Stromanthe Porteana

Your Stromanthe Porteana loves a humid environment, so feel free to mist every day. Use a pebble tray or a humidifier during the winter months when the air tends to be much drier. The leaves will turn brown and crispy when the air is too dry.

Place a Stromanthe Porteana plant in bright indirect light. High light refers only to bright indirect light since direct sun often burns the leaves of indoor houseplants. An area that is too hot and dry encourages Spider Mites and causes blooms to quickly fade. A northern exposure really doesn't provide enough light for high light plants. These plants need to be placed directly in front of an east-facing window, within 1-3 feet of a west-facing window, and within 5 ft. of a south facing window. A high light area has over 300 ft. candles of light. but no direct sun; a north or east facing window is best.

Avoid placing a Stromanthe Porteana in a cold or hot draft, otherwise basic household temperatures are fine.

Keep the soil of your Stromanthe Porteana slightly damp (but not soggy!) and allow the top inch to dry out before watering again. Be careful to not overwater, as this could lead to root rot. In the winter, allow the soil to dry out a little more between waterings, but never completely.

Feed every two weeks when the plant is actively growing, this is usually from early spring to the end of fall. Use a balanced fertilizer. Plants need fertilizer only when they are actively growing. Slow growing plants in low light require very little plant food. Too much fertilizer is worse than not enough. Most plants prefer a water soluble plant food at 1/2 the recommended strength. Houseplant food contains nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). If a plant is not producing new leaves and doesn’t absorb the fertilizer, salts build up in the soil. These salts can burn the roots, discolor the leaves, and cause new growth to be small. diluted to 1/2 the recommended strength.