Episode 220: Fittonia, the nerve plant

Photograph: The veins of Fittonia leaves are coloured with white, pink or red. Photoghraph: Carlos Sánchez on Flickr

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Episode 220

Jane Perrone 00:04 Thanks to Soltech Solutions for sponsoring this episode of On The Ledge. Without their help, I can bring you all this planty chat. I love working with brands that I've tried out and I can truly recommend and that's certainly the case with Soltech Solutions. I can tell you from personal experience that their lights are superior quality, sturdy, stylish and effective. Soltech Solutions solutions fabulous customer service means you won't be left in the dark when it comes to buying a great growlights. Choose from their range of track lights, pendant style lights, or a simple bolt that will screw into most standard light fittings for set up that takes just moments. Check out Soltech Solutions range of lights now at Soltechsolutions.com and get 15% off with the code ONTHELEDGE - that's Soltechsolutions.com and enter code ONTHELEDGE for 15% off.

Jane Perrone 01:21 Settle back with your choice of beverage, it's time for On The Ledge podcast. Tea please, no sugar - dash of milk. I'm your host Jane Perrone. And this week's show is dedicated to the delightful foliage plant known as Fittonia, aka the nerve plant. Plus, I answer a question about notching.

Jane Perrone 01:56 Does the nerve plant get on your nerves? This is a plant that I think splits opinion because some people absolutely love the beautifully intricate foliage, with its veins lit up in colours of either white, pink, or red. While others find its tendency to faint collapsing suddenly, due to lack of moisture, just a bit too annoying to make it a worthwhile plant. I only grow Ftitonias in terrariums because heck, life is too short. And I just can't keep them going unless they are under glass. But let's find out a little bit more about this fascinating foliage plant where it comes from its history and how to look after it.

Jane Perrone 02:55 One of the things I do like about Fittonia is that the genus name honours a pair of botanists called Elizabeth and Sarah Fitton, these Irish sisters were the authors of a book called Conversations on botany, which came out in 1817. And this covered basic botany, scientific classification, and more. And it was set up as a conversation between a mother and a son. And this kind of approach to teaching about botany was actually fairly typical of that time. They called it didactic dialogue, didactic, just meaning teaching. And it was based on the ancient ideal of Platonic dialogue as popularised by Plato. So the idea that by talking something through, you could learn a lot more than you would do from a lecture format. sound fancy? It certainly was. Here's a little extract

Jane Perrone 04:01 Here is a nice little blue flower. I should like to take it home. It is so pretty.

Jane Perrone 04:07 Mother: Do so my dear. And if you couldn't tell me the class and order it belongs to I will show you how to find out its name in Witherings botany.

Jane Perrone 04:17 Edward: I see only two stamens and one pistil so that I suppose it is in the second class and the first order. Am I right?

Jane Perrone 04:27 Yes, perfectly right. But you must remember if you can to call each class in order by the names Linnaeus gave them.

Jane Perrone 04:40 Wow, it's just like listening to an episode of On The Ledge circa 1800. And something, isn't it? Well, not really. But you get the idea. And this was one of the books that helped us cement the idea that women could actually study botany in a scnientific way. You can have a look at the book online. It is is available online because obviously it's long out of copyright. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to have a look at that book. And the botanist who decided to name the genus Fittonia was Eugene Coemans who was a Belgian botanist, and it was in 1865 that he decided to coin Fittonia as a genus.

Jane Perrone 05:24 The Fitton sisters actually had another genus named after them. Afrofittonia. Now you can guess probably that Afrofittonia is a genus of plants from Africa. And in fact, there's only one species in the genus which is Afrofittonia sylvestris - now I haven't seen any pictures of the plant other than botanical specimens, which are obviously pressed and dried, so I can't really tell how similar Afrofittonia is to the Fittonia that we know and love. But, and they are both members of the Acanthus family - the Acanthacaea - and if you're thinking to yourself, gosh, how many other houseplants are members of the acanthus family? I can't think of any well there are a few probably not as well known as the aroids or or the Cactaceae.

