Houseplant · Araceae
Chinese Evergreen
Aglaonema commutatum
Forgiving, shade-friendly, and warm-loving, Chinese evergreen carries broad leaves marbled in silver, green, and deep red.
Bright indirect
60–80°F · 16–27°C
USDA 10–12
12–20 in · 30–51 cm
Overview
Up close, Chinese evergreen is all about the leaf. It belongs to the arum family and grows wild on the shaded, humid forest floors of the Philippines and Sulawesi, and that understory life shaped the broad, soft-textured blades it pushes out indoors. Each leaf spreads wide and smooth, the kind of foliage that reads as lush even in a dim, warm room.
The color is what holds the eye. The leaves come marbled, streaked, and splashed in silver, green, cream, and deep red, the pattern shifting from one cultivar to the next. Some carry silver brushed down the center, others wear crimson tracing the veins and edges, and the cultivar decides not only the markings but how much light it takes to keep them: the solid-green forms stay rich in deep shade, while the red and heavily variegated leaves only hold their color in brighter indirect light.
The plant itself stays low and full, usually 12 to 20 inches (30 to 51 cm) tall, the leaves clustering on short stems rather than climbing or trailing. It fills out at a moderate pace, leaf by patterned leaf. One physical detail matters beyond looks: every part of the plant is toxic to pets and irritating to people, since the tissue is laced with calcium oxalate throughout.
Care
The short version: the colorful forms take bright indirect light and the green ones low light, let the mix's top inch or two go dry before watering, stay above 60°F (16°C), and feed with a light hand.
Light
Give the colorful and variegated cultivars bright indirect light so the silver and crimson stay crisp across the leaf. The plain green types are the exception, holding their deep color in low light and even heavy shade. Keep every one out of direct sun, whose harsh rays scorch and bleach the foliage.
Water
Let the top 1 to 2 inches (about 3 to 5 cm) of soil dry before watering again, keeping the mix lightly moist from spring through fall. Pull back from early fall to late winter, but never let it dry out completely. Use room-temperature water rather than cold, which shocks the roots, and remember that soggy soil is what causes root rot.
Soil
Plant it in a well-drained peaty or soilless mix with extra humus, in a pot with drainage holes. It prefers slightly acidic soil, with a pH at or below 6.0.
Temperature
This tropical grows happiest in steady warmth, ideally 68°F and 80°F (20°C to 27°C). It endures around 55°F (13°C) yet suffers chilling injury below 50°F (10°C), so keep a 60°F (16°C) winter minimum and shield it from cold drafts.
Humidity
Average household humidity suits it, so there's no number to chase. Very dry air is the thing to avoid, since it crisps and browns the leaf tips over time.
Feeding
Feed lightly during the spring-through-fall growing season. Too much fertilizer burns the leaf edges to brown, so when in doubt, give less.
Pruning
There's little to do beyond pinching off spent flowers and any fruit so the plant pours its energy into foliage. With age the lower stem grows bare and leggy, and if the lower leaves drop you can cut the bare top off and re-root it into a fresh plant.
Repotting
Repot only when it outgrows its pot or the soil breaks down, which isn't often. Roots circling the surface or poking through the drainage holes, or a top-heavy, leggy plant, tell you it's time.
Size & spacing
Expect a low, full plant, 12 to 20 inches (30 to 51 cm) tall and 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) across, its leaves spreading on short stems. Give it room enough that air moves freely around the foliage.
Troubleshooting
Most of what goes wrong with a Chinese evergreen writes itself across the leaves or hides at the roots, and water or warmth is nearly always behind it. Match the look of the damage below to its cause, then fix it before it spreads.
Yellow-tinged leaves and slimy, soft stem bases
Yellow leaves over a soft, squishy base mean root rot, which traces back to soil left too wet. The roots turn from firm and white to brown and slimy and can no longer drink, so the plant wilts even while it drowns. Lift it out, cut away the rotted roots, and replant in fresh well-drained mix in a pot that actually drains.
Fix:
- Stop watering and let the soil dry appropriately
- Unpot and remove rotted roots; repot into fresh well-drained mix
- Ensure the container has working drainage holes
Blotched, mottled leaves with curled edges after chill
Chinese evergreen is tropical, so it takes chilling damage below about 50°F (10°C), with the leaves blotching, discoloring, and curling a day or two after the cold. A draft or a drink of cold tap water can mark them the same way. Move it to a warm spot in the 68°F to 80°F (20°C to 27°C) range and keep it well above 55°F (13°C) so new leaves come in clean.
Fix:
- Move the plant to a warmer spot in the preferred 68-80°F range
- Keep above 60°F, ideally well above 55°F
- Avoid cold drafts and use room-temperature water
Cottony white tufts, fine webbing, and sticky bumps on leaves
Look closely and the pest gives itself away: fine webbing over speckled, stippled leaves means spider mites, white cottony tufts tucked in the leaf joints are mealybugs, and small brown limpet-like bumps clinging to stems are scale. Wipe or wash them off, isolate the plant, and treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating until they're gone.
