Mother of thousands plant care is simple and easy. Give it basic care and your mother of thousands will thrive for years to come.
You need to find a low humidity place at your home to grow mother of thousands plant. Give it indirect bright light, water when required and keep the temperature between 60 to 77 F.
The important thing is you should learn to manage the tiny plantlets that grow on the edges. Because when they touch the soil, they develop roots.
In this guide, you will learn how you can grow and care mother of thousands at home.
Let’s start:
Mother of thousands plant aka Mexican hat Plant
Mexican hat plant, Alligator plant are the two other names of mother of thousands plant. This plant is native to Madagascar. Mother of thousands plant will grow up to 20 to 37 inches in height. With 3- inches wide and 6-inches long blue-green leaves.
The interesting thing about this plant is its plantlets. These are the small plantlets that grow on the edges of the leaves. When they drop from it, they try to take the root. This way they grow in different places in your garden.
Due to this reason, many growers don’t like it to grow. But if you know how to manage plantlets than this is one of the best indoor plants to have in your home garden.
Later in this guide, you will know about how to manage the tiny plantlets of Mexican hat plant?
Caring mother of thousands plant
Light
Place your mother of thousands plant in indirect sunlight in the summer season. Because in summers the sun rays are extremely bright and hot. This can damage the delicate leaves of your plants. To protect it from heat stress and sunburn place it away from direct sunlight.
Remember that it needs plenty of light, therefore, choose a place where the plant can get a good amount of indirect bright light for 8 to 10 hours per day.
In cooler months or in fall you should place your Mexican hat plant in direct sunlight to full fill its light requirements. In cooler months sun rays are not powerful and hot like they are in summer.
If you are growing mother of thousands plant inside your home. Then placing it on the east-facing window shelf is a good idea. Because even in hot months the morning sun rays are not as strong as they are in the afternoon.
Your plant can tolerate morning sunrays and absorb them easily.
Don’t think putting your plant on the north-facing window in evening times can full fill its light needs. There won’t be enough hours for the plant to absorb sunlight.
The other easy way is to use Grow lights for your indoor growing plants.
From June to September keep your plants indoors because these months are hotter months. The excess heat energy release by sun rays can kill your plants.
By seeing your plants, you will know when it needs extra light for growth. If the leaves are vivid green and beautiful this means your plant is getting adequate light.
On the other hand, if there is more space between the leaves and it gains unexpected height. This means your plant is not getting enough light and is stretching towards the light source.
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Temperature
15 to 28 degrees Celsius temperature range is best to grow and care mother of thousands. Little 1 to 2 degrees fluctuations in temperature is not a problem. The problem comes when in winters you put your mother of thousands of plants in front of heat vents. This throws direct hot air on the plants, their leaves get damaged and also keep them dry quickly.
Therefore, winters place your mother of thousands of plants away from the heat vents.
Best pots for growing Mother of thousands
In normal conditions, you can use any pot for growing houseplants. But in the case of the mother of thousands, you should choose Terracotta pots. The reason is simple these pots have two drain holes at the bottom. This makes it easy for you to remove the excess water.
You can also put small stones or pebbles at the bottom of the pot before filling it with the potting mix. This also increases the air ventilation and good airflow is a must for keeping the plant roots free of diseases.
As the mother of thousands of plant has a delicate rooting system. You need to work on them carefully.
Always use a pot tray when you grow plants inside your home. This protects your floor mats and other items from the draining water. When the excess water comes out from the bottom hole it gets collected in the bottom tray. You need to empty it whenever you see the tray is full of water.
If you leave your plant in wet and soggy soil this will invite the fungus diseases like root rot. Most of the time mothers of thousands will not survive in root rot conditions.
Start from the smaller pots and repot it into bigger size pots as the plant grows bigger.
Do not grow other plants in the same container because the plantlets of your mother of thousands will take over the place.
