Grow Persian Shield Indoors

Grow Persian shield indoors in bright filtered light, keep the mix moist, and raise humidity. Dry furnace air browns the leaf edges, and a dim room washes the purple out.

Give it bright filtered light, keep the mix moist, and raise humidity

Persian shield keeps its metallic purple indoors only when the light is bright and the air is not dry. A south or east window is the usual home. Sheer the glass if the afternoon sun is harsh, because hot glass fades the leaf the same way a dim room does. [1] Feel the top inch of mix. If it is dry, water until the pot drains, then empty the saucer. A thin layer of pebbles in a tray, with water under the pot but not touching the roots, raises humidity around the leaves. [2] Hold the room near 65 to 75°F, and bring a patio pot in before nights drop below about 60°F. Brown, crisp edges usually mean the air is too dry, not that you skipped a feed. [3]

1. Set it in bright, filtered light. An east window, or a few feet back from a south window with a sheer curtain, is enough.
2. Water when the top inch of mix is dry. Soak until water runs out, then empty the saucer.
3. Raise humidity with a pebble tray or a room humidifier. Dry heat from a vent browns the leaf edges.

Water a little less in winter, and keep it above about 60°F

From fall through late winter the plant uses less water, so let the mix dry a little further before you water again, but do not let it go bone-dry. Skip fertilizer until spring growth starts. A plant you dug from the garden may drop leaves after the move; keep it warm and wait for new shoots. [4]

1. In winter, wait until the top couple of inches of mix are dry, then water and empty the saucer.
2. Skip fertilizer until new growth starts in spring.
3. Keep the pot above about 60°F. Do not leave it on a cold windowsill or next to a door that blows winter air.

Plant it in a pot that drains

Knock the plant from its nursery pot and set it no deeper than it was already growing. Fill around it with houseplant mix that drains. A pot about 10 inches across with a hole is a solid start. Stay one size up when the roots fill the container, usually every couple of years in spring.

1. Choose a pot with a hole. If you set it in a cachepot, keep the inner pot free to drain, then empty the outer pot after you water.
2. Fill with houseplant mix that drains. Do not pack ordinary garden soil around the roots.
3. Set the crown at the same depth as the nursery pot. Water once to settle the mix, then wait until the top inch is dry before you water again.
4. Move up one pot size when roots fill the container. A plant that is a little snug fails less often than one in a large, wet mass of mix.

Set the next pot in bright filtered light, water when the top inch is dry, and keep humidity up so the leaf edges stay whole.