Jane Perrone 06:12 But if no acanthus family plants come to mind, let me give you a few. There's Persian shield, the lovely rich purple and dark green leaves of Strobilanthes dyerianus the monkey plant Ruellia makoyana and other acanthus family plant and the Aphelandra genus also comes under that family and finally, Hypoestes. Now these often get mixed up actually, Fittonia and the polka dot plant or freckle face Hypoestes phyllostacha, I've actually seen whole articles written by quite well known horticulturist in which they are writing about Fittonia but illustrating it with a picture of hyper Westies. So these two do get mixed up the account this family plant hypo Estes, phyllo stacker or sanguine Alinta, as it used to be in my day is actually from Madagascar. Where as the Fittonia, well, they are from South America, although hypotheses is quite widely naturalised in South America, which I think is why sometimes they get confused, but the Hypoestes variegation is dotty as opposed to the lining of the veins that we see with Fittonia.

Jane Perrone 07:30 So it was the 1850s and 1860s when these Fittonia has started to be - and I am putting big inverted commas around this word - "discovered" in parts of South America, northern South America. So there are two species that are currently listed by Kew. As with most genera, there's been a bit of jiggery pokery over the years, moving plants around and giving them different names but cues definitive or as near as you can get to being definitive - guide, Plants of the World Online, list two species gigantea and albivenis. And they come from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and a little bit of northern Brazil - gigantea's range is limited to Ecuador and Peru.

Jane Perrone 08:16 I think the both of the species have been used in the breeding of the modern hybrids that we know and love today. There are so many different variations on the Fittonia theme out there and you'll find them under names like verschaffeltii, and aryroneura - the way this is usually dealt with is by putting the plants into two groups, both with the species name albivenis. One is argyroneura group, one is verschaffeltii group. And under those banners come lots of the plants we know and love. So the argyroneura group, that's all the ones that have basically got white veins and verschaffeltii group are all the pinky red ones.

Jane Perrone 09:04 What was going on in the 1850s and 60s were the Fittonias first came to be known by white western horticulturists and botanists. So this was a time when obviously lots of plant hunters worth fanning out across South America and finding all kinds of plants and transporting them to the UK and North America for collectors to grow. And it's amazing how quickly this plant suddenly starts appearing in archive material from newspapers around the year 1866- 1867. Suddenly you start reading all these newspaper reports about flower shows where people were showing off their Fittonias so literally only a year or so after this genius was given its name FIttonia - it had been known as Gmynostachium somewhat before that, but very quickly, these very well off growers, you know, you had to be very well off to have your own heated greenhouse at this time if you were in the UK, or their gardeners would be showing these plants at shows and they were getting quite a lot of acclaim for them.

Jane Perrone 10:19 And where did Coemans find the plant? Well, I have read that the plant came from the famous British plant hunter and breeder and salesmen extraordinaire, Mr. William Bull. And but as is so often the case, the reality is somewhat lost in the mists of time. And in fact, I've got a copy of the Gardener's Chronicle from 1866 in front of me, in which Mr. William Bull's catalogue of novelties just issued establishment for new and rare plants Kings Road Chelsea southwest London included reference to new plant Fittonia argyroneura the handsomest new plant of the season easily cultivated in any stove price, 21 shillings. How much is that worth in today's money? Anywhere between about 60 and 70 pounds? So yeah, I guess quite expensive for a new introduction. But then again, look at what people are paying for new introductions today.

Jane Perrone 11:23 So in the newspaper, The Nottinghamshire Guardian, published on the 17th of May 1867, there is a report about the Royal Horticultural Society weekly show. Yes, they used to hold shows weekly back then, can you imagine? And it's a detailed report of everybody who took part and who won what and it lists quite a few new plants that were being shown by Veitch and Sons who were a very famous nursery at the time, which included things like Begonia pearcei and Anthurium regale. And one of the other plants there is a silvery vein Fittonia argyroneura. So just a couple of years after it was first, given its genus name, it's already appearing at RHS shows and the popularity spread from there the East Kent Gazette the following year, the fashion show included a display of Fittonia argyroneura, a very superior plant apparently, he's got second prize for Mr. Newman gardener at Torrey Hill, which is a country house in Kent basically.

