Baby Tears Mimics Moss for a Green Accent Indoors

Baby tears is a delicate creeping herb with little glowing green kidney-shaped leaves and multitudes of almost inconspicuous white flowers when in bloom. It grows close to the floor in mats and is often utilized in decorative gardens alongside ferns and other moisture-loving plants; it is also used as a general ground cover.

Fortunately for the indoor gardener, it can also flourish indoors. You can use it in several creative approaches to mimic the look of moss or boxwood, or as a delicate backdrop in an open terrarium or blended planter.

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Because of its spreading, creeping type, infant tears (Soleirolia soleirolii) works particularly well when allowed to drape over the edge of a pot or systematically pinched off to make a mound of tight green leaves. From the arrangement , tiny tendrils cascade over the sides of the aged urn, while the show stealer is the central clump.

This stunning living wall owes much of its own fluid and textural type to infant rips, which can be quite straightforward to maintain within an installation of this sort, so long as it is kept moist and gets some natural light. A haircut today and then is imperative to maintain the moss-like look.

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Once you get the care of this little plant down, you can easily enlarge your selection, as propagation is straightforward and generally successful.

To disperse infant rips:

Strategy 1: Press any connected stem or shoot into a moist rooting medium. New roots will form, and the new plant can be cut from the parent plant.

Strategy 2: Dip a cutting into rooting hormone, then place it into a combination of moist peat and perlite. Cover the pot with a plastic bag, sealed on top with a rubber ring to contain the moisture and give the plant much-needed humidity. Put it in bright light, and follicles will begin to form within a week or two.

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Baby tears is indigenous to the northern Mediterranean, in and around Italy and neighboring islands, but it has been cultivated almost worldwide as a decorative and garden plant. It can be utilised in habitats for amphibians in addition to be submerged entirely in water in fish tanks.

It can adapt to soil or water, but not both. When grown in soil, the plant needs adequate drainage, because it cannot withstand excessive water.

One other species, dwarf baby tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides),is the smallest known plant plant, and can be an ideal foreground plant. If regularly pruned, it can also be floated at the water’s surface; it is the ideal place for spawning fish to hide their eggs in and for bottom dwellers to forage for their next meal at.

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Baby tears looks great in many different decorative containers, however it’s better to use a liner that can be eliminated for watering or, even better, that sits on a bed of stones within the container of your choice. Keep the stones moist and they’ll help give a humid setting for your plant, but ensure that the liner is not sitting .

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Small pots of infant tears can be moved around the house as decorative props, even though it is going to flourish best if elevated most of the time in a humid environment, like a toilet.

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Owing to its propensity to disperse, the plant works well as a ground cover. It’s used outdoors in several landscape installations and works particularly well with other moisture-loving plants, like the foxtail fern in the foreground as well as the asparagus fern in the background .

Baby tears favors shade and medium warmth outdoors, and in colder areas it expires during the winter, returning with lush growth as the temperature increases.

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How to Care for Baby Tears

Temperature: 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 24 degrees Celsius).

Light: Bright to filtered sunlight. Leaving the plant in direct sun can cause the leaves to burn off and lose their lovely coloring.

Water:
The dirt must be barely moist at all times. Always utilize room-temperature water.

Soil: Use a fantastic general-purpose potting soil that retains water but also drains well. Well-aerated soil enables the roots to have some breathing space. If the soil is packed tightly, add a few sand or perlite along with some peat moss to give the roots plenty of space. Use a pot with a hole at the ground so excess water can drain out.

Humidity: Really high. Mist your plant regularly to keep it looking its best at all times. Place pebbles or bigger stones at a dish below the pot; this is going to allow the excess water to make moisture around the plant without your overwatering.

Feeding: Balanced fertilizer if desired, though some growers say that compost is unnecessary.

Pruning: Pinch off the dead leaves and keep the plant well pruned to maintain its bushy look.

Botanical name: Soleirolia soleirolii (Helxine soleirolii)

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