Purple Velvet Plant (Gynura Aurantiaca) – Simple Caring Guide

The Purple Velvet plant is an incredibly unusual houseplant, which includes green leaves covered in small, purple hairs. From a range, the hairs are so dense that they provide the impression of the leaves having a soft velvety texture, in a lively purple color. These plants have long been popular, not even if of their striking look, however likewise because they are relatively simple to care for, hitting it off in the typical temperatures of a lot of houses.

The most hard part of looking after a Purple Velvet plant is getting the watering ideal, as the plant delights in moist soil however has fragile roots which can easily be affected by root rot. If you have some experience with caring for houseplants and are proficient at recognizing when a plant does or doesn’t need more water, then this might be the ideal plant for you.

This plant does have two disadvantages, though luckily, both of them are quickly handled. Initially, the plant can establish flowers, and although they are not unappealing, they do have a very bad odor that many people discover intolerable (University of Florida).

The solution to this is to snip off the buds as quickly as they appear, not offering them an opportunity to flower and become stinky. The other benefit of this is that the plant’s energy will go into ongoing production of the gorgeous leaves rather of squandering it typically looking flowers. The 2nd disadvantage is the fact that the plant has a brief life-span of just a couple of years.

When the Purple Velvet plant reaches maturity, it loses its vibrancy, and the leaves will look more green and dull. To fight this, you will require to propagate your plant every few years to ensure you have actually a continued supply of the plant’s next generation to decorate your home with.

How to Care for Your Purple Velvet Plant

Watering Purple Velvet Plant

The roots of the Purple Velvet plant are especially vulnerable, making them much more vulnerable to root rot than your typical houseplant. Since of this, it’s particularly crucial to ensure you don’t overwater this plant, as having damp feet will likely ruin the plant. Your best defense versus root rot is a high quality, well-draining soil and paying attention to the wetness level of the soil. While the plant ought to not be allowed to being in water or soggy soil, it will also respond terribly to drought. If the plant isn’t getting sufficient water, then you will notice the leaves starting to droop and become quite sad looking.

You will need to develop a well balanced watering technique, where the plant receives just the correct amount of water. Precisely how frequently and how much you need to water the plant will be largely dependent on the size of the plant and just how much sun and warmth it is getting. Goal to keep the soil moist but not wet throughout spring and summer season, while for the rest of the year, you can enable the soil to dry out a little in between each watering.

Purple Velvet Plant Lightning

The Purple Velvet plant enjoys brilliant, indirect light. It will gladly being in an intense window, though direct light will trigger the leaves to burn, so use large curtains or window blinds to filter the light. If this plant lives in a shaded location and does not receive sufficient light, the hairs on the leaves will dull, and it will lose the lively purple coloring that it is grown for. A light-deprived Purple Velvet plant will likewise become leggy as it extends to find a light. If you do not have an appropriately light area in your house to fit this plant, it will grow under artificial light.

Purple Velvet Plant Temperature Level

Regular space temperature level is typically fine for this plant. It will prosper in temperature levels between 60 and 75 ° F, though it does not tolerate too much heat, so beware if temperatures go much higher than this. If you reside in a hot environment, then attempt to keep the temperature level inside your home reasonably cool; otherwise, the plant will become weak. Although the Purple Velvet plant does choose to be kept the cooler side, care must be taken to make sure temperature levels do not drop too far below 60 ° F.

Feeding Purple Velvet Plant

This is a starving plant that likes its fertilizer. Utilize a basic houseplant fertilizer mixed to half of the suggested strength. You can feed this to your Purple Velvet plant each to two weeks during spring and summertime, and minimize this down to once monthly or more during fall and winter season. If your plant stops growing entirely during this time, you can stop feeding it until spring returns.

Purple Velvet Plant Humidity

The Purple Velvet plant enjoys moderate to high humidity, so it may be finest fit to residing in a cooking area or restroom. Misting the leaves with a water spray is not an alternative to increase the humidity for this plant, as the hairs on the leaves can trap water and cause them to rot. If you have particularly low humidity, you could raise the humidity with an electrical humidifier. Additionally, a tray containing rocks and water for the plant to sit on can help to create moisture in the air around the plant. In addition to high humidity being useful for the plant’s growth, it also assists to prevent some insects such as spider mites

Pruning Purple Velvet Plant

This plant has a tendency to get tall and leggy if it isn’t pruned, so prune it aggressively to motivate growth lower down. Pruning the plant will result in a fuller looking plant, which is bushier.

Repotting Purple Velvet Plant

The Purple Velvet plant is usually only kept inside for 2 to 3 years, so you most likely won’t ever have the need to repot it. As the plant ages the purple hairs covering the leaves fade and end up being less lively, ultimately turning a dark, dull, and somewhat unattractive shade. It is at this point that the owner will typically dispose of the plant or discover a home for it outside.

Throughout its short lifespan, the plant might end up being root-bound and look like it needs to be re-potted on, however, the Purple Velvet plant in fact does effectively in area restricting conditions, and it generally isn’t essential to repot it. If you do decide to repot the plant, do so with excellent care to not disrupt the roots, as they are very vulnerable and may not respond well to alter.

Purple Velvet Plant Flowers

This plant produces vibrant, yellow-orange flowers, normally in winter. They look practically like thistles and resemble the flower of a dandelion. While they are quite striking versus the purple background of the plant, lots of people remove them due to the fact that they have an extremely offending smell. If you do not like the flowers on your Purple Velvet plant, snip them off as quickly as they appear to avoid having the bad odor wafting around your house.

