The Strawberry shake plant of the Araceae family is common amongst lovers of beauty, additionally, this is a low-maintenance plant so long as you can get the conditions right for it. The first thing that you need to take into consideration is the temperature requirement of the plant.
If you can grow your philodendron genus plants in an environment with just the right temperature, you can grow your plants with ease. Read this comprehensive guide to learn all that you need to care for your Philodendron Strawberry Shake plant.
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What Is the Strawberry Shake Plant?
The Strawberry Shake plant is a beautiful plant popular for its highly variegated leaves. The leaves of this plant have a striking combination of contrasting colors and you only need to rotate the plant a little bit to see something new and exciting.
Strawberry Shake Plant Care
The Strawberry shake plant may be strikingly beautiful, but it is very easy to care for. After temperature, you need to consider the soil, water, and nutrient needs of your plants. Are you ready to grow and care for some strawberry shake plants? Here are the necessary care tips for you:
Water Requirements
Just like other plants, strawberry shake plants use water to sustain their life. These plants rely on water to move nutrients from the soil to their leaves through their roots and stem.
They also use water to maintain a rigid stem and leaves. Truly, your plants cannot survive without water.
Even though plants need water to survive, strawberry shake plants do not like to be overwatered. In terms of their watering needs, strawberry shake plants are low-maintenance as you only need to water them once or twice weekly. Just make sure that their substrate does not run dry.
You can tell that your strawberry shake plants need more water when their leaf petioles can no longer carry the leaves. Also, the stem will look very weak.
If you still do not provide water to the plants, you may notice that the leaves will start withering or even become brown. Make sure that you give your strawberry shake plants as much water as they need.
Soil Requirements
If you can get the soil right, you can grow your plant with ease. If you are growing your strawberry shake plant as an indoor plant, you cannot use regular garden soil as it might be too heavy or compacted for the strawberry shake plant roots in pots. Instead of using garden soil, you will need to use a potting mix for your indoor potted plants.
It does not matter if you are using soil or potting mix, just make sure that the substrate can be moist and free draining at the same time. This means that you want to buy or make a potting mix that is well-drained but can retain a certain amount of moisture. The preferred pH for this plant substrate is pH 5-7.
You should also pay attention to your strawberry shake plant pot. The pot should have multiple drainage holes so that you cannot overwater your strawberry shake. Note that for indoor plants, you want to place the pot on a saucer or anything that can hold the excess draining water so that it does not destroy nearby objects or the furniture.
Light Requirements
Light is very important for plants because they can only get the energy to sustain life from light. If you do not grow your strawberry shake plants in a well-lit room or give them access to enough sunlight, they will die. You need to pay close attention to how much light your strawberry shakes receive daily.
Strawberry shake plants need at least four hours of direct sunlight daily. It is best to give them four to six hours of daily sun for their optimum growth. Natural light is better than an artificial one, so only grow your strawberry shake plants under a grow light when you do not have access to sunlight.
You can tell that your strawberry shake plants are lacking light when they look weak, are growing in one direction alone, and are etiolated. An etiolated strawberry shake plant has long and weak petioles. Do not make your plants suffer from a lack of light because they may not recover fully from it.
Humidity Requirements
Humidity is an important factor to consider when growing plants because plants can only collect water and nutrients from their substrate when the humidity is just right. If you grow your strawberry shake plants in an environment with unsatisfactory humidity, you may notice some unpleasant signs such as stunted growth.
Strawberry shake plants need very high humidity for their optimal growth. They usually require around 80 percent humidity but can thrive in lower levels so long as the humidity level does not go below average. Note that you should only grow strawberry shake plants around other plants with a similar humidity requirement.
To supply your strawberry shake plants with their needed humidity level, you can install a portable humidifier around the plant.
You can also grow your strawberry shake in a grow box or a bag in which you can trap the air moisture. If you want something simple, you can get a spray bottle and spray water droplets around the strawberry shake leaves when they look dry.
Temperature Requirements
Strawberry shake plants do well between 55 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If you do not have a thermometer or you do not have time to always check the temperature of the room, just make sure that you are living in USDA hardiness zones 9 to 11. So long as you live in the preferred zone of the strawberry shake plant, you can grow it without problems.
Please note that the strawberry shake plant is not a temperate plant, so it does not perform well in cold places. This is not a frost-hardy plant, so you must keep it safe from the cold temperature of winter. Make sure that the temperature does not go less than 55 degrees Fahrenheit in winter.
Additionally, remember that temperature is more like the first and most important growth factor to consider before you buy any plant. The temperature of an environment affects plant growth processes such as flowering, germination, nutrient and water absorption, transpiration, and almost every process occurring in plants.
Fertilizers Requirements
The beauty of a plant reflects a plant with quality fertilizers. Many plants can thrive in a nutrient-depleted substrate, but if you want the optimal growth and beauty of your strawberry shake plant, you need to feed it with quality nutrients.