Jane Perrone 12:37 Well, that's enough about colonialism in action. Let's have a look at how this plant grows in the wild. This plant is a terrestrial rather than an epiphytic plant so it grows tightly hugging the ground rather than up in a tree is usually described as a creeping herb. And it grows not surprisingly, in the understory. So I can imagine if you're wandering through the forest, probably this plant would blend in very well with those vein leaves. Although they will look dramatic against a plain backdrop, if you were faced with a massive foliage, those variegated veins was actually make it quite hard to spot. Although these are classified as foliage plants, they do produce flowers, they're just very, very, very boring flowers, that kind of green spikes, nothing really to write home about. So definitely snip those out as they appear. Now, there are several traditional medicinal uses for these plants. I've read quite a few reports that they were fed to dogs to improve their ability to hunt that they were used for headache treatments by some of the tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and also as a hallucinogen and a liver medicine. So I would say please don't try any of that at home. There has been some initial research into whether Fittonia would work as a headache remedy, but I think we'll leave that to the experts to establish before we start eating large quantities of Fittonia, it is reported to be non toxic for dogs and cats. So it's a good one to choose if you have nibblers in your household.

Jane Perrone 14:32 Now let's settle our nerves with a dose of question of the week. And it comes from Alexander who wanted to know about notching as a way of encouraging Ficus to branch out in the world. What is this technique and what do I need to achieve it? Well notching is deceptively simple I guess. It's just making a little cut into the trunk of your Your plant to in order to encourage it to create side sheets which turn into branches animal overall bushy look, how does it work? Well, all you're simply doing is reducing the supply of the hormone or toxin to the growth point of the plant. The plant will note that the supply route for that auks into reach the growing tip has been stopped or reduced. And as a result, it will redirect those growth hormones to the side shoots. And hopefully stimulate the places where those side shoots come out and make them appear in position where you want to do the notch is above a node, the node just being the point where the leaf stalk or the petiole joins the stem and you want to go just above that. And be brave because you do need to cut reasonably deep usually, rubber plants, I've got quite woody stems. And so you should be able to go in a decent way. Obviously, don't cut the whole thing off, but you want to go about a quarter of a way into that trunk. Make sure you're using a really sharp pruning knife that you've cleaned beforehand, make sure it's sterile by just running it over a naked flame. And if you do this above various nodes on the stem, it should encourage side shoots to come out of those stems, it depends on the shape you're looking for. And it is a bit of an unpredictable process. It's very easy to say oh yes cut here. But the results are different according to different plants.

Jane Perrone 16:42 So bear that in mind, when you are thinking about where to chop. You can do this notching at any time of year, but you know, springtime is generally the best time to do this because that's when the sap is rising in the plant. And the response will hopefully be the quickest. Usually it's recommended that you do the cut at an angle to be honest. I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but probably worth doing at an angle if you can. Oh, and you know going into mom mode obviously be careful. Wear gloves. Do not cut yourself but do use a nice sharp knife to do it. Because it's the old saying you know if you use a blunt knife, you're much more likely to cut yourself but a sharp one. Why would you want to do this to Ficus will oftentimes focus will just grow straight up and end up looking like a bean pole and you may want your plant to look bushy rather than a beanpole. You may also experience that thing where your Ficus loses lots of leaves a very common experience with Ficus and this is one way of recovering the situation. You can obviously prune off the top of the stem the growing point and it will branch but notching is a slightly less obvious way of getting results for more bushy plant. Oh that helps Alexander and if you've got a question from the ledge drop me a line to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com.

