Episode 222: 'new' plant chat with Memo C

Memo C surrounded by lush houseplants including aroids

Memo C joins me this week to talk about six plants showing up on a lot of planty wishlists right now. Photograph: @trojanking9.

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Transcript

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Jane: It's fresh, it's exciting but is it worth buying? In On The Ledge this week, I'm joined by plant geek Memo C for a chat about some of the plants that seem to be catching both our attentions, what are they? What are they like to grow? Are they worth the price tag?

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Jane: I got a wee bit excited this week when I suddenly noticed, without having really clocked much attention before, that On The Ledge podcast has marked up 3,000,000 - yes, that's three million - downloads. Actually, I think it's a little bit more than that because I did switch hosts in the first few months of the podcast. So, yes, it's kind of mind blowing to think about episodes being downloaded more than three million times but there you go! On The Ledge has been going for five years, more than 200 episodes and I guess this proves that a “niche” podcast - I'm putting niche in inverted commas - can prove popular, who knew! Thanks to all of you for your support, as ever, whether this is your first download or your 500th, yes, some people do listen to episodes more than once. Welcome to the show!

Particular thanks to Marcella from Canada who left a lovely review for On The Ledge, which after a couple of one star stinkers of late, was very welcome. Oh and I should say also, if you are posting on Instagram and you want to get my attention, whether I'm following you or not, do use the #OnTheLedgepodcast hashtag. That's what The Buxhall Gardener did a few weeks ago - I forgot to mention it at the time - they posted about false vivipary, do you remember when we talked about that in episode 198 of the show? The condition where succulent and other flower heads start getting very confused and growing babies on them. I've put that in my stories today if you want to take a look at that. That's how to get my attention if you've got something to post that you'd like me to see.

Jeff emailed about the episode we did on recycling stuff, episode 219, and had a good idea which was taking those little plastic boxes that you get cupcakes and doughnuts in - I mean who needs an excuse to buy doughnuts? But anyway - so you can take these little boxes and Jeff has a clever hack, which is marbles in the bottom, covered with water, some plastic mesh and then he can sit his propagations in their pots on the top with a wick running through into the wet marbles as a wick watering system. Clever Jeff, very clever. So keep sending in your hacks like that, I love to hear them and that's certainly one which will be a good excuse for me to go out and buy some cupcakes this weekend.

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Jane: If you've ever wondered whether a new plant introduction is worth your attention, join the club. So this week I thought I'd take six plants that might be popping up on your social media feeds and chat about them to fellow plant geek, Memo.

Memo: Hi, I'm Memo, I'm also on most social medias, mainly you can find me on Instagram at Trojanking9 and on YouTube at HouseplantyGoodness. I first started when I was very young, at the age of five, doing chores, which was watering houseplants and everything, basically, spiralled out of control after that really.

Jane: Let's spill the tea. We're going to start with the lovely plant Geogenanthus ciliatus, this one I wrote about in my newsletter the other week and did a bit of digging around on. I was surprised that it's a member of the Spiderwort family, Commelinaceae, because it doesn't really look like what I think that plant is going to look like but it's proving popular, have you got a specimen of this one?

Memo: This isn't one that I've got in my collection just yet, it is one that I have since ordered, so it will be getting added in. There was, at least as far as I'm aware, in terms of currently what was happening with this plant is it got a moment in the limelight very recently on some YouTube channels. Mainly classified as something else, which I cannot remember now off the top of my head, but it was to do with its appearance. At that stage I did a quick Google search to see if I could find it. It was sold out everywhere but now it's coming back into circulation a bit more, so you can find it a bit easier, basically, but very interesting plant nonetheless.

Jane: I'll put a link to the Costa Farms video about it, they sort of inverted commas “rediscovered” it, I think it was in a nursery in southeast Asia, which is funny given that it's from Ecuador and Peru, but that's how these things happen. I think it won best new foliage at the TPIE, which is the Tropical Plant International Expo, so obviously the hot new thing. The more I dug the more I realised that it's obviously not new in the sense that I found this piece from an American publication called The Indoor Light Gardening Society of America, which no longer exists, which in 1979 described it as “a real showstopper,” so, obviously, somebody was growing it back in the 70s and 80s. I know that the Seersucker plant, which is another Geogenanthus species, that's in The Houseplant Expert book that I've got from the 80s, it's obviously around. Lots of people saying, though, that it has a bit of a diva quality of just suddenly collapsing. I've had a couple of listeners get in touch and tell me that, I guess it's one of those plants that likes, from Ecuador and Peru, I'm thinking relatively high humidity?

