Baby's Tears
Soleirolia soleirolii
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Check moisture daily in warm weather; a shallow tray of water below helps it self-serve.
🍂 Fall
Stop feeding and pull the pot back from cooling windowsills.
❄️ Winter
Keep it moist but cooler and expect slower, tighter growth until spring.
🌱 Spring
Trim the mat hard and divide overflow now. It rebounds within weeks.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect to medium; direct sun scorches the tiny leaves
- Ideal PPFD
- 100–250 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 18–24 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Keep evenly moist at all times, and bottom-water so the delicate mat of foliage stays dry and doesn't rot.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ¼–½ strength, monthly in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Rich, moisture-retentive mix that still drains; pH 5.0–6.0
- Humidity
- High (50%+); thrives in terrariums
- Temperature
- 60–75 °F
- Mature size
- 2–4 in tall, spreading indefinitely
- Repotting
- Yearly, or trim the mat and refresh the top inch of soil instead
- Propagation
- Almost too easy: press any pinch of stems onto moist soil and it roots; division.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing patches, rotting stems under the mat, moldy soil surface
- Underwatering signs
- Sudden dramatic collapse; the whole mat wilts flat within hours
- Common pests
- Aphids, whiteflies, fungus gnats (loves the same moisture they do)
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Baby's Tears looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Instant collapse into a flat mat
Likely cause
The soil dried out. It has almost no reserves.
What to do
Water immediately — it usually recovers within hours — and never let it dry fully again.
Brown dead patches in the middle
Likely cause
Dry air, or the dense mat rotting where air cannot reach.
What to do
Raise humidity, thin it out if it gets very thick, and water from below.
Thin, stretched, sparse growth
Likely cause
Not enough light.
What to do
Bright indirect light, and trim it back to encourage a denser cushion.
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