Luckily, the plant does not often flower, particularly not throughout its very first years. Flowers generally appear after 2 or 3 years and reveal that the plant has actually reached maturity. The plant blooming is taken as a sign that it is past its prime, and prepared to end its time as a houseplant. If you wish, you can plant the Purple Velvet plant outside; however, it does have a propensity to spread out quickly, so think about containment.

Purple Velvet Plant Propagation

Proliferation is a required part of growing this plant if you wish to keep it around for a long period of time. As the plant has a minimal lifespan of a couple of years, you will wish to propagate it to guarantee you have new generations of young and lively Purple Velvet plants. When your plant reaches maturity, which it will notify you about by growing flowers, it’s a sure indication that you need to propagate if you have not already. You can perform propagation together with pruning if you do not desire your cut stems to go to waste.

To propagate, you will need completion of a stem a minimum of numerous inches long. This plant propagates well in water; merely place the cut end of the stem down into a glass of water, ensure it has consistent heat, and wait for roots to develop over numerous weeks’ time.

You can also propagate this plant in damp soil, following the very same directions. You could dip the raw end of the stem in rooting hormone to improve possibilities of success if you want. Propagate in late spring or summer, when the weather is reliably warm to encourage the cutting to root. Additionally, heat the plant synthetically. Bottom heat constantly works best for propagating effectively (Royal Horticultural Society). When the cutting has effectively rooted, you can plant it into a more long-term soil and pot, and continue care as normal.

Toxicity

This plant is not hazardous to people or animals, making it a perfect houseplant to have in your home if you have children or animals that are responsible to investigate the plant and possibly nibble on it. While the Purple Velvet plant is not toxic, it is not advised to consume any part of it. It might result in a stomach pains, and some individuals have been discovered to be adverse it.

Common Problems

This is a low-maintenance plant that does not generally come across a lot of issues; however, if growing conditions are not ideal, then some issues happen. Insects are likewise, regrettably, an usually unpreventable part of growing plants.

Swelter

Leaves that become brown at the suggestions, around the edges, and eventually all over, are a sign that your plant has actually been burnt. The two primary causes of this are excessive direct light and too much or too strong fertilizer.

The Purple Velvet plant is a hungry plant and generally prospers on frequent feedings of diluted fertilizer. Nevertheless, there is a debate about this amongst growers of this plant, with some declaring that fertilizer must be used on a weekly basis throughout the growing season, while others believe it must be fed less typically, at a frequency of every two weeks and even month-to-month throughout spring and summer.

You ought to have the ability to deduce from your caring practices what is the reason for your plant’s scorch. If you understand that it hasn’t experienced any direct light, then the reason for the brown leaves is most likely due to heavy fertilizer usage, and you can change your feeding schedule accordingly. Similarly, if you do not fertilize the plant extremely often, then it is more most likely the scorch is a result of excessive light, and you will require to move the plant to a more appropriately lit area to permit it to recover.

Insects

The Purple Velvet plant can succumb to all of the common bugs typically related to houseplants, such as aphids, mealybugs, scale, and whiteflies, though most likely the most typical bug is the spider mite (Missouri Botanical Garden).

Spider mites can go undetected on your plant for rather some time due to the fact that they are so small that it’s difficult to see them with the naked eye and likewise because they hide on the undersides of the leaves. One indicator that your plant has spider termites is if it begins to develop little yellow areas on the foliage. As the problem establishes, the spots will turn brown and could even lead to entire leaves turning brown.

If your Purple Velvet plant has a spider mite issue, you might likewise see some webbing on your plant. As arachnids, spider mites use spider webs to safeguard themselves and their eggs. If you suspect spider termites are infesting your plant, you can gently shake the plant while holding a piece of white paper underneath. If spider mites are present, you will notice tiny dark specks falling onto the paper that resembles ground pepper. If an invasion is extreme, it will stunt the plant’s growth and eventually kill it, so it requires to be dealt with quicker rather than later on.

As soon as you become mindful of spider mites on your plant, the very first line of defense is to take the plant outdoors and spray it with a strong force of water from a hose pipe. The high pressure of the water should suffice to wash off most, if not all, of the mites. Repeat this two times a day for up to a week, and for the most part, the invasion will have been removed.

Another technique is to spray the plant with neem oil or another insecticidal oil. Alternatively, there are some natural predators of spider termites, which will look after the problem for you if you can launch them in the plant’s environment. These include ladybirds, predatory thrips, and the really properly named spider mite destroyers.

Pesticides need to be avoided for several factors. Initially, spider termites are resistant to pesticides, and second, pesticides will lower the populations of helpful bugs on or around your plant, only serving to make the spider mite issue even direr.

Root Rot

The thin and fragile roots of the Purple Velvet plant make it particularly vulnerable to root rot. Root rot often goes unnoticed until the condition is severe and irreparable due to the issues taking place beneath the soil’s surface area. Indications to keep an eye out for that your plant is suffering from root rot are brown patches on the leaves and curled or distorted foliage.

Root rot will turn the bottom of the roots and the root crown slimy and dark in color. This condition is solely the outcome of overwatering, and therefore you should take care to ensure the soil around this plant is damp however never wet. If your Purple Velvet plant does suffer from root rot, you can attempt to correct the problem by removing the plant from its pot, brushing off as much of the soil as possible, and cleaning up the roots off by placing them under running water.

Do not repot the plant for a couple of days, instead of letting the roots air dry. If there are some staying roots that are not terribly affected, you can remove the rotten roots and focus on re-growing the plant from the healthier roots. Repot the plant in new, dry soil and look after the plant going forward by paying cautious attention to how much you water it.

If you have any other concerns about Purple Velvet plants, please leave a message in the comments, and we’ll be pleased to respond to. We likewise welcome you to share this post with your friends who might have or be checking out getting a Purple Velvet.