Memo: Yes, 100% the same thing when I was looking and doing my own research on this plant as well. It is one that, at least from what I could see, a lot of the average houseplant owner tends to grow it in a terrarium because of that high humidity need essentially. The other thing as well that I've found with similar plant to this because, for some of the listeners that maybe don't know what it might look like, it's got very, very dark foliage, almost black foliage actually, so it's a very, very dark green with, usually, a purple stripe that goes down the midrib of the leaf. It is a plant that, again based on the research that I've done on this, is more ground dwelling. So it probably would need a bit more of a soil mixture, it still needs to be an airy mixture because, obviously, it is a jungle plant. Because of that and because it's so understory and it doesn't grow particularly tall either, you would imagine that the humidity that it would get right down at the jungle floor would be quite high. Also, on top of that, the lighting needs are probably going to be a bit lower. So, usually, with most plants that tend to have those qualities, they can die quite easily unless you get it right quite quickly!

Jane: It's not one I'm going to be adding to my collection, I'm going to be frank with you, because it just feels like it's another plant that is not going to suit my way of growing, conditions, time, boundaries etc. I'm not particularly fond of leaves with really, really dark colours. The Zamiocolcus Raven being another example, I just find that they just fade into the background a bit, they don't pop for me. So, for me, it's not a plant that I'm leaping to own but I think those very highly, glossy, dark leaves are drawing a lot of people in that's for sure.

Memo: Definitely, based on what I can see as well with some of my community online, there's definitely a very specific market that tends to go for the darker foliage plants. I class myself slightly in that because I was, in my misspent youth, there's a bit of a goth. I tend to gravitate towards the darker plants and there's a small community that are very similar, they're just like: “Oh, black! Yes!”

Jane: I also interestingly found some stuff out about traditional medicinal uses for this plant which is really interesting and a variety of different uses. Some of the indigenous people in Ecuador and Peru, as always is the case, various things depending on which particular people you're working with but it’s joints, I think there's a lot of references to treatment for joints and also parasites. Don't try this at home, folks, this is not something I am endorsing but it's interesting to see. I think I also read something about it's used as a treatment for headaches, so it's obviously a plant that was known to the indigenous people of that area?

Memo: It's quite interesting when you get onto that one plant that we don't see very often, at least here in the UK, I think it's a bit more popular in the US, is something called the Pregnant Onion. When I added that to the collection, it's got very succulent leaves, almost the same level as an Aloe vera but, from my research, a lot of the indigenous tribes are using that for bites. So the sap from the leaves, they'll be using it for bites and I can confirm, again do not try this at home, but I tried it and it works wonders for mosquito bites.

Jane: Oh, okay, interesting, again, yes, health warning, do not take this podcast as offering any health advice, we do not claim any responsibility for your fate after you try out any of these things. I think that it's an interesting one, Costa Farms are probably churning this plant out in great numbers.

Memo: Great numbers I’d imagine, yes.

Jane: I wonder how many of them are going to last particularly long, it kind of reminds me of the whole Calathea thing, people picking the Calathea plant up in the big box DIY store, will there be many left that last more than a few months? I think probably not.

Memo: Probably not.

Jane: But, again, a beautiful plant. If you've got experience of caring for tropical South American plants you'll probably be fine with it.

Memo: Definitely, yes.

Jane: I'm going to stick to my faithfuls. If you are going to find a terrarium for that, it's not a small plant.

Memo: No, it isn’t, no.

Jane: The leaves look about the size of a small saucer, so you're going to have to have a big terrarium to pull that off but I know lots of listeners have got huge terrariums, so they'll be fine.

Memo: Huge terrariums and big cloches as well, big glass cloches.

Jane: Yes, exactly, it would look really cool like that, displayed under a cloche or something that could be awesome. I’m still not going to try it. Let’s move on1

Memo: No, same, I've got mine coming but…

Jane: I'm looking at pictures of your conservatory and you've got loads of plants that just wouldn't be part of my collection because I ain't got the time, I haven’t got the energy, I haven't got the humidity, all these factors coming in. Plus, I'm sure you feel the same, there's certain plants that just do it for you and perhaps don't do it for me. I was doing an interview for the show about Sinningias last night and I was looking at these pictures of these incredibly over-the-top Sinningia speciosa flowers and just thinking: “Yes! I'm going to get some of those,” I'm sure lots of people would be like: “Jane, you're mad, they're horrible,” but there you go,

Memo: Each to their own!

