House Plant That Looks Like Lily Pads

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Lily pads are stunning flowers that grow on the surface of standing water like lakes and ponds. They look super stunning with their giant leafy pads. If you want a house plant that looks like a lily pad, you should go for the Pilea Peperomioides, commonly known as the Pancake Plant or Chinese Money Plant.

Let’s take a closer look at what the plant is all about.

What Is the Pilea Peperomioides?

A stylish contemporary houseplant with ease of growth is Pilea peperomioides. It may also be propagated easily and is known as the Pancake or Chinese Money Plant.

A Pilea peperomioides plant is guaranteed to be a great addition to your indoor plant collection, whether you’re a novice or a seasoned pro.

Its flat, coin-shaped, round leaves are originally from China. These factors together gave it the nickname “Chinese money plant.”

Its leaves, which resemble lily pads, are suspended on delicate-looking stalks and will bob about on their own in a little wind. Where the stems meet the leaves and keep them in place, there will be a dot of white or a lighter color of green toward the top portion of every single leaf.

Before 2017, this houseplant was almost unheard of, but it suddenly shot to fame and is now among the most often used indoor plants.

Top Tip: They appear beautiful, either grown as solitary plants on their own or placed beside other plants to make a pretty arrangement. They will flourish anywhere in the house if you’ve got them out of the shade.

You might also like; Why Does My Potted House Plant Have Wavy Leaves?

What Does a Pilea Look Like in Good Health?

Green and flat leaves on a healthy pile are desirable. The yellowing of the Pilea’s leaves might indicate that you’re watering it too little or too much. If that’s the case, you shouldn’t worry; a remedy can be found. Lack of sunshine is another factor that could result in yellowing leaves.

Guide for Caring for Pilea Peperomioides

There are some things that you need to take care of for your houseplant that look like lily pads in the United States. Here are some tips that you need to understand.

Light

Spend a bit of time here trying to ensure you get the light that needs to be perfect since it’s one of the crucial maintenance parts to get it correctly. These plants don’t appreciate direct sunlight, according to several sources. However, this isn’t entirely accurate.

If you look carefully, your Pilea has many characteristics in common with succulents, such as stiff, waxy leaves and stout stems. All of these point to the plant’s ability to withstand intense brightness and some direct sunshine. They want it, and they start to suffer very rapidly in low light.

Lack of light will cause the leaves to curl and bend rather than stay flat and coin-like. The leaves will develop a purple tint slowly or seem washed out if you accidentally provide too much light.

Burn spots may appear if the lighting suddenly rises, as might happen if you had been keeping the object in low light and then putting it into direct sunshine. To help your plant adjust to the new environment, relocate it gently.

Keep your Pilea Peperomioides within reach of bright sunlight. They truly like some sunshine but in moderation! 

They won’t grow straight up unless you provide them intense light from above, as from an above-grow light or skylight.

All the leaves will begin to approach the window as the core stem slows toward the closest light source. Rotate the plant once every seven days to avoid this. This quality may be used to your benefit to create separate “looks.”

Watering

The plant would like a good soaking, followed by a period of solitude during which it nearly completely dries out.

Remember that you might need to hydrate it a few times each week if you’re providing adequate light and the weather is rather warm. Make sure it is less when it’s colder or in the winter.

The plant usually droops when conditions are too dry because the stems weaken and begin to flop. Watch out for this signal from your plant if you tend to neglect your indoor plants.

Your plants may also droop if you’ve overwatered them. Therefore, check the soil once again before grabbing the watering can if you see the Pilea flopping.

  • Overwatering is indicated by drooping and moist soil; wait for the area to dry.
  • Dry soil and drooping indicate underwatering, so start watering.

Humidity

Most workplaces and houses will have a reasonable degree of humidity, so you probably don’t need to worry about it. However, in very humid areas, the Chinese Money Plant may suffer.

This, combined with dim lighting and chilly temps, is the ideal formula for yellowing leaves or other root rot or mold issues. The damp bathroom or kitchen are not the best places for this houseplant.

Feeding

Since Pilea Peperomioides often generate a lot of pups and growth, they periodically need feeding to maintain everything operating as it should. Don’t go overboard, however. It just requires fertilizing once monthly using a typical houseplant or cactus-based fertilizer.

Temperature

To flourish, this plant must be hotter than 55 °F (13 °C). In other words, stay away from chilly areas and prevent any potential for frost.

Soil and Potting

Since they need more room, these houseplants usually overrun their containers because either the mother plant has expanded or because it has generated too many offsets, and its pot is completely filled.

Due to how quickly it grew when we originally received our baby plant, it required repotting again in the first year.