Jane Perrone 18:15 There are absolutely loads of Fittonia hybrids and cultivars, God knows what out there and I have to say a lot of them will look quite similar to each other. There's been a lot of breeding done with this plant. I'm going to list a few ones that I think are notable but there are many out there so do tell me what your favourites are. It really depends on what your sense of style is like - if you like the idea of a lime green plum with bright pink veins then 'Skeleton' is probably the one for you. 'Titanic' despite the name is actually a small white veined cultivar one of the ones I liked least although it is much more subtle than some of the other variations is 'Daisy' which has got a kind of a grey green look to the leaves and some cream variegation on there as well. When it comes to display two areas are great should you mix up different colours sizes and so on. There are some with ruffled leaves as well. I'm thinking of one called 'Frankie' - I don't really like the ruffled leaves, but I know some people rather like the frilly shirt effect that this one gives.

Jane Perrone 19:26 One of the named cultivars that I think is the best is 'Fortissimo' I've seen it on sale at IKEA, and it's just got these very nice leaves. They're kind of almost quilted with a mid green background and then this really really intense hot pink veining. Quite simple as opposed to the network that you sometimes get with some of the other members of this genus. I think this is the one that Jamie Song of Jamie's jungle had for ages which looked absolutely amazing when it comes to care of this plant that dramatic fainting that I talked about earlier, puts it in the category of a bit of a diva. It's like a peace lily, it will dramatically wilt but sometimes it's worse than the piece lily in that it's harder to revive. The leaves don't have such a waxy cuticle, they're really quite thin. And so it gets to the point of no return a lot quicker than a peace lily will. And thus the interwebs are littered with reports of people whose Fittonias did not make it accompanied by pictures of pots of crispy leaves.

Jane Perrone 20:36 It does like to fake his own death, except sometimes it's not faking it. If your plant does start to get all droopy, what can you do? Well, it's important to take action as quickly as you can, because every minute that goes by is producing more stress in the plant which can impact on its health for quite a long time, so that even if you managed to revive it, the plant may never be quite the same again, get it in a bucket of water stat, a room temperature bucket of water, you can dunk the whole pot in there that will enable the plant to very quickly rehydrate and have its best chance. Yes, it doesn't look great for time lapse photography. If you want to capture the moment of your Fittonia revival but it is a good way of getting your plant to come back to life. Then just let it drain off and sit it back in its usual location, maybe even switching it to a slightly darker area just to let it recover before it goes back to his normal home.

Jane Perrone 21:42 The other thing you can do too badly wilted Fittonia is once you have watered it, stick it in a clear plastic bag. By raising the humidity around the plant it will just help it to recover and maybe you could swap it over to a terrarium when you have a chance. And this is a plant that is a really good candidate for self watering container because that way you avoid these issues. Or indeed, you can use wick watering on it where you just poke a wick up through the bottom of the pot, made a vert nylon cord and then join that up to a reservoir below with water and pebbles and that way the plant can kind of give itself a drink whenever it needs one. Remember, it's an understory plant right at ground level. So coping with deep shade, the deep shade you get outside as opposed to the deep shade of our houses, which is probably just about double the darkness of the South American Forests.

Jane Perrone 22:42 If you put a plant in really deep shade, I've got one or two room in my room, which is definitely not getting enough light, which is contained for Tony is and it's doing okay, the leaves have gone very small, the plant just can't afford to put too many resources into making new leaves. So if I move that somewhere lighter, cut it back and move it somewhere lighter, the leaf size will increase again, but it can cope with low light for quite a long time. And it's so low maintenance once it's in a terrarium, you don't want to put it in too much light because the glass acts as a magnifying glass and will burn the plant plus also it can get just too hot in there. So keep it out of direct sun. It's something that you could put into a low light area for a few weeks and then move it somewhere else just so it can stock up on light levels. This is a plant that doesn't like to get too cold you don't want it to get any lower than about 60 degrees Fahrenheit that's about 15 and a half Centigrade. It is a plant that will get straggly over time. Whatever you do, so just make sure that you trim it back occasionally.

Jane Perrone 23:47 Propagation is really easy. Just take off some stem cuttings, stick them in a glass of water or a clear plastic bag with a bit of water in it and you will grow new cuttings quite easily. And it's always a good idea to have some on hand because you never know when you're going to forget to water for a few days for a plant that isn't in a terrarium and deal with that sudden death that we've talked about already.

