Plants with dual-shaded or multi-coloured leaves tend to attract people who want to decorate their homes with beautiful ornamental plants. The Aglaonema plant variety offers a myriad of such plants that have a unique combination of colour splashes and patches on their leaves.

Last week, I introduced our readers to one such plant. The green leaves with the red-coloured borders of the Aglaonema red lipstick plant are a visual treat for any onlooker. This week, I will tell you how to tend to the Aglaonema red lipstick and what key elements are fundamental for the propagation of this plant.

When the Aglaonema red lipstick plants are thriving, white-coloured flowers begin to grow, usually from the centre of the plant. These flowers, although beautiful to look at, should be removed, as they sap energy from the plant. The flowers can impact the growth of the parent plant and the speed at which baby shoots crop up.

Although the growth of the plant is relatively slow, like every other plant, it needs to be shifted once it outgrows its container. Whether it is the cluttering of stems over the surface — which may kill its aesthetic appearance — or the congestion of roots within the soil, separating and transplanting the plant becomes necessary.

The red lipstick variety of the Aglaonema plant needs deft handling when separating the baby plant from the parent plant

In order to shift the plant, it is necessary to identify and differentiate the parent plant from the newly growing baby shoots and baby plants. The baby Aglaonema red lipstick plants usually grow around its parent counterpart. The parent plant is obviously bigger in size, occupying more space and with more large-sized leaves, contrary to the baby shoots.

Other distinctive features are related to the stem. The stem of the parent plant is usually thick and white to light brown, with dark-coloured leaves arranged in whorls on the stem — likely from the leaves that may have been plucked or died earlier. The stem of the baby red lipstick is usually softer, thinner and smooth, while being light green to soft pink in colour.

It is better to prepare beforehand a recipient container for the plant to be shifted. We also need to replace the space created on the parent plant’s pot with additional soil or potting mix. Ideally, the potting mix should include nursery soil, mixed with any of the organic composts, and small quantities of perlite and coco peat.

The method is to simply hold the pot upside down, in a manner that the palm of our hand is covering the entire soil surface, with maximum support centred around the plant base, so that it may not fall off. With the other hand, gently tap the outside part of the pot, so that the soil along with the plant leaves the inside wall of the pot.

We can also use our thumb or finger to apply pressure through the drainage hole at the base of the pot, which would be closer to us when the plant pot is upside down. When we do that, the whole plant along with the soil will slide out and drop on our palm.

As the plant along with soil is sliding out, it is important to ensure the ingredients of the pot stay in their original shape. This ensures there is limited injury, if any, to the roots. If it is not tactfully managed, plant dropping can cause severe plant root injury and probable plant shock, which might hamper its already slow growth. The baby red lipstick plants are then gently separated, while the parent plant is repotted with additional potting mix.

Before going in, we need to ensure that the roots of the baby plant and the parent plant are not entangled with each other. While it requires practice, we can use our fingers to feel the soil and the plant to ascertain whether the plants are already separated or if their roots are tangled.

Whenever I want to separate a baby red lipstick plant from the mother plant, my preferred method is to consciously decrease the watering quantity to the bare minimum for a week before the shifting. This helps the roots of the plant to leave the soil easily during the process.

If the soil is still attached to the plant and clinging to the roots, then the plant along with the soil can be placed in a big-sized bucket or tub, which is filled with water. The level of the water should be to a point that the root part of the plant remains submerged. After a few minutes, the stickiness between the plant’s roots and the soil minimises.

One may use a sterile knife or a scissor to cut the attached roots of the parent and baby plants. The use of a sterile blade helps reduce the chances of any future bacterial or fungal infections in the plant. We should also take precautions to ensure that the roots of both the plants remain intact individually, giving each a separate identity.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 16th, 2024