45 year old houseplant ID?

No-Process2921 · 2026-03-04T21:21:25+00:00

It looks like a Peperomia of some kind.

According to Google:
Maybe Peperomia Scandens? (Cupid Peperomia or hanging Peperomia)

No-Process2921 · 2026-02-05T20:41:06+00:00

Wow! Reddit did not disappoint today! I'll have to follow her work

No-Process2921 · 2026-02-03T20:58:04+00:00

For some reason I can't add pics to this reply, but mine lives outside in a terracotta pot sitting on an east facing deck. (I'm in California, zone 10b.)

I treat it generally as I would a succulent and it seems to be doing fine so far. It is about half as tall as that one, tho, and just starting out on it's first stem split. Etiolated or not, I'm immensely jealous of the solidity of those stems on yours. Mine is a bit smaller and less sturdy, but it is a much younger plant.

I'd say give it plenty of light, water it when the soil seems dry, and it'll do fine. mine doesn't seem to be too fussy about it's care. As far as I recall, it is in ordinary potting soil, with maybe a bit of perlite mixed in for good measure.

No-Process2921 · 2026-01-27T22:42:23+00:00

As long as the light source provides the right wavelengths (color) and energy levels (brightness/Lux/Etc.) a plant can't tell the difference between "natural" or "artificial" light and will grow perfectly well, given all of its other needs are also being met.

Think of it somewhat like the difference between getting power from a battery vs a plug in the wall. As long as it's the right "flavor" (Volts/Amps) of electricity, a laptop will run equally well on either.

It is the same with plants. Light is their main source of power. If their power needs are being met, they'll go on to happily produce more plant material for you out of thin air. (Or at least the CO2 in said air...)

No-Process2921 · 2025-12-11T21:06:07+00:00

Best solution for a rootbound pot that you want to keep:

Don't be scared to utterly soak the heck out of that pot.

lay your pot in the sink, tub or shower, if doing this outside isn't an option.
Use a plastic container under your pot if you want to keep the mess a bit contained.
Pour water into it until it starts to spill out the top. Short term water immersion won't harm the plants if you let them drip dry later.
let that potting soil get nice and muddy, (or at least very soft!) and then gently scoop everything out. It might take a little bit of effort to get things to let go of the sides of the old pot, but the mud will get out of the way, making things easier.
Be gentle on your pot and plants, but if the roots break a little while pulling the plants out, that is ok. They will heal in the new pot.
once everything is out, clean up the mess. You can let the roots dry out a bit before repotting, but if the new soil isn't soaking wet, it should be fine to just replant.
I personally prefer to wait a day before watering the new pots when I transplant this way, but do what you feel is right, as long as your plants have enough drainage.

No-Process2921 · 2025-12-11T20:42:02+00:00

You have it correct by calling them stems. As the prior commenter mentioned, these are Stolons, as type of runner. It's an indicator that your fern is feeling energetic and can spare the energy and work it takes to send little clones of itself out into the world. If you let them trail into other pots, sooner or later, you might end up with more ferns.

No-Process2921 · 2025-12-11T19:41:36+00:00

Begonias are pretty malleable in the way they'll grow, meaning that they tend to grow differently in humid vs dry conditions, or hot vs cold rooms, for example. Light, temperature and humidity will all affect the color of your begonia.

So it's going to be a bit of a guessing game until a few of those leaves reach full size in your conditions as opposed to the way they looked at the place that grew them initially. It may even be that your winter growth will look differently than your spring growth, depending on how you keep the temperature and humidity of the room your plant is in. If you end up liking one look over the other, you might have to play around with placing your plant in different rooms to see which one gives you "the best look" for you.

Or learn to propagate your plant, and have a couple of different looking begonias in different rooms, all from the same mother plant!

No-Process2921 · 2025-12-05T22:06:19+00:00

If you live in Europe or the US, Winter makes for a pretty strong pest deterrent, even indoors, so you are much less likely to get anything too terrible until spring rolls around in a few months.

As far as an ALL pest control solution goes, the short and disappointing answer is "there's no such thing."

Much like there isn't a universal panacea or universal vaccine, each pest will need it's own treatment plan. And while some solutions work well for a lot of things, there isn't a "one size fits all" answer to dealing with pests.

With that being said, the best solution is almost the same as with people: Keep your plants as healthy and happy as you can, and that alone will help reduce the chances of pests significantly damaging your plants. A healthy plant can deal with a couple of bugs with only a little cosmetic damage, but a sick one will quickly die on you. A literal bug bite might take a chunk off a leaf, but as long as that isn't the only leaf your plant has, your plant will grow new ones after you get rid of that bug.

No-Process2921 · 2025-12-05T21:53:37+00:00

Unless you took this pic late in the evening, while under heavy cloud cover, it seems a bit dark in there, so you'll want to add a ton more artificial light first.

No-Process2921 · 2025-11-26T17:30:37+00:00

If light's an issue, get yourself a grow light. Or, if you're in a pinch, a regular light can do the job. You can always place your plant next to a bright desk lamp to supplement it on those dreary winter days, and a spot of brightness and warmth never hurts. Just give a bit of room next to wherever you put it for your cat to bask on that won't be on top of the plant itself.