Jane Perrone 24:15 One other note on caring for this plant you will sometimes find this plant in aquarium shops. This is a bit of a red herring. Although it's been sold for a long time as a plant for aquariums in some aquarium shops, it really is not suitable for that purpose. Yes, it likes damp soil. No it does not like to be submerged long term. It will probably last up to about six months grown that way but beyond that it will die. So is it much point buying a plant like that for such a short amount of time? I don't think it's very sustainable. So it's not something I would recommend but you will see it quite widely in terms of display. I think if you're not going to have the plant in terrarium personally, I love the effect of having a mass of one colour in a trough or in a bowl or something like that. I think it looks really great. Now I said these were plants that grow well in terrarium settings and right back from when they were very first brought to Europe, they were considered to be plants that were good for the Wardian case, the very first incarnation of the mini glass house, the handbook of plants and general horticulture, which came out in 1890 also suggested growing them on the surface of pots or tubs in which large plants or other decorative plants are grown, and for forming narrow borders to the walks in heated structures. And indeed, you can see plants growing this way. I've seen plants growing this way at Wisley, where they have them as an you know as a path edging because they're just so attractive that way and hugging the ground.

Jane Perrone 26:00 So as they were doing back in the 1860s you can use Fittonia as ground cover around bigger plants, I did see a rather striking display. I'm going to use the word striking and you can interpret my meaning as you will on a Facebook group where somebody had partnered up the Euphorbia platyclada in the centre that's the dead stick plant from Madagascar that is quite an sort of abstract looking succulent that does look a bit like a dead stick but really cool. I love it's one of my favourite succulents. And around it, they put a beautiful selection of different Fittonias. And I love the look of it. It was very gaudy and very over the top and yeah, really cool. But I fear that this combination is not going to work because as we've already discussed, those Fittonias, they do like moisture. And of course, the Euphorbia platyclada is going to object to that apparently they put it in its own potting soil but I'm still not sure that's going to work I think that might end up ending disastrously, I would not recommend growing these in a terracotta pot. They just evaporate too much moisture and will make it very hard to keep the substrate moist.

Jane Perrone 27:14 I mean, I guess you could if you had a tray of water underneath the plant could be sucking up all the time but generally probably best avoided. I have seen some boutique plant shops selling little terrarium eggs, little tiny domes with a single Fittonia underneath sat on a bed of moss. These are kind of cute and adorable. But as ever, you could probably make one of these yourself by getting I don't know even a big brandy glass and up ending that over a pot of Fittonia could look great. Even if the terrarium doesn't have a lid just being in that close environment will just help to keep your plant going that long bit longer. Just make sure you're carefully measuring how much water you're putting on there because obviously there is nowhere for that water to go. And root rot could easily follow. When you're reporting this plant. Do you think about making sure that the soil is fairly moisture retentive, you can add something like vermiculite which holds moisture quite nicely and will mean the have to water less often. And while I'm talking about terrarium, small public service announcement - please do not put Asparagus plumosus into a terrarium. Even if you can buy this plant as a tiny plant. It grows so fast and it just isn't suitable for terrarium. They can get very tall very very quickly. It's not a slow grower. Do not put it in a terrarium with your Fittonia. Please don't do it to yourself. Life's too short. Fittonias are also often recommended for bioactive or terrascaped environments. They're much better for this purpose than they are for aquariums and they will work quite well in a damp setup where it's okay for it to be damp. They don't grow fast enough to cause any problems at all.

Jane Perrone 29:22 That's all for this week's On The Ledge. I will be back next Friday like the proverbial bad penny turning up in your pod app of choice. Until then, keep yourself and your plants well fed and watered. Bye!

Jane Perrone 29:39 The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops. The Road We Used to Travel When We Were Young by Komiku. Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra and Whistle by Benjamin Banger and the add music was Dill Pickles by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra. All Tracks are Licenced under Creative Commons. See the show notes for details.

I take a look at the colourful and intricate Fittonia, aka the nerve plant, and answer a question about notching Ficus plants.

