Zebra Plant
Aphelandra squarrosa
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Give it bright indirect light and steady water. This is when the yellow flower spike appears.
🍂 Fall
Stop feeding after the bloom fades and keep it clear of chilly windowsills.
❄️ Winter
Let the surface dry slightly between waterings and hold at 60 °F+ with extra humidity.
🌱 Spring
Cut leggy stems back to a pair of leaves, repot into fresh rich mix, and resume feeding.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect; needs strong light to bloom but direct sun bleaches the striped leaves
- Ideal PPFD
- 150–300 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 16–24 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Keep evenly moist, watering when the surface just starts to dry, before the leaves droop. It wilts dramatically when thirsty and drops leaves after every drought.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ½ strength, monthly in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Rich, moisture-retentive mix with perlite; pH 5.6–6.0
- Humidity
- High (60%+); a bathroom-window plant at heart
- Temperature
- 65–80 °F; keep above 60 °F
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft indoors
- Repotting
- Yearly in spring; it likes fresh rich soil
- Propagation
- Stem tip cuttings in spring, rooted in moist mix with bottom heat.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing lower leaves, wet soil, blackening stem base
- Underwatering signs
- Sudden full-plant wilt, then lower leaves dropping
- Common pests
- Aphids, spider mites, scale, whitefly
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Zebra Plant 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.
Dropping lower leaves
Likely cause
One missed watering or a cold draft. Aphelandra is a genuine drama queen.
What to do
Keep moisture, warmth and humidity steady. Prune leggy stems hard after flowering.
Crispy leaf edges
Likely cause
Dry air, well below the 60% it wants.
What to do
Run a humidifier or move it somewhere naturally humid.
No yellow flower spike
Likely cause
Not enough light to fuel a bloom.
What to do
Bright indirect light through the growing season, and feed monthly in spring and summer.
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