Jane: Exactly! Let's move on to Alocasia Jacklyn, now this one has got a bit of a mess surrounding it, hasn't it? The name Jacklyn comes from a woman in Indonesia who found this plant and gave it that name and there is some controversy about how the plant was obtained, whether it was taken from the wild and so on but I haven't seen any positive proof either way on that. There seems to be lots of references to this plant actually being called Deer Horn Alocasia and being found in the mid-2000s but, at that point, not really taking off as much as it is now. But again, it's the old saw of there's nothing really new out there, I guess?

Memo: Alocasia Jacklyn is definitely one of those plants that has had a lot of chatter online within communities in the last few months anyway because there's people saying what you were saying… it's interesting because you mentioned it as a Deer Horn Alocasia, I think I saw that people were saying that it was the Alocasia portei, I’m probably mispronouncing that entirely but I don't know if it's the same? The Deer Horn one is the more common name but the challenging thing with trying to definitely ensure that something is a different plant and isn't, for instance, in this case the Alocasia portei it would be to look at things like the inflorescences and that's what scientists have been doing for a long time now. I know some scientists are starting to look at genetic testing for some plants to see if they are actually different or if they're the same plant. The big consensus online is that it can't be proven yet that this is a different plant or even if it is the same plant because the inflorescence of an Alocasia Jacklyn, at least as far as I could see, hasn't been seen yet and hasn't been compared.

Jane: It's one of those plants that is quite arresting, like many Alocasias it has beautiful patterning on it. It's got this elegant shape which is a bit like a deer horn rather than being a heart shape or anything, it's quite a refined leaf and you've got amazing reticulated leaf veins and it's stunning and I can see why it's become very popular. I guess, as you say, it'll take DNA analysis and examination of the inflorescence to really pin down what's going on here. I guess the good thing is now that it's been widely tissue cultured, nobody needs to take it from the wild anymore because it's now widely available, I've seen it in plant shops. Hopefully that means that it won't be taken from the wild anymore. This is not the landscape that I'd imagine an Alocasia growing in but I read that it grows in dry grassy savannah? Can that be right?

Memo: Oh wow! That's really interesting. See, now you're making me think maybe I should see if I could get a tissue culture one and give it a try. I've been growing Alocasias and Colocasias since I was about five, they're very, very popular back home - I'm originally from Greece - but they tend to be like balcony plants there. Everything that I've known about them is that they tend to grow near rivers. So actually they do quite like the slightly wetter conditions, basically, so I'd be really interested to see if that's actually accurate. I'd be really interested to see if the growing conditions of this Alocasia specifically would be different than most others basically.

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Jane: I'll be back with my chat with Memo after this message.

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Jane: Let's have a look at the Scindapsus next. Again, not a species I grow, I admire them from a distance, this new one Moonlight, what do we know?

Memo: The Scindapsus treubii Moonlight, again, this is probably one that has been around for much longer than just now. Again, since listening to your podcast for years now I'm one of the people that managed to get a hold of The Houseplant Expert and I do usually use it when I want to see if plants have been around for longer than just recently. This is one, obviously, that has been mentioned very briefly as Scindapsus is not this specific one but the Scindapsus treubii Moonlight for some of the listeners who might not know, is very similar in leaf shape to most Epipremnums but it's a thicker leaf and the specific Moonlight one has got a silvery sheen to it. So a lot of people were really interested in getting it, it's been a bit more mainstream - I hesitate to use the word mainstream a bit with this one - for the last two to three years. I was fortunate enough to get one, there was very little information on it because people haven't been growing it in a household conditions for too long. I originally didn't want to pick up Moonlight, there is Scindapsus treubii Moonlight I think still but dark form, which is more the black foliage again. I'm very glad that I didn't get that because talking to some people that have got it now… On my YouTube channel I do a review series on what it's been like to have certain plants for one, two, three years basically, because again, there wasn't a lot of information like this and I wanted to provide a bit of a information portal for people, not just to see my experience but from people that have got it in the comments on these YouTube videos to share their experiences. Overwhelmingly, the thing about the Moonlight is it is possibly one of the slowest growing plants out there. I will almost go as far as say, based on what I'm seeing, a lot of people saying slower than the ZZ Plant, so that should give you some indication there. It's interesting because looking at this purely morphologically, and just looking at how the plant is, it should be relatively straightforward. It's got relatively succulent leaves, so it would store water quite well. There was a large problem and I think this is one that Costa Farms has maybe bought out recently from what I was seeing. Before then, the ones I got… I got two, the first one failed and I'll talk about how it failed in a minute. The second one I've grown for nearly three years now. The problem with a large batch that first came out when the demand first started coming out for these plants was very bad soil media from the growers, and I don't usually see this, but I wonder with this plant because it needs such infrequent watering, it's got very succulent leaves, whether or not at least in the growing conditions in some of these nurseries this was one of the plants that they're just like: “It's a slow grower it doesn't need an awful lot of water, let's give it slightly denser soil, which means we might only need to water it once a month or once every two months.” The problem with this when it came to most people's households conditions, which aren't ideal, there was a large batch of these that rotted straight out of the box, essentially. I remember having conversations with some houseplant collectors when they were first getting theirs after I had my experience with mine, which did exactly that, rotted out because I did all the right things. I left it to acclimate before stressing it any further but the soil just wouldn't dry and eventually it rotted out basically. Everybody that I spoke to got very, very nervous when I was just like: “If you've just bought it now, take it out of the soil as soon as you bring it home and put it in a soil mix, an Aroid soil mix, or something airy that you trust and you've used before.” I can almost say 100% of the people that did that had success and almost 100% of the people that didn't do that ended up with root rot and had to buy again, basically.

