Houseplant · Araceae
Chinese Evergreen
Aglaonema commutatum
Forgiving, shade-friendly, and content in a warm room, Chinese evergreen is a kind first plant for anyone afraid of getting it wrong.
Bright indirect
60–80°F · 16–27°C
USDA 10–12
12–20 in · 30–51 cm
Overview
If a houseplant has ever made you nervous, this is a wonderful one to start with. Chinese evergreen belongs to the arum family and grew up on the shaded, humid forest floors of the Philippines and Sulawesi. Those warm, low-light roots are exactly why it forgives the dim corners and cozy indoor heat of an ordinary home, so you can relax a little.
What you will fall for is the foliage. The leaves arrive marbled, streaked, and brushed with silver, green, cream, and deep red, and the cultivar you choose quietly decides how much light it would like. The solid-green kinds are happiest of all in shade, while the red and boldly variegated ones keep their color when you give them gentle, brighter indirect light.
It stays small and tidy, usually 12 to 20 inches (30 to 51 cm) tall, and takes its sweet time growing. Keep it warm, water with a soft hand, and it asks for almost nothing more, so early mistakes are easy to recover from. One thing to hold onto: every part of this plant is toxic to pets and can irritate people, so simply set it somewhere safe and you are all set.
Care
The short version: bright indirect light for the colorful kinds and gentle low light for the green ones, water only once the top inch or two of soil feels dry, keep it cozy above 60°F (16°C), and feed with a light touch.
Light
Offer the colorful and variegated kinds bright indirect light and they will hold their pretty markings for you. The plain green ones are the easygoing exception, happy in low light and even deep shade. Just keep every one of them out of direct sun, which can scorch the leaves.
Water
Wait until the top 1 to 2 inches (about 3 to 5 cm) of soil feels dry, then water, keeping the mix lightly moist from spring through fall. Ease off from early fall to late winter, though never let it go bone dry. Room-temperature water is kindest, since cold can startle the roots, and remember that soggy soil is the real cause of root rot.
Soil
A well-drained peaty or soilless mix with a little extra humus makes it feel right at home, and the pot truly does need drainage holes. It enjoys soil that leans slightly acidic, at a pH at or below 6.0.
Temperature
Keep it comfortably warm, ideally between 68°F and 80°F (20°C to 27°C). It will manage down to about 55°F (13°C), but chilling damage sets in below 50°F (10°C), so hold a 60°F (16°C) minimum through winter and tuck it away from cold drafts.
Humidity
Ordinary household humidity is plenty, so there is no number to fret over. The one thing to avoid is very dry air, which slowly browns the leaf tips.
Feeding
A light feed during the spring-through-fall growing season is all it wants. Too much fertilizer scorches the leaf edges, so whenever you are unsure, give a little less and trust the plant.
Pruning
There is hardly anything to do here beyond pinching off spent flowers and any fruit so the plant pours its energy into leaves. It does grow leggy with age, and if the lower leaves fall away you can cut the bare top off and re-root it into a fresh plant.
Repotting
Repot only when it has outgrown its pot or the soil has worn out, which is not often at all. Roots circling the top or slipping through the drainage holes, or a top-heavy, leggy shape, are its gentle way of telling you it is time.
Size & spacing
Look forward to a compact companion, 12 to 20 inches (30 to 51 cm) tall and 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) wide. Leave a little breathing room so air can move freely around the leaves.
Troubleshooting
Almost every wobble with a Chinese evergreen traces back to water or warmth, and it shows up at the roots or along the leaf edges. Don't worry if something looks off; find what matches below, and you can usually set it right.
Yellowing foliage and a soft, squishy stem base
This one is root rot, and it nearly always comes from soil that stayed too wet for too long. Once the roots go brown and slimy they can no longer drink, so the plant wilts even while it is drowning, which feels confusing but is fixable. Slip it out of the pot, trim away the rotted roots, and settle it into fresh well-drained mix in a pot that actually drains.
Fix:
- Stop watering and let the soil dry appropriately
- Unpot and remove rotted roots; repot into fresh well-drained mix
- Ensure the container has working drainage holes
Discolored, blotchy, or curling leaves following a chill
Chinese evergreen is a tropical soul and feels chilling damage below about 50°F (10°C), with the discoloration and curling often turning up a day or two later. A cold draft, or even a drink of cold tap water, can bring it on too. Move it somewhere snug in the 68°F to 80°F (20°C to 27°C) range and keep it comfortably above 55°F (13°C) from here on, and new growth will come in clean.
Fix:
- Move the plant to a warmer spot in the preferred 68-80°F range
- Keep above 60°F, ideally well above 55°F
- Avoid cold drafts and use room-temperature water
Fine webbing, cottony fluff, or sticky little bumps on the foliage
A few familiar pests can drop by. Fine webbing with speckled leaves means spider mites, white cottony tufts tucked in the leaf joints are mealybugs, and small brown limpet-like bumps are scale. Wipe or rinse them away, set the plant apart from the others, and treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating gently until they have cleared.
