Welcome back, ya’ll! Thanks for joining in on another week with us at Pastel Dwelling! So, did you get your hands on a cute little Peperomia, although you’re not very sure on how to keep it alive? I got you, it’s what I’m here for.

The very first Peperomia I got was a Variegated Teardrop Peperomia, I got it sickly from Walmart and was determined to keep it alive. But.. that didn’t go the way I hoped. She’s dead now.

So I took that as a challenge, I was determined to grow a Peperomia and keep it alive.

So, how do you keep it alive? Here’s what you need to know.

Watering a Peperomia

Figuring out how to water these guys was what I struggled with the absolute most. I just assumed to let the top inch or so of the soil to dry out and give her another good watering, but that’s not actually the case.

After some extensive research, I found out that their soil needs to be significantly more dry than that in order to water again, I mean about 5 inches down into the soil dry.

This is because Peperomias have such small and fine roots that they are extremely susceptible to root rot, which is their biggest killer grown as a houseplant, we just love them too much.

So yeah, let them dry out almost completely. Check about 5 inches deep in the soil for moisture, if it’s dry, you’re good to go.

Light requirements

So Peperomias are similar to succulents in a few ways, their watering schedule and how Peperomias store water in their leaves, as well as their lighting needs.

Peperomias are a bit flexible with their lighting needs, they will do best in bright indirect light from a west or east facing window, but could grow just as well in medium light.

How to propagate

So once again I’m going to reference that propagating Peperomias is going to be very similar to propagating succulents. You can propagate through leaf cuttings, steam cuttings, or by division.

You usually want to let the wound of the plant harden over before you go and stick it in the dirt or some water to prevent infection. Hardening over can take from a few hours to maybe just overnight.

Temperature and humidity

Peperomias prefer to be in an environment that is on the warmer side rather than the colder. They also originated in the Tropical Rainforests of Brazil, so they prefer to have a higher humidity around them, although you could probably get away with normal household humidity.

Fertilizing your Peperomia

During the growing season only, which is summer, you’ll want to fertilize your Peperomias about once a month. Be careful not to fertilize in fall or winter, because the plant has most likely gone dormant by that time and isn’t going to want to have added chemicals sitting on top of the roots.

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That’s about all there is to it! If you need any more help with your Peperomia or identifying what it needs, leave a comment below!

As always, happy growing!