Soil
Sandy soil is best for growing mother of thousands. You can use the cactus potting soil for your mother of thousands. If you don’t have cactus potting soil then mix some coarse sand in regular potting soil and your perfect soil will be ready for growing mother of thousands plants.
Learn how to make cactus potting soil at home
You can also add a few other things that increase the draining abilities of the soil like Perlite, Pumice. Don’t use Peat moss, coco coir like substances, they hold the moisture for a long time. This moisture-holding power can kill your plant due to the excess of moisture. Again, the root rot will develop if the growing medium absorbs water for a long time.
Quick draining growing material is best for growing mother of thousands at home.
Watering
In our Mother of thousands plant care guide this the most important part. Water your mother of thousands thoroughly. Always let the upper 2 inches of the potting soil completely dry then water it.
While watering it make sure you water the soil, not the leaves. This plant does not like water on its leaves. Because it is sensitive to temperature fluctuations. When you mist water on its leaves this suddenly drops its temperature. This gives sudden shocks to the plant. In rare cases, this condition can kill your plants.
Always use water that is set at the room temperature. Too hot or cold temperatures can kill the root system.
In colder months water it less frequently only to keep the conditions moist.
Propagation
Propagation of mother of thousands plant is easy and simple. All you need to do is pick 2 to 3 plantlets from the healthy leaves. Then use terracotta pots to grow them from plantlets.
But if you don’t want to use them right away, you can store them in a sealed bag. Just make sure the plantlets remain moist in the sealed bag. This way they can be stored for a long time.
If you don’t have small pots you can use the large size pots. The roots will take some time to grow and they will cover the base of the pots.
Use cactus potting soil and terra cotta pot for growing mother of thousands.
Now put the plantlets in the pot and spray water on the soil. Then cover it with plastic wrap. The plastic cover increases the humidity that triggers the growth of roots. Place plantlets 1 inch apart from one another.
Now place the pot in the location so that it can receive adequate sunlight. Do not put it under direct sunlight especially in summers. For best results use grow lights to trigger plant growth.
Remember at this stage the plant does not need much water. Overwatering can kill it with root rot. Keep eye on the new growing plants because when they grow you need to loosen the plastic wrap. Place something under the cover to lift it upwards.
When you see plantlets grow more than 1 inches long, remove the cover and put it under sunlight. When the plants grow in height change the pot, move them to new bigger pots. Every single plantlet is equal to one mother of thousands plant.
Repotting
This is another important step of the mother of thousands of plant care guides. Repot your mother of thousands when it grows out of the pots. It is easy to identify that the plant needs a big container. When the plant grows through the bottom hole this means it needs to be transferred into the bigger pot.
Another sign of outgrown mother of thousands plant is it stop growing and spreading. Once you see the slowed growth but your plant is healthy this means it needs to be repotted in a large container.
NOTE: Repot your mother of thousands only in the spring season. This is the ideal season for repotting houseplants. New Plants grow at a very fast rate in the spring season.
When does the mother of thousands flower?
Normally mother of thousands does not flower when grown inside the home. If you give it adequate bright light it will surely bloom. Most of the time mothers of thousands grown outside in the garden definitely bloom every year.
The flowers look beautiful with a white base and pink top edges. The plants only bloom in late fall and early winters when the temperature is not too cold.
If you follow all the mother of thousands plant care steps your plants will surely produce flowers.
Is this a poisonous plant?
Every part of the mother of thousands is poisonous to pets and small children (except plantlets). If you have children and pets at home keep this plant away from them
Growing mother of thousands in Glass Containers
Growing cacti and mother of thousands in the terrarium is a great idea to make your interiors look better. As we all know the plant is from a succulent family you can easily grow in glass containers. Because it needs indirect light. So, you can place it in your bedroom or drawing-room. Light-emitting by your home lighting system is enough for container growing mother of thousands.
The main thing you need to keep in your mind while growing it in glass containers is, keep the container neat and clean. Whenever you see plantlets are dropped pick them and throw them right away. Otherwise, they will grow in a few days and you will lose your container plant settings.