Jane: The species is from Malaya and places like that. You can imagine it's starting off life on the forest floor in leaf litter and then it's finding a trunk to climb up and then setting off up that trunk and you can imagine that the soil it's in is going to be pretty free draining but also rich in leaf litter. So I guess we've got to try to emulate that kind of substrate to have success. I was looking to see if I could see any more mature leaves of this particular plant, what the leaves look like once they've… like other Scindapsus matures to a different thing, I haven't found any, so I'm not really sure whether it starts to lose that silver sheen or not.

Memo: That's the challenging thing, I'm not surprised that there's not an awful lot out there based on how slowly it grows and, unfortunately, even me after having it for three years, this is one of the trailing plants that I haven't grown up something, so I haven't seen more mature plants. I've actually left this trail which meant I get more of the immature leaves but, yes, I do vaguely remember I think I saw this in a discussion board probably only a couple of days ago, that somebody was saying specifically for this one that they've seen slightly more mature leaves and again, a grain of salt, I don't know how accurate this is, and it does lose some of that sheen basically.

Jane: That would follow, every mature Scindapsus leaf I've ever seen in a photograph has been way more green than the immature leaf, so that would perfectly make sense. Guess work here, but I imagine that's variegation, I think it's usually blister variegation in Scindapsus, where you've got an air pocket under the surface that's reflecting light as opposed to a variation in the amount of chlorophyll pigment in the leaf. That might be helping camouflage the leaf when it's young and vulnerable to herbivore attack but once it gets up into a tree, like it doesn't need that… so that's a theory.

Memo: It's a valid theory, I think.

Jane: It's interesting that it's so slow growing. I guess you could see that as a plus if you are used to growing lots of Devil's Ivy, Epipremnums, Scindapsus that are romping around, you might be glad to have a slow growing plant.

Memo: Definitely. The one bit of advice I could probably give to your listeners if they really want to add this plant to their collection, get a slightly fuller pot because that will keep you happy for a bit longer, try not to go for a single or one or two leaf cutting because I've heard horror stories of people three years later, they've still got to a two-leaf cutting!

Jane: We'll move on to a very different plant now. I think this one has got some serious rock and roll vibes and it's a member of the Solanaceae, the same family that the tomato and potato are members of, but this is Solanum pyracanthum. It's got some wicked… I don't know if they're officially spines or thorns, what we officially call these, but those leaves, they're crazy!

Memo: They're a plant that I would hope more people would get exposed to because I don't think it gets enough press, so to speak, because it is very different and unusual. There are a few people that are growing this… I'm very fortunate where I'm based in the UK, we've actually got quite a few of some of the bigger growers for tropical plants for the UK based here and I'm quite good friends with a lot of them here. One of those companies mentioned that they had this plant, put a picture on… I instantly fell in love because it looks very different. Again, just for you listeners, it's got a kind of almost serration on the leaves, it doesn't always come across particularly well in a picture but they're slightly fuzzy, there's a slight bit of pubescence on it as well, slightly silvery. On these very soft velvety leaves there are, like you said, potentially thorns or spines that come off the top of the leaf and the bottom of the leaf along the midrib. The spikes and the spines themselves go from a very deep red colour to a yellow at the very tip. I'll show some of my Greek background here, pyroanganthi or in Greek Πυραγκάθι basically would translate to fire thorns. Actually if you look at some of these pictures and you look at the thorns the colouration is almost looks like a bit of a flame. So definitely a very interesting plant. I've owned this and I've had this in my collection for nearly three years now and I can confirm, and this might be an interesting one for some people, this can survive the winter in an unheated greenhouse in the UK. It won't be particularly happy with you but it will come back in the summer. My one kind of lost about 60% to 70% of its leaves over the winter, obviously really pulled back on the watering in the winter but it's now fully sprouting back up again and you can definitely see the relationship to the tomato plant because, I can't remember now if they’re yellow or white little blooms that you get on there, and it does create little berries that look like tiny tomatoes, definitely do not ingest those, it is quite poisonous, yes!

