Variegation Tips and Tricks

You just brought home a beautiful new variegated plant and now you’re looking to encourage even more variegation. So, what can you do to bring out more beauty in your leaves?  

The first helpful tip is something that your plant already needs, light! The more sun your plant gets, the more variegation will be encouraged. However, don’t mistake that for placing your plant in bright, direct sunlight – your plant still needs indirect light, but you can move it to a brighter spot.  

Next, it’s helpful to trim away the excess or non-variegated leaves. Every kind of variegated plant will produce non-variegated leaves here and there. Trimming away unhealthy or unvariegated leaves triggers hormones that promote new growth. Each new leaf has the genetic potential to hold extra variegation! 

Our third tip is a great one for plants in general but is especially helpful for variegated ones. Keep your temperature consistent. Big changes cause your plants a lot of stress, which will lead to potential leaf damage. Keep your plants in a temperature-stable location, away from vents, ovens, cold drafts, and other areas that experience quick change.  

Again, a tip that’s helpful for all plants, but especially variegated ones. Keep them clean! The cleaner the leaves are, the better they can absorb light and other nutrients they need. A clean plant is a happy one.  

Next, we all know our plants need enough water to keep and produce chlorophyll. But, giving your plants too much water can trick the plant into producing more chlorophyll, which will fade variegation. Do your best to strike a balance between keeping your plant hydrated, and not over saturating it.  

Lastly, patience is key. There are so many kinds of plants that can be variegated. It’s important to know if you have one that is more prone to variegation when it’s young or gets more variegated with time. Either way, you want to help your plant grow and blossom in the healthiest way, hoping for more variegation to come through along the way!  

For a bonus tip, use a variegated leaf for propagation! Only a variegated leaf can create more variegation, so use that to your advantage!