In the years that followed, once per year was plenty. Make careful not to make it too huge; a pot that is only one or two sizes larger than the previous one will suffice.

All these houseplants need is a typical all-purpose potting mix when choosing their soil.

Pilea peperomioides require a basic all-purpose potting mix for its soil demands. Choose one that is designated as being appropriate for indoor or outdoor plants.

Aerating the soil and providing an area for the roots to expand and for additional pups to form are all benefits of good drainage.

The plants are thirsty. Thus, the potting mix needs to be fully able to store a certain amount of water. Therefore, you would be doing yourself a favor and steering clear of excessively porous mixes; otherwise, you’ll have to water almost every day to meet demand.

Propagation

Among the main advantages of this plant is the ease of propagation by cuttings and removal of the endless stream of runners and offsets it produces.

Pilea Peperomioides may be grown from seed. However, it is challenging. Many individuals offer seeds online, but fresh seeds will provide the greatest results since they appear to lose their vigor rather rapidly.

However, it might be hit or miss since you don’t know when the seed you’re purchasing was gathered. Starting from seed, new plants take a while to begin going, and it takes much longer for the seedlings to grow to a respectable size.

Therefore, cultivating it from seed isn’t really a good idea unless you don’t have accessibility to the mother plant that you can collect from.

Let’s imagine you choose the simpler route and wish to assist the puppies. Here’s a quick and simple method for growing more Pilea peperomioides.

First, take a look at the kind of growth that you can observe at the Pilea’s level of the soil. Numerous growth spots, or “offsets,” will be seen after the main plant reaches a particular stage of maturity.

The primary stem will become the largest, lesser stems will start to develop, or miniature wooden stalks with little leaves will appear.

Top Tip: No offsets visible? Your plants aren’t mature enough if all you have is the main stem from the mother plant. Recheck it in a few months.

The mother plant’s main stem in the picture below can be seen in the backdrop. The offsets it produces may be plucked and grown at the locations indicated by the red circles. The process is quite simple.

You have two choices. You may attempt to erase the offset’s whole contents, including its root structure. However, since the leaves and stems of Pilea plants grow so closely together, they may get rather crowded, making it challenging to maintain proper spacing.

Give it a try if you’re feeling more confident and see how you do. Read on because you can still utilize what you’ve gotten if things somehow go wrong and you get the central stem with no roots.

The second choice is to remove or dig off a little dirt around the offset’s key core stem as close as possible to the mother plant. Chop it off with a sharp knife after getting as far as possible without harming the mother plant.

The outcome is seen in the picture below on the left. A substantial portion of the brown wooden stem, but without any roots.

The offset is then placed in a water container. The green growth should be visible above the water as long as the stem is immersed.

You’ll have a whole system of new roots within only a few short weeks. At this stage, take it out of the water container and pot it in a soil mixture identical to the one it was previously growing in.

In a few more weeks, the offset should begin to root and firmly anchor in the ground, at which time it is secure to distribute. Or, as people say on Instagram, “plantgang,” you can accept it as a full-fledged new family member of houseplants.

Is it possible to root simply a Pilea leaf with just a stem? Yes, you very certainly can. However, it won’t ever grow into a typical plant if you have the stem that links to the leaf and not a portion of the key core brown stem. i.e., you will always have only that one leaf.

Rapidity of Growth

These plants are pretty robust and will develop relatively quickly, as you have probably inferred from reading our essay up until this point.

Although it’s difficult to be precise since your growth circumstances will vary from mine, it’s reasonable to anticipate that your plant will double in size yearly. In the first year, relatively seedlings are likely to increase in size.

Dimension/Spread

Most individuals choose to keep their pilea between tiny and medium size. But it’s clear from the many available pictures that they may grow extremely tall over time if you allow them.

The primary plant won’t try to spread out that much, but if the offsets are left in situ and allowed to develop instead of being removed, they will ultimately give the plant a fuller, broader appearance.

Flowers

Instead of being cultivated for the infrequently seen beautiful blossoms, Pilea Peperomioides is grown for its adorable appearance and peculiar pancake-like leaves.

However, it is unquestionably true that well-grown, mature Pileas will ultimately produce some blooms. Although the plants don’t smell or stand out in any way, Pileas are nevertheless peculiar in their very own unique manner.

Are Pets Safe Near Pilea Peperomioides?

Can cats safely be near Pilea peperomioides? Sure, it is. It is also safe to have near kids, dogs, and most other pets. If your pet shows excessive interest in the leaves, you may want to relocate it since rough play might harm the area. 

Conclusion

If you are looking for houseplants that look like lily pads in the United States, the Pilea Peperomioides is a great option. They look lovely in the house and really make the room look greener and more natural. The openness that a big-leafed plant can create is amazing.

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