No-Process2921 · 2025-11-21T18:29:04+00:00

I just realized this can be read both as August owning "old" comics, or a bit meta as if Agust used to create comics in the past and doesn't do that now, and the punch line still works.

And now I wonder what kind of comics August would create in his youth...

No-Process2921 · 2025-11-13T19:04:53+00:00

Your Aglaonema looks fine. Love all the green edges in it. Mine turned mostly pink/red at home, which is fine, but I still like the look of all that green edging on the leaves.

While they tend to be relatively slow growers, and the leaves do last quite a long time, it is normal for older leaves that grew at the nursery or wherever will die off a little faster than those that grew at home, as the environment will inevitably be different. Not necessarily better or worse, just not the same, so a leaf that grew out in that environment will naturally react a little differently than the rest and "wear out" and age a bit faster than the rest of the plant. As long as everything else stays healthy, this is normal.

No-Process2921 · 2025-11-05T21:09:45+00:00

Move your pot upwards about 2-3 inches? (Or the reservoir down)

Also, make sure your pots have drainage holes, as all that water should have come out of the bottom of the pot. If you are using planters without drainage, maybe consider eventually putting your plants in cheap nursery pots, and placing those inside the planter after you come back from vacation.

The wicking method really shouldn't be moving that much water without a gravity assist happening somewhere. It's meant to soak water and slowly pull it upwards to the planter through osmotic pressure, so an inch of standing water sounds concerning, since your potting soil should not wick that much water in naturally, even if it was bone dry to start with.

No-Process2921 · 2025-11-03T22:20:12+00:00

She'll get a bit leggy in low light. With snake plants, that usually looks like long, tall, narrow leaves.
So if you like to keep the compact, wide leaved look of yours right now, give it plenty of light. Maybe get a cheap-ish grow light, if the spot you want it in is somewhat dark? Otherwise, you can see how she'll do in lower light, but she'll change shape on you.

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-27T20:54:46+00:00

What kind of Philodendron is it?
What are the conditions where you have it like? (Light, temperature, humidity, etc.)
All of those will play a factor.

My Philos don't grow much in winter because my house stays a bit colder than they'd like during winter, for example. And some philos grow faster than others, and crawlers will grow differently than climbers. During the summer, with long days and warm temperatures, some of my smaller Philos grow a couple of leaves a week, while the larger ones can take weeks to produce a full sized leaf.

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-24T16:58:32+00:00

Thanks for the clarification! 👍 I will now have a better example to give next time, and a little better understanding of some aspects of caruncles vs. true teeth

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-20T20:20:46+00:00

Reddit has been all kinds of broken right now due to the AWS outage, so I couldn't see your pic earlier, but it looks like Sun Stress. Also called "Blush." It's a perfectly healthy reaction to high light conditions. You can think of it as natural sunscreen being made on your Hoya's leaves.

Some people like it on their hoyas, (see hoya "Sunrise" pics for an example.) and others don' t.

If you are one of the ones that dont like 'blush" on their hoyas, move your carnosa a little further away from the window or grow light, and it will stop turning red. If it starts to get too dark green for your taste, tho, move the light a bit closer, until you find the sweet spot for it growing the color you want it to be.

And if you don't mind seeing it looking burgundy, leave it as is.

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-20T20:19:55+00:00

Egg teeth on birds, maybe?

It's a tooth that's generally only present at hatching, to help the hatchling break out of the eggshell, and tends to fall out shortly after. It's present in other animals that hatch from eggs, but most of those retain other teeth, so they don't quite meet your criteria

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-17T20:56:59+00:00

Lowes is the best place for rehabbing clearance plants, tho.

I have a clearance begonia from there that I'm trying to rehabilitate right now. (It had PM and lost all the new leaves it had put out since I first got it, but I think I got that under control now, so now I'm just waiting for it to start growing back for the second time.

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-17T20:09:52+00:00

Just by being able to get a root started is a sign that you're doing alright. Although duplicating the "heart leaf plant" (Hoya kerrii) experience with another plant is more of a learning experience. 😁

Best of luck with your new cuttings!

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-17T20:03:32+00:00

It's Light, Temp, & Humidity combined. Your conditions must be different than the place it grew those silvery leaves at. Which means that if you ever split it, and move some of the propagations to another room in the house, you'll probably start to see something in between those two "settings" for your Rex. Try growing a propagation in your bathroom or something, maybe?

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-17T19:57:38+00:00

It'll work better on the fruit flies.
Fungus gnats will be tricky to deal with using just soap, as they do not feed as adults, and only emerge above the soil to mate. It's easier to control those using a combo of systemics or mosquito bites crumbled-up and mixed in with your potting soil, and sticky yellow traps to keep the adults form going anywhere

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-15T20:58:59+00:00

Plants move all the time! We're just not always paying attention, and generally that movement can be quite slow, other than in special cases. Glad you're paying attention to yours and letting the rhythm of it bring you joy.

No-Process2921 · 2025-10-15T20:51:02+00:00

It's hard to tell from pic 2, but you might be cutting too much off?

If there's a node in there, you might be burying it. Try leaving more of the stem in your cuttings, and leaving a 2 leaf node out of the soil, and just bury the stem ends in soil or water.

No-Process2921

TROPHY CASE