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Plant of the Week
Chinese Evergreens
Latin: Aglaonema commutatum
 The success or failure of a houseplant usually boils down to two things --
selecting the right plant for the location and then giving it the care it
requires in that location.
One of the locations homeowners often face are those corners where there is just
not enough light for most plants to grow, but they want one anyway. The
venerable Chinese Evergreen seems to have been invented for dim corners.
The genus Aglaonema consists of around 30 species scattered in the
tropics of south China and much of the Malayan archipelago. These plants dwell
on the jungle floor, so they are well suited to life in low light areas. They
are smallish, slow growing plants with thumb size canes that fall over as the
plant grows, giving some a rhizome-like growth habit.
The leaves of most forms are 8- to 10 inches long and often marked with bright
patterns of silver or white down the length of the leaf blade. These markings
are not true variegation -- just colorful markings to attract the attention of
plant explorers.
The plants emerged from the jungles of southern Asia in the first half of the
19th Century, being originally grown and described in Germany. While known in
this country by the early part of this century, they seem to have been little
known at least by the Yankees that wrote all of the garden books of the time.
But after the Great War, all of this changed. GI’s who served time in the South
Pacific had seen the splendor of tropical jungles and there was a general
increase in the use of foliage plants after the close of the war.
For a plant to survive in a low light environment, it must produce more energy
in photosynthesis than it consumes in respiration. Or, in the language of the
everyday consumer, it must earn more than it spends. The break even point for
Aglaonema, called the light compensation point where income equals outgo, is
very low -- around 10 foot candles. The average interior room has from 20 to 60
foot candles and a good reading location will have 100 foot candles. Your local
shopping mall usually has about 200 foot candles. If only 10 foot candles of
light is available, an Aglaonema won’t grow but it won’t die. It will just sit
there awaiting an occasional dusting.
Even when light levels are above the absolute minimum, Aglaonemas are slow
growing. They also hate cold -- in fact exposing these true tropical plants to
temperatures below 55 degrees will usually kill them. Because they are slow
growing, long lived and tolerant of low light conditions they make excellent
houseplants.
Aglaonemas should be allowed to dry slightly between waterings, but never to the
point of wilting. If repotting is needed, delay until the longer days of spring
so that the plant has conditions favorable for a growth spurt. Mealybugs and
occasionally brown fern scale are the main problem found on these plants.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
December 10, 1999
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