buy. Distorted foliage, spots, or holes in leaves, brown soggy roots should all be avoided when purchasing a new indoor house plant.

To keep your Syngonium happy and pest free, use a spray bottle to wash down weekly with water, making sure to hit the underside of the leaves. This will discourage insects and help keep your Syngonium plants leaves free of dust.

Apply to top and lower leaf and stem surfaces of your houseplants, being careful not to saturate the soil. You can clean by hand or use a spray bottle to apply your house plant cleaning solution. I use a sponge moistened with my cleaning solution to gently wipe the top and lower leaf surfaces. Cleaning of your houseplants should be a regular part of your house plant care.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon as information on indoor plants, pictures and more are being added all of the time. I hope that your indoor tropical houseplants and all of your plants and flowers are happy, green and growing because that is why I started this site PlantAndFlowerInfo.com.

If you have questions about the care of your houseplants, you can send an indoor house plant question. Visit the PlantAndFlowerInfo.com Facebook Page, a great place to find a compilation of plant, flower, gardening and landscape information, trivia and even humor! Thanks again…

Indoor House Plants Care

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One of the most commonly used interior landscape plants is the Aglaonema Silver Bay. Easy to care for, the Aglaonema Silver Bay plant can be maintained at the lower light levels often found in the home or office environment.

New varieties of the Aglaonema houseplant are introduced quite frequently and the Aglaonema Silver Bay is one of many. There are many different varieties of Aglaonema plants, with colors ranging from green, silver green, gray, pink and red. Aglaonema is a very attractive foliage houseplant and makes a great plant for office or home.

There are many varieties of Aglaonema plants and it can be hard to keep up with them all. Let me just say, that along with Dracaena plants, Aglaonema Silver Bay is one of the workhorses of the interior landscape industry.

The most common Aglaonema plant varieties are the Aglaonema Emerald Beauty or Maria, Aglaonema Silver Queen and the Aglaonema Silver Bay. Aglaonema plants have a bush-like or clumping growth and, depending on the pot size, can be from 8 inches to 4 feet tall.

All varieties of Aglaonema are variegated to some extent. Variegated types of Aglaonema plants need more light than those with less variegation. Typically, the lighter the color of a plant, the higher the light levels it needs to maintain its color and variegation.

Aglaonema Silver Bay Houseplant — **Aglaonema “Silver Bay**” **Houseplant**

How to Water Aglaonema Silver Bay

If your Aglaonema Silver Bay is in high light, you can allow the potting mix to dry down 1/2 to 3/4 of the way out before watering thoroughly. In a lower light situation, allow soil to dry almost completely between watering. Please read the section on watering for more on the most important part of your houseplant care.

If you think you may be over watering or under watering your Aglaonema Silver Bay or any of your houseplants, you might want to try using a moisture meter. These can help you determine if your houseplants are getting too dry or are being kept overly wet. I often use one of these at work while caring for plants and they are especially helpful for checking plants that are in large pots.

Other Care Aglaonema Silver Bay

This is a great house plant for just about any location except full sun. Full sun, especially through glass, can scorch the exposed leaves. Aglaonema Silver Bay plants will survive in low light if carefully watered but will become thin and leggy over time.

To keep your Aglaonema Silver Bay plant looking as nice as possible, try to provide bright, diffused natural light or some artificial fluorescent lighting or grow lighting. The Aglaonema Silver Bay plant will do quite well with just artificial lighting. For this reason, the Aglaonema Silver Bay is ideal for use in professional office space.

Temperatures for Aglaonema Silver Bay should not be allowed to drop below 60°F. Aglaonema Silver Bay are NOT cold tolerant plants.

To keep your Aglaonema Silver Bay plant full and bushy, remove some of the new leaves as they appear. Do this by firmly grasping the stem the new leaf grows from and hold the new leaf near its base and gently pull. It should come out entirely and this is preferred.

There are a few problems you may encounter with this plant. Aglaonema Silver Bay is prone to stem rot and root rot if over-watered. This is especially true if your Aglaonema is in low light. The light your plant receives is one of the biggest factors in determining the watering of your Aglaonema Silver Bay.

Mealybugs are one of the insect problems that you may have with Aglaonema Silver Bay. An oval-shaped, somewhat flattened body and six legs distinguish this insect, although they can appear to have more legs because of their “antennae” and “tails”.

They also have a fringe around the body. A waxy, protective substance covers the body of adults and egg sacs giving them a cottony appearance. Normally mealybugs are found in hidden areas, undersides of the leaves or in the leaf axil. They also excrete a sticky substance called honeydew. Keep an eye out for this pest, especially when you first bring a new plant home from the store or nursery. Here is a picture of mealybugs on indoor plants.

Apply to top and lower leaf, stems of your house plants, being careful not to saturate the soil. You can clean by hand or use a spray bottle to apply your house plant cleaning solution. I use a sponge moistened with my cleaning solution to gently wipe the top and lower leaf surfaces. Cleaning of your houseplants should be a regular part of your houseplant care.

Do not apply anything to the leaves of your plant while it is in the sun or when the soil is dry. Water your houseplant first and then move to a shady location.

How to Prune Your Aglaonema

When your Aglaonema Silver Bay plant gets leggy and has lost many lower leaves, you can prune back the stem above a leaf node. Cut a few inches above the soil level and the stem will put out some new shoots from the side of the stalk. Be patient, it will take some time to grow a new shoot.

You can root the cutting in moist sand, using rooting hormone. Plant in potting media when the roots are a few inches long. You may need to support cutting with a small stake until the roots can do the job alone.

Houseplant Care Questions?

You can send a house plant question, free of charge, no sign ups required!

Before you send a question, please read this page and further information on watering your indoor houseplants, how to help keep your house plant’s root system healthy and lighting for your houseplants. These are most important for your house plant’s health and this is some of the information I may refer you to if you send an email.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon as information on indoor plants, pictures and more are being added all of the time. I hope that your indoor tropical house plants and all of your plants and flowers are happy, green and growing because that is why I started this site, PlantAndFlowerInfo.com.