Jane: We have to remember that, obviously, the Solanaceae incorporates many of the nightshades, so yes, take care! I think this is one of the many, many houseplants that I think is from Madagascar, so many houseplants from Madagascar - it's a dream one day to go to Madagascar, wouldn't that be amazing? - One thing I did note that appealed to me was the fact that you can grow this from seed, Chiltern Seeds have got it in stock as I speak, this sounds like a fun experiment even if you could grow it even as an annual or a biennial?

Memo: That's the one thing I did, I had a previous plant before and I let that one die out because I was trying to see if it would survive the winter outside in the UK. It didn't. The unheated greenhouse is the big secret there. The one thing I didn't do is take seeds from the berries because I know a lot of people will do that, they will use it as an annual, like you say, take the berries, take the seeds and just plant it out for the next year. From what I have heard from people that have grown it from seed, it is particularly easy to grow from seed as well.

Jane: I'm definitely going to be ordering some Devil's Thorn, also known as the Porcupine Tomato, I mean who doesn't want to have a Porcupine Tomato?! I've got a confession about the next plant, Memo, Senecio bryoniifolius, now I went to look at my Senecio bryoniifolius and I'm going to have to beg you for a cutting swap because… This is an easy plant and yet I've managed to kill my Senecio bryoniifolius. I put it in a pot and, I don't know, it was doing absolutely great guns for ages and then I put some outside in the greenhouse and it obviously got too cold and then the other bit got hidden behind something else and I thought it was okay, but it's dead. I'm sure I've got something that I can swap with you but I know that your plant is lush and lovely because I've just got a beautiful picture of it in front of me. I find that Ivy, Hedera helix, is rubbish for growing indoors in the UK but there's so many lovely Ivy substitutes like this plant, tell me about why you like this bryony-leaved Ivy?

Memo: It's a very interesting one and, again, this is a plant that I got as a substitute for another one that I was looking for actually, which I think you may have got which is the Senecio macroglossus which does have the more triangular leaves. I can see how that one looks a bit like an Ivy, I actually like it for its leaf structure because very rarely do you see plants with biangular leaves. This one, it's relatively easy to find actually, I found it in a local garden centre. I'd seen it the year before but, like a lot of plants in garden centres, they come out in waves, so I was fortunate last year to find it again. It's very similar to the look of an Ivy plant, the leaves tend to be a bit smaller obviously, back sides are this deep purple, almost maroon colour. Maybe not as surprising based on your story now as well, the one thing I will say about this and Senecio specifically is when I first got it, I was treating it like most other Senecios and really letting it dry out. That is still, I think, relatively correct but just to give you an indication, I had it in soil, I had it outdoors for last summer and it was getting watered daily, it was going through its entire water daily. Bringing it in the house, thinking I was going to be watering it less, it gets watered every three to four days! Which for a succulent, they really are thirsty.

Jane: They’re thirsty plants, they really are. Senecio macroglossus variegata, which I do have, and also Senecio angulatus, they're really thirsty plants. I originally started out with these plants giving them cactus and succulent substrate and watering them very meanly, as I normally do with those plants, and it was a disaster. I think that's a lesson I still need to keep drumming into my head that they need a lot of water. The Angulatus I've currently got outside actually, another sort of shrubby Ivy-like plant, which is I think is invasive in quite a lot of places, in Australia, because it's quite so… not in my garden probably because it would die off in the winter, but they're definitely worth looking at these Ivy-like Senecios. You mustn't make the mistake of thinking they don't like a lot of water. In fact, my Macroglossus now, I've got in a sort of a wick watering system just to make sure it gets enough water and it's growing great now but, yes, they're thirsty.

Memo: They're very, very thirsty. Just to touch on what you were just talking about there, they are also a lot easier than the Hedera helix to grow indoors because with the most common Ivys, spider mites, as I twitch, tend to love that plant more than anything else, but with this specific Senecio very little pest pressures at least in my experience.