Fix:
- Wipe off or wash off pests; isolate the affected plant
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating as needed
- Raise humidity to discourage spider mites
Brown, brittle tips and crisped leaf edges
When the very tips and rims of the leaves turn brown and brittle, the usual cause is dry air, though a cold draft or too much fertilizer scorches the same edges. Move the plant off the vents and away from chilly windows, ease back on feeding, and snip the crisped tips clean. As long as the broad green center stays firm and bright, the roots are fine.
Fix:
- Move the plant away from drafts, heating/AC vents, and cold windows
- Raise ambient humidity or avoid very dry air
- Flush the soil and reduce fertilizer if over-fed
- Trim off badly browned tips for appearance
Red and variegated leaves turning pale and leggy in shade
In a dark corner the colored and variegated cultivars wash out, their silver dulling and their crimson fading as the stems stretch thin toward the window. The solid-green leaves stay deep and rich in the same low light, so this is really a matching problem. Move the patterned ones into brighter indirect light and let the plain green forms hold the dimmest spots.
Fix:
- Move variegated and red cultivars to brighter indirect (low-to-moderate) light
- Keep solid-green cultivars for the darkest spots
- Avoid direct sun, which scorches foliage
Toxicity
Keep this plant out of reach. Every part of it, leaf, stem, and sap, holds insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, sharp microscopic needles that release on chewing and bring intense burning, swelling, and drooling to pets, livestock, and people. No part is safe to eat, and the sap can sting skin, so wash your hands after handling.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
One bite of a leaf leaves a cat with a searing mouth, prompting strings of drool, pawing at the face, and sometimes vomiting. The tongue and lips can puff and swell until swallowing turns difficult.
Dogs Moderate
The instant a dog's teeth crush a leaf, the crystals sting, releasing heavy drool, frantic mouth-pawing, and vomiting. Swelling can spread across the tongue and down the throat.
Horses Moderate
A horse that grinds a leaf gets searing oral burning, a mouth and tongue swollen tight, and rivers of drool. With no ability to vomit, its irritation and labored swallowing show the trouble.
Rabbits Toxic
The same needle-like calcium oxalate crystals sting a rabbit's soft mouth and gut, leaving it slick with drool and ignoring its food. Set the plant well beyond reach.
Livestock Toxic
Sheep, goats, and cattle that crop the foliage wind up with a raw, swollen mouth streaming drool, and they shy away once the first bite bites back.
Birds Toxic
A small pet bird shredding a leaf suffers the same searing mouth and irritation. With so little body to spare, even a small bite is worth a call to the vet.
People Caution
Not one piece of it is fit to eat, and a bitten leaf scorches the mouth and can balloon its tongue and lips. The sap can redden and irritate skin, so scrub your hands after touching it and keep it from young children.
All parts contain calcium oxalate crystals and sap can cause skin/mucous-membrane irritation in people; wash hands after handling and keep away from pets and young children
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Chinese evergreen comes in dozens of cultivars, told apart mostly by the color and pattern painted across their leaves and the light each one needs to keep it. These are the ones you'll see most.
'Maria'
Its dark green leaves are streaked with silver, and as one of the more shade tolerant cultivars it keeps that coloring even in a dim corner.
'Silver Bay'
Green leaves carry a wash of silver variegation running straight down the center of each blade.
'Siam Aurora' (also sold as 'Red Aglaonema')
Deep crimson runs along the veins and edges of every leaf, a colorful type that needs brighter indirect light than the plain green forms to stay so vivid.
'Silver Queen'
Dark green leaves are overlaid with heavy silver-gray variegation that covers most of the surface.
'Crete'
Green leaves are splashed and edged in burgundy red and set on pale pink stems that pick up the color.
How to propagate
Making more Chinese evergreens is easy, and the moment usually arrives when you repot or when an older plant grows tall and bare-stemmed at the base.
DivisionEasy
Spring at repotting · Several weeks
The simplest way to make more is to split a clump you already have. At spring repotting, ease the mass of roots and short stems apart into sections that each keep their own roots, pot them up, and they take hold over the next few weeks.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Spring to summer · Several weeks to root
When an old plant grows leggy and its lower leaves drop, leaving a bare stem, don't toss it. Cut the leafy top off in spring or summer and re-root it, and over a few weeks it pushes out new roots and grows on as a fresh, full plant.
SeedModerate
When fresh seed is available · Slow
Growing from seed works when fresh seed turns up, but it's the slow road and asks more patience than the other two methods. Most people stick with division or cuttings.
Myths
A Chinese evergreen rinses toxins out of the air indoors.
A 2020 review of the research found that potted plants don't meaningfully change indoor air quality at any density you'd actually live with. To match what a normal building's ventilation already does, you'd need somewhere between 10 and 1,000 plants per square meter. Keep this one for its painted leaves, not as an air purifier.