Fix:
- Wipe off or wash off pests; isolate the affected plant
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating as needed
- Raise humidity to discourage spider mites
Brown, crispy tips or edges along the leaves
Try not to panic if the tips go crisp; dry air is usually all it is, though a cold draft or a little too much feeding can singe the edges the same way. Shift the plant away from vents and chilly windows, lighten up on feeding, and snip the worst tips just to tidy things. As long as the green center stays bright, the roots are perfectly fine.
Fix:
- Move the plant away from drafts, heating/AC vents, and cold windows
- Raise ambient humidity or avoid very dry air
- Flush the soil and reduce fertilizer if over-fed
- Trim off badly browned tips for appearance
Variegated or red leaves fading and stretching in dim light
The colored and variegated cultivars quietly want more light than most people expect, and in a dark corner they lose their markings and lean toward the window. The plain green types are perfectly content in shade, so this is really just a matching problem, nothing you did wrong. Give the colorful ones brighter indirect light and let the green forms keep the dimmest spots.
Fix:
- Move variegated and red cultivars to brighter indirect (low-to-moderate) light
- Keep solid-green cultivars for the darkest spots
- Avoid direct sun, which scorches foliage
Toxicity
This is a plant to keep up and out of reach, and that is easy enough to manage. Every part holds insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, so chewing any of it brings burning, swelling, and drooling for pets, livestock, and people. None of it is safe to eat, and the sap can sting skin, so wash your hands once you have handled it.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
If a cat chews a leaf, it will feel a sudden sting in the mouth right away, and you may see drooling, pawing at the face, and sometimes vomiting. A swollen tongue and lips can make swallowing difficult.
Dogs Moderate
The crystals sting the instant a dog chews, so look for heavy drooling, pawing at the mouth, and vomiting. Swelling of the tongue and throat can follow soon after.
Horses Moderate
Chewing brings on fierce oral burning, a swollen mouth and tongue, and steady drooling. Horses cannot vomit, so the irritation and the trouble swallowing are what you will notice first.
Rabbits Toxic
The same calcium oxalate crystals irritate a rabbit's tender mouth and gut, leaving it drooling and uninterested in food. Please keep the plant well out of its reach.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, goats, and sheep that browse the foliage end up with a burning, swollen mouth and heavy drooling, and most back away after that first painful bite.
Birds Toxic
A pet bird that nibbles the leaves meets the same oral burning and irritation. Because they are so small, even a little is worth a quick call to the vet.
People Caution
No part of the plant is edible, and a chewed leaf burns the mouth and can swell the lips and tongue. The sap may irritate skin too, so wash your hands after handling and keep it away from young children.
All parts contain calcium oxalate crystals and sap can cause skin/mucous-membrane irritation in people; wash hands after handling and keep away from pets and young children
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
You will see Chinese evergreen sold under dozens of cultivar names, grouped mostly by leaf color and how much light each one likes. These are the friendly faces you are most likely to meet.
'Maria'
Its dark green leaves are streaked with soft silver, and it counts among the more shade tolerant cultivars, so it is a kind choice for a dim corner.
'Silver Bay'
Green leaves are washed with silver variegation running down the center of each one, giving it a calm, easy beauty.
'Siam Aurora' (also sold as 'Red Aglaonema')
Deep crimson traces the veins and edges, a colorful type that simply needs brighter indirect light than the plain green forms to stay its best.
'Silver Queen'
Dark green leaves carry heavy silver-gray variegation across most of the surface, so it reads almost more silver than green.
'Crete'
Green leaves are splashed and edged in burgundy red and set off by pale pink stems, a cheerful little standout.
How to propagate
Making more Chinese evergreens is genuinely easy, and the chance usually arrives on its own when you repot or when an older plant grows a little leggy.
DivisionEasy
Spring at repotting · Several weeks
The simplest way to make more is to divide a plant you already have. When you repot in spring, gently tease the clump into sections that each keep their own roots, pot them up, and they settle in over the next few weeks with very little fuss.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Spring to summer · Several weeks to root
When an older plant turns leggy and sheds its lower leaves, please don't toss it. Cut the bare top off in spring or summer and re-root it, and over a few weeks it sends out new roots and begins again as a fresh, full plant.
SeedModerate
When fresh seed is available · Slow
Starting from seed is possible when fresh seed happens to turn up, but it is the slow road and asks more patience than the other two ways. Most people happily stick with division or cuttings.
Myths
Keeping a Chinese evergreen will purify and freshen the air throughout your rooms.
A 2020 review of the research found that potted plants don't really shift indoor air quality at any density you would live with comfortably. To equal what a building's normal ventilation already manages, you would need somewhere between 10 and 1,000 plants per square meter. Keep this lovely thing for how it looks, not as an air purifier.