Jane: Yes, I agree, I think if you can get the watering right, I think you're absolutely fine with this plant. What I really love about it is the backs of those leaves, I've never seen a leaf back that is quite so dramatically… it's almost violet, it's really bright in good light, it's amazing. I know you've got yours displayed on a lovely splayed trellis and you could use it in that way to cover a big area, if you wanted to?

Memo: 100% and it can still trail as well. I've got it growing up, I tend to grow most of my trailers up if I can.

Jane: I agree, I agree otherwise I end up pulling things over because things trail into your hair and get caught.

Memo: Yes, pretty much!

Jane: Now, our final species is going to another family the pepper family, Piper sylvaticum, now this again, is a bit of an oldie in my book, I definitely remember seeing this in vintage houseplant books from my childhood but not really very common until recently?

Memo: Definitely, it's one that has started coming into the market in the last two or three years. There's a more difficult one to find, which I think is Piper crocatum, I'm probably mispronouncing that, but I think that one definitely needs terrarium conditions from what I've seen, it needs very high humidity. I can't talk about it from experience but with the Sylvaticum which I do own, similar to you, I'd seen that it's been around for a while when I was looking at some more vintage houseplant books and it's really interesting to see that difference between what was in books and what is online, which is the place that most people would go to now to do their research for their plants. There was very little written at all about the Piper sylvaticum specifically, there was a bit more about the crocatum one but not the Sylvaticum online. I remember the response I got when I did a YouTube video on this a while back and the only reason why I did it is: “Right, this is what I'm doing with this based on what I'm seeing morphologically from the plant because I can't find any information, can anybody agree with me with this?” I got such good feedback from that because a lot of people were saying: “Your video is the only thing we could find,” back then, I think there's probably more now. Very interesting plant, the fact that it's part of the pepper family was quite an interesting thing when I found that out as well. The way that it grows, and this did worry a few people that I was talking to, it does get extra-floral nectaries on the back of the leaves but they also turn black really quickly, they slightly oxidise. I don't know what is specifically in this plant's extra-floral nectaries but it looks like it could be pests, so there's a lot of people going: “Oh my God, it's covered in pests,” and I'm just like: “Double check it, run your finger over it,” and if it's got a slightly sugary texture that kind of graininess, it's probably just the extra-floral nectaries that are on the back of that, basically. Interestingly with this one it can display Anthocyanins quite quickly as well, so if you give it a lot of light usually in the summer you get this plant, so it's got very silvery leaves, but in the summer that silveriness is still there but it gets a pink blush, which is the most beautiful thing ever, it's so unusual. You don't tend to get silvery plants blushing, this is one that does.

Jane: The extra-floral nectaries thing, I guess we should just explain what that means. It's basically a nectar producing part of the plant that isn't on the flower and you do get this with the surprising number of plants, a lot of Hoyas have them. Sometimes they do catch people out because they see drops on the plant or marks on the plant and they don't know what they are. Oftentimes these are drawing in pollinators and ants and things to the plant to protect them from other pests, there's a whole podcast episode in extra-floral nectaries, I should do that for my botany series. They are quite common, aren't they? As you say, they can turn up in different ways and catch people out thinking that they've got some kind of major problem. I don't know about you, just a side note here, I feel like I really want to get a T-shirt printed that just says: “Buy a hand lens.”

Memo: Yes!

Jane: I need a “buy a hand lens” meme because almost every post I see on Facebook where somebody's going: “Is this a pest? What is it?” I'm like…

Memo: Buy a hand lens!

Jane: Get a magnifying glass, buy a hand lens, that is your best investment as a houseplant lover. I just need to have that in my pocket whenever I'm doing plant care, it's so useful, so I highly recommend everyone buys one. I imagine that probably under a hand lens those extra-floral nectaries would look quite interesting?

Memo: Definitely and interestingly, when you talk about a hand lens, I hadn't even thought about that until one of your first ever podcasts I think where you mentioned it and I instantly went and bought one and haven't looked back since.

Jane: Oh good!

Memo: It's probably one of the best things in my collection!

Jane: I was thinking the other day, the one thing I want next is a hand lens that's got a built-in light.

Memo: That's the one I've got, I've got that, yes. That's really, really good.

Jane: Okay because, oftentimes, I'm holding my phone in one hand with the light on and then I've got the hand lens in the other hand because you need really good light to be able to see. Oh well, maybe that's a Christmas present in the bag.

