Zebra plant

Zebra plant: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Compact, upright plant with a few stems, 30–60 cm tall indoors and up to 50 cm wide.

Leaves

Oval to elliptic, 15–25 cm long, glossy dark green with prominent white or cream veins; opposite.

Flower

Four-sided spikes of 10–15 cm with overlapping, bright yellow bracts. The true flowers are small, tubular and yellow, and wither after a few days.

Flowering

From July to October; the bracts stay attractive for weeks.

Roots

Fine and fairly shallow; they tolerate neither drying out nor waterlogging.

Flowering: July–October · Plants: March–April · Pruning: October–November

Why grow it?

• Striking foliage with a zebra pattern of white veins: decorative even without flowers.
• Bright yellow flower spikes from July to October that last for weeks.
• Compact: fits on a windowsill, a side table or in a group with other houseplants.
• Brings colour indoors in late summer and autumn, when many other houseplants have finished flowering.
• A tip cutting easily gives you a new, young plant.

Zebra plant: where does it grow best?

• A bright spot out of direct midday sun, for example by an east- or west-facing window. Too dark means no flowers.
• Warm: 18–25 °C in the growing season, never below 15 °C. No draughts and not against a cold windowpane.
• Humid air: it does well in a bathroom with daylight or on a tray of wet pebbles.
• Not directly above a radiator: hot, dry air makes the leaves drop.

Light

Bright, out of direct sun

Potting soil

Multi-purpose compost or airy, humus-rich compost

Acidity

Acid or neutral

Watering

Moderately or generously

Size

0.6 m tall, 0.5 m wide

Temperature

Minimum 15 °C

Goes well with

• Nerve plant: Also a member of the acanthus family with veined leaves, for the same warm, humid spot.
• Calathea: Patterned leaves that need the same warmth and humid air.
• Boston fern: Fine green fronds next to the striped leaves; together they keep the air more humid.
• Peperomia: A compact foliage plant for the same bright spot out of fierce sun.

Zebra plant: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April.

1. Repot in March–April when the roots fill the pot, usually every 1–2 years.
2. Choose a pot 2–3 cm wider than the old one, with a drainage hole.
3. Use humus-rich houseplant compost, mixed with a little perlite for better drainage if you like.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as before and firm lightly.
5. Water with lukewarm water until it runs out of the bottom and empty the saucer after fifteen minutes.

Care

Water

Keep the compost lightly moist at all times, using water at room temperature, preferably rainwater. If it dries out, it drops its lower leaves; with wet feet, the roots rot.

Humidity

Stand the pot on a tray of pebbles and water or group it with other plants. Misting with lukewarm, soft water is fine, but not on the flower spikes.

Feeding

From March to September, houseplant feed at half strength every 2 weeks.

Spent spikes

Cut off a faded spike as soon as the bracts turn brown.

Rest

After flowering, a few weeks slightly cooler (15–18 °C) with a little less water, but never let the root ball dry out.

Tip: Water regularly with lukewarm rainwater and never let the root ball dry out: a zebra plant that has been bone dry just once drops its lower leaves. After flowering, cut back to above a good pair of leaves to keep it compact.

Zebra plant: when to prune it?

Pruning months: October–November.

When: After flowering, in October–November, when the last spikes have faded.

How:

• Cut the flowering stems back to just above a good, healthy pair of leaves.
• A tall, bare plant can be cut back by about half: it will reshoot from the leaf axils.
• Use the removed tips as cuttings.
• Remove yellow or damaged leaves at the stem.

Caution: Without pruning it quickly becomes leggy and bare at the base; an old, bare plant is best replaced by a young cutting.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Tip cuttings

In spring or after flowering: tips of 10–15 cm with 2 pairs of leaves, lower leaves removed, in moist cutting compost. Under plastic at 21–24 °C they root in 4–6 weeks.

Zebra plant: how does it get through the winter?

• Indoors all year: it does not tolerate cold and already suffers below 15 °C.
• Water a little less in winter, but do not let the compost dry out completely. No feeding from October to February.
• Put it in the brightest spot, away from cold windows, draughts and hot radiators.
• Raise the humidity to counter the dry air from central heating.

Diseases and pests

• Leaf drop: The lower leaves droop and fall. Usually caused by drought, cold or draughts. Water regularly and move it somewhere warmer.
• Brown leaf edges: Caused by dry air or hard water. Raise the humidity and use rainwater.
• Scale insects: Small brown shells on the veins and stems, with sticky honeydew. Remove them with a cotton bud or a soft little brush and a little soapy water.
• Aphids: On young shoots and flower spikes. Rinse the plant off under the shower.
• No flowers: Too little light. Move it somewhere brighter, but out of fierce midday sun.

Through the year

• January: No feeding. Keep the compost lightly moist and the air humid.
• March: Repot. Start feeding again.
• April: Repot or take tip cuttings. Feed every 2 weeks.
• May: Feed. Protect from fierce midday sun.
• June: Feed. Water regularly; the flower spikes are forming.
• July: Flowering begins. Feed and keep the compost moist.
• August: Flowering. Feed. Watch out for aphids.
• September: Flowering. Last feed of the year.
• October: End of flowering. Cut off spent spikes and cut back.
• November: Prune above a good pair of leaves. Slightly cooler, a little less water.
• December: Rest. Little water, but never let it dry out. No draughts.

Did you know?

• The yellow ‘flowers’ are really bracts. The true flowers are small and wither after a few days, while the bracts give colour for weeks.
• The name Aphelandra comes from Greek: apheles means ‘simple’ and aner, andros ‘male’, a reference to the anthers, which have a single chamber.
• It belongs to the acanthus family, like the nerve plant and the bear’s breeches of the border.