Nonetheless, you must remember not to overfeed your plant as overfeeding is just as harmful as not feeding at all.
Just because your plants need nutrients does not mean that you need to fertilize them too often. You can feed your strawberry shake plants just once a month in their active growing seasons from early spring to mid-autumn. Make sure to use quality fertilizer for indoor plants.
If you can find a philodendron-specific fertilizer for your strawberry shake plants, better. You can tell that you are not giving your shake plant enough fertilizer when you notice discoloration in the leaves, stunted growth, as well as weakness or death of the plant.
If you notice that your shake plant is lacking a specific nutrient, you can quickly correct it by spraying foliar fertilizer on the leaves.
Pruning
One thing about strawberry shake plants is that they can grow out of control if you are not too attentive. To keep the size of your strawberry shake plants in check and also maintain their beauty, you need to occasionally prune them. Pruning helps to maintain the beautiful sign that your visitors see when they look at your plants.
To prune your strawberry shake plants, you will need pruning scissors or a knife. Remove weak and dead leaves from the shake plant.
Also, look for leaves that are growing out of control and then remove them. While pruning your plants, ensure to remove the leaves from the surface of the substrate so that they do not decay there.
You should prune your strawberry shake plants once or twice yearly a year after you start growing them. Well, the pruning rate depends on your preferred plant size as well as your schedule. Please remember to use only clean and disinfected tools when pruning your plant so that you do not expose it to contamination.
Propagation
Propagating your strawberry shake plant is easy so long as you have a healthy and matured mother plant which you can get cuttings or shoots from. Here are the common methods to propagate your strawberry shake plant:
– Propagation by Cuttings
All you need is a healthy cutting for this method. You can get your strawberry shake cut by collecting its stem with three or four leaves. Just make sure that there are nodes in the stem and you are good to go. Use a clean and disinfected knife or scissors to collect the cutting from the mother plant.
Wait for 24 or more hours for the cutting to callus. When the wound is dry, you can plant the cutting in a new substrate. Make sure that the substrate is either newly-bought or made potting mix or baked potting mix. Do not use an old potting mix without sterilizing it so that you do not harm the plant.
You should water the strawberry shake cutting two or three times weekly until it starts to produce new leaves. You can also water it by using a spray bottle to mist the leaves. Make sure that you keep the new plant in a place where it can receive just the right amount of light.
– Propagation by Shoots
When your strawberry shake plant is matured enough, you will notice some shoots popping from its roots. These shoots grow to become healthy plants, so instead of using your plant cutting, you can collect the shoots. Propagation by shoots is easy, but you need to pay attention to the process so that you do not harm your plant.
The first thing to do before collecting the shoots is to brush off the substrate from the surface so that you can reveal the point where an individual shoot is attached to the mother plant.
Additionally, check if you can collect it with some nearby roots, there is no problem if you cannot find any roots.
If the shoot has some roots attached to it, you just need to pluck it, wait until the wound dries up, and then plant it in a new substrate. If there is no root attached, you should pluck the shoot, wait until the wound dries up, dip the shoot in a rooting hormone and then plant it in a new substrate.
Now you know how you can propagate your strawberry shake plant.
Problems to Watch Out for
Strawberry shakes have proven to be easy to grow and propagate. Well, you just need to avoid the following problems for your plants to grow optimally:
– Pest Attack
Pests such as slugs, fungus gnats, mealworms, etc. can attack your strawberry shake plants. You should use insect or mollusk repellent to repel your plant pests.
As for fungus gnats, they can indicate that you are giving your strawberry shake too much water than what it needs. If you see fungus gnats near your plant, try to reduce how often you water the plant.
– Watering Problems
You can either overwater your strawberry shake plant or not give it enough water. Overwatering the plant can lead to root rot and the leaves will become brown and fall off.
Not giving the plant enough water can lead to the withering of the leaves, petioles, and stems of the plant. Make sure that you water your strawberry shake plant once or twice weekly. You can always check the moisture of your plant substrate to know if it needs more water or not.
– Light Problems
Light is important, but you should not give more light than what your strawberry shake plant needs. Growing your strawberry shake in a place with four to six hours of sunlight is great for the plant. If the plant does not receive up to four hours of light, it would have stunted growth, become weak, and die.
Exposing the plant to too much sunlight can lead to sunburn and it can spoil the coloration of your plant leaves.
– Nutrient Problems
You know that your plant will have stunted growth, and pale leaves, and might even die if you do not give it enough nutrients. What if you overfeed it? Overfeeding your strawberry shake plants can lead to their leaves burning and you can see your plants withering before your eyes.
To save your plant, you may want to rinse the roots with clean water. Therefore, as long as you can avoid these problems, you are good to go in growing strawberry shake plants.
Final note:
Nutrient competition: If you expose the substrate of your strawberry shake plant, other unwanted plants can grow there and compete with your plant for nutrients and moisture. Using mulch can prevent weed competition.