Memo: They're really quite good. On the Sylvaticum side of things, it's an interesting one because there wasn't so much written about it. It's technically a trailing plant, I think it's technically a climber and I say this after having this plant for over a year now. It doesn't vine in any way that's reminiscent of anything else either. So with most Hoyas they will wrap around something, this won't do that. Most other Aroids would bring out aerial roots to attach to tree trunks and things like that, this doesn't have any significant aerial roots. It just grows. I've got it growing on my janky support sticks, all my YouTube fans love my janky support sticks.

Jane: Okay, I'm going to have to go and look at that, I haven't seen that.

Memo: It's just support sticks but I don't do them in any beautiful way, it's very utilitarian, something that the plant can attach onto and everybody needs a janky support stick in their life.

Jane: I've got a pot in the shed full of those, spare, just waiting to be used, so I'm with you on that.

Memo: I found that just tying the stems onto whatever support you're giving it is enough, really. You can have it trailing, I've actually seen when it trails, the leaves don't get any smaller because sometimes with trailing plants if you let it trail the leaves will ultimately get more and more juvenile looking. It's not the case, however, I will say this is a plant that it does start off with very, very small leaves, very much like Anthuriums and over time they get bigger, basically. Interestingly with this one, and this is one that I'm really excited about that is slowly coming back on the market again, at least in my experience, one of my easiest plants. I know the other pipers aren't necessarily, but the Sylvaticum at least in my experience has been one of the easiest plants. One thing I will say that's not mentioned enough online, it likes to not fully dry out. It doesn't like boggy soil but it likes to not fully dry out, it doesn't particularly like going fully dry

Jane: Do we know where this one's from?

Memo: From what I was looking at, I couldn't find a specific location, I don't think when I was looking at it.

Jane: I've just hit Google and I'm on the Kew Plants of the World Online. It's telling me that it's Bangladesh and East Himalaya, which I didn't know, so there you go. I guess that makes sense in that it's maybe at high elevations… I'll have to do some more research into this and so therefore it doesn't need to be overly hot?

Memo: Yes, it's been okay with temperatures, even my conservatory tends to get quite cool in the winter and it doesn't have any issue with that. Also the location doesn't surprise me because, again, don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that's the region of the world where most peppercorns come from as well, so it would make sense that it would grow around the same region, basically.

Jane: Yes, it is, you’re absolutely right. Well, I hope that that's given people a little hint as to which of those plants might be worth adding to their collection. Which of these would you take to your desert island?

Memo: I would probably go with Solanum actually.

Jane: I think for me it would probably have to be the Senecio, although if I end up growing the piper it may well take over. Let's see what's coming up next is there anything else that we haven't mentioned? Any other plant species that maybe you can briefly just say: “Look out for this…”

Memo: There is one but I cannot remember the Latin name for it currently and this is more fond memories from my childhood, which is something I'm growing as a houseplant, it can also be grown as a bit of a bonsai, which is the Mastic plant.

Jane: Oh, I think I saw your video on this.

Memo: It's a very interesting plant that not a lot of people know about. It grows full size, it will grow in certain places of the Med, it's also slowly dying out because there's been too many bush fires in its natural environment and it takes a very long time to get it mature enough. It looks a bit like a gnarly olive tree, there's a very thick clear sap that comes out, it creates this resin called mastic and for anybody out there that has had Baklava or anything that's very syrupy middle-eastern type desserts and they can't place a flavour that's slightly floral, it's that resin, basically. But, I can confirm it also makes a very forgiving houseplant that needs an awful lot of light, I can almost see if I can find the scientific name and send it to you after this.

Jane: I've just actually looked it up it's Pistacia lentiscus and now you've got me craving Baklava, which is okay, but that's interesting. I'd never thought of that as a houseplant. I'm going to go and look at that right now. Is it available at all in the in the UK or in the US, do you know?

Memo: I think so, yes, because one of my viewers on YouTube did mention that they do landscaping in Vegas, of all places, and they grow this as a topiary plant outside. So I'm assuming there's some bits of the US you can probably get it. In the UK I got it from a local plant shop, so I'm assuming it can become available, I just saw that it was a Mastic plant and just went: “Oh my God, I never thought I'd own one of these, yes, I'll take it and use it,” but I'm assuming it's probably not one that you'll see very often, if that makes sense.

Jane: Okay, lovely to have a nostalgic memory from your childhood, that's great, it's been fun, thank you so much for joining me, Memo.

Memo: Thanks for your time.

[music]

Jane: Thanks to Memo and if you want to see pictures and more information about all of these six plants, check out the show notes at JanePerrone.com That's all for this week's show. Until next Friday, I give you permission to be confident about yourself. See you next Friday, bye.

[music]

Jane: The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops, The Road We Used To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Whistle by BenJamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons, visit the show notes for details.