Fittonias grow well in terrariums. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Fittonias are creeping herbs that grow wild in South America. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Check the notes below as you listen…

• This plant has gorgeously intricate foliage, but it has a reputation of being a bit of a diva “fainting” - collapsing suddenly - whenever it gets too dry.

• The genus Fittonia was named by the Belgian botanist Eugène Coemans in 1865.

• Coemans named the Fittonias in honour of Elizabeth and Sarah Fitton, who were Irish sisters and authors of a well-known book called Conservations On Botany which came out in 1817: this book was an example of didactic dialogue - teaching botany through a conversation between a mother and son.

• The Fittons also had the genus Afrofittonia named after them - there is only one species in the genus, Afrofittonia sylvestris.

• The Fittonia and Afrofittonia genera both belong to the Acanthaceae (acanthus family) - other houseplants from this family include Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), the monkey plant (Ruellia makoyana), and the polka dot plant/freckleface (Hypoestes phyllostacha) from Madagascar.

• There are two species in the genus Fittonia - F. albivenis and F. gigantea - although you may have seen lots of other, now-superseded scientific names being used. Most of the plants for sale as houseplants come under either F. albivenis Aryroneura Group or Verschaffeltii Group (Red and pink-veined).

• The plant hunter and nursery owner William Bull of Chelsea, London seems to have been the first to offer this plant.

• Within a year of the genus gaining the name Fittonia, there were reports in British papers of plant shows where growers were entering their Fittonia plants into the new plant categories.

• In its home in South America, Fittonia grows as a creeping herb, terrestrial rather than epiphytic. It has various traditional medicinal uses including as a headache treatment, as a way of making dogs better at hunting, and for treating liver problems. Don’t try this at home though.

• The ASPCA lists Fittonia as non-toxic to cats and dogs.

• There are LOADS of Fittonias to choose from - here are a few of the ones I find notable:

  • ‘Skeleton’ (pictured above) with lime green leaves and pink venation

  • ‘Titanic’ a smallish Fittonia with white veins

  • ‘Daisy’ has grey-green leaves, white veins and some cream variegation at the leaf edges

  • ‘Frankie’ has pink veins and ruffled veins

  • ‘Fortissimo’ is one of my favourites with bold pink venation and dark green leaves

• This plant needs to be kept moist - it will ‘faint’ ie wilt dramatically if left to dry out too much. If your plant wilts, submerge the whole pot into a bucket of room temperature water so it can quickly get back on track. Drain, then remove to a spot where it can recover - pop a clear plastic bag over the plant and pot for a few days if it’s looking in a really bad way.

• The way to avoid this problem is keeping it in a terrarium. It can cope with lowish light levels (but not your darkest corner) - remember plants in terrariums should be kept out of sun as the glass acts like a magnifying glass.

• You can also keep the soil moist by placing the plant in a self-watering pot or using a wick watering system. You can also add vermiculite when repotting to make sure the substrate is moisture retentive.

• Th minimum temperature this plant can cope with is around 60F/15.5C.

• You will sometimes find this plant in aquarium shops - although it likes moisture it is not suitable for keeping submerged in the longer term.

• This is a creeping plant so if it starts getting ‘leggy’ move it to a slightly brighter spot and trim it back. The cuttings root easily to make new plants - a good idea to keep as backups in case your main plant “faints” and cannot be brought back!

Question of the week

Alexander wanted to find out more about notching Ficus species - a way of making plants more busy by encouraging them to branch without having to prune them. Nothing simply involves making a cut with a sharp knife just above a node (the point where the leaf stalk (petiole) joins the main trunk. Use a sharp, sterilised blade and cut around a quarter of the way into the trunk. This redirects the plant hormone auxin from the growing tip of the plant right at the top, and redirects it to the side shoots, which should respond by starting to bud then grow. Spring is a good time to give this a try. You can start gradually and notch a single node, then try more: every plant responds slightly differently so it’s worth proceeding carefully.

]Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue

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Check out Soltech Solutions’ range of lights now at soltechsolutions.com and get 15% off with the code ONTHELEDGE.

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CREDITS

This week's show featured the tracks  Dill Pickles by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra, Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).