Become a Patron!

I check out six ‘new’ houseplants to see if they are worth adding to your collection with the help of fellow plant geek Memo C.

This week’s guest
Memo C is a plant geek with a passion for sharing knowledge: you can find him at @trojanking9 on Instagram and as @houseplantygoodness on YouTube.

Check out the show notes below as you listen…

Geogenanthus plant

Geogenanthus ciliatus

  • This member of the spiderwort family (Commelinaceae) comes from South America - specifically Ecuador and Peru.

  • Costa Farms in the US have repopularised this species by mass producing it for the houseplant market.

  • It was given its scientific name in 1931, and is ascribed various uses in the traditional medicine of the Siona and Secoya people of Ecuador and Peru.

  • In 1979 the Indoor Light Gardening Society of America described it as "a real showstopper". Another species, G. poeppigii (aka the seersucker plant), has been grown as a houseplant for decades too.

  • You can use African violet soil as the substrate.

  • Read more about Geogenanthus in my newsletter The Plant Ledger.

Alocasia Jacklyn

Photograph: Jane Perrone

Alocasia ‘Jacklyn’

  • This plant got the name Jacklin after the woman who brought it into cultivation after finding it in Indonesia: but there are also claims that this is the same plant as a specimen called ‘Tanduk Rusa’ - deer horn Alocasia - in the mid-2000s.

  • There are also claims that this plant is a mutated form of Alocasia portei but this is not yet clear - genetics and study of the inflorescence should eventually give an answer! 

  • It has been tissue cultured now so is becoming more widely available.

  • It has beautiful leaves with reticulated veins that make it very distinctive.

  • The reference I mention to the plant growing in dry grassland is here.

Scindapsus treubii ‘Moonlight’. Photograph: Kaemat on Flickr.

Scindapsus treubii ‘Moonlight’

  • This Scindapsus grows in SE Asia and this cultivar has beautiful silvery leaves which are very succulent.

  • It is a very slow growing plant, with dense foliage.

  • The leaves - like many aroids - change as the vine matures, becoming larger and less silvery.

  • In the wild, they start on the ground and climb up tree trunks as they grow: at home you can let this trail or give it something to climb, whether that’s a trellis, a moss pole or a plank of wood.

  • Memo suggests that if you are going ot invest in this plant, go for as full a plant as you can afford, due to its slow growing nature.

  • Scindapsus treubii ‘Dark Form’ is another cultivar worth a look.

Solanum pyracanthum. Photograph: Leonora (Ellie) Enking on Flickr.

Solanum pyracanthum

  • This species comes from Madagascar and is a member of the Solanaceae family, along with potatoes, tomatoes and nightshades.

  • It is a showstopper with its spiny leaves, but take care when handling! It is also poisonous.

  • Common names include porcupine tomato and devil’s thorn.

  • It can be grown easily from seed: in the UK seed is available from Chiltern Seeds, or if you already have a plant, you can harvest seed from the small fruits it produces.

  • Can be grown as an annual or you can keep it going as a perennial. Memo reports that this plant will survive overwintering in an unheated greenhouse in the UK.

Senecio bryoniifolius

Photograph: Memo C.

  • The bryyony-leaved ivy that comes from KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland in Africa.

  • Memo and I both find it surprisingly thirsty for a plant with succulent leaves!

  • It produces yellow flowers, which I am not that keen on, so I cut them off - but you can keep them if you wish.

  • It’s very resistant to pests, so you get the look of English ivy (Hedera helix) but it is much easier to keep healthy in the long term.

  • Try to display it so that the purple undersides of the leaves are visible.

  • If you like this, you could also try two more Senecios - S. macroglosus (usually found in the variegated form) and S. angulatus.

Photograph: Memo C.

Piper sylvaticum

  • Although a lot of the Piper species are hard to grow as houseplants, this one is not, according to Memo. It isn’t particularly troubled by pests, either.

  • It has extrafloral nectaries on the back of the succulent leaves which some people confuse for pests, as they tend to go black.

  • Here’s Memo’s video on this plant.

  • It blushes pink in high light conditions.

  • It’s a climber, but doesn’t produce aerial roots.

  • Soil is meant to never dry out, but Memo has found that some drying out of the substrate has been ok.

The final plant that memo mentions is the mastic plant - Pistacia lentiscus.

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SOLTECH SOLUTIONS

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CREDITS

This week's show featured the tracks Whistling Rufus by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra,  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 and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).

Foliage houseplantsJane PerroneSenecio, Piper, SolanumComment