Variegation in plants is a cell mutation that results in some plant cells containing less chlorophyll, which plays a crucial role in photosynthesis. This lack of chlorophyll affects the growth rate of variegated plants, as it affects their ability to make food from sunlight. Variegation in houseplants refers to the presence of different colors or patterns on the leaves. There are four main types of variegation that affect plants differently, each caused by a different factor.
Plants may develop variegation as a result of viral infection, and these types of variegation are sensitive to chemicals and minerals found in the environment. Variegated plants can help plants adapt to their surroundings by providing camouflage, deterring herbivores, or increasing their resistance to pests. However, plant expert and broadcaster James Wong expressed his dislike of variegated plants, stating that they are “absolutely terrible”.
Variegated plants tend to be more sensitive to watering going wrong and are slower-growers in general, making them more prone to diseases. Variegated leaves may have different colors or patterns, such as the random patches, streaks, and dots typical of variegated Monstera.
In summary, variegation in plants is a complex phenomenon that can be caused by various factors, including viral infection, chemical exposure, and environmental factors. While there are no single plants that look good with variegated leaves, they can provide camouflage, deter herbivores, and increase plant adaptation.
📹 11 of the WORST things about variegated houseplants | Houseplant Rant
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📹 What is plant variegation? How you can encourage it | Indoor Plants | Gardening Australia
Disease: Some splashes of colour can be a symptom of a virus. This is often seen in camellia leaves, but it doesn’t affect the …
Dear Kaylee, that was the best 28 minutes of comedy I’ve seen in years!!! Sweetheart you missed your calling!! You should absolutely be be doing comedy sketches!! I can’t remember the last time might laugh so hard!!! Please, please, please do more rants!! The plant nut from Hawaii sincerely, Normand Sometimes it is what is beautiful that carries us…..
This has been one of my favourite articles you’ve done in a long time. 😂 love it. On the side of calling something like a philodendron brazil verigated. It is veriegated, but the name covers the fact its verigated…like you dont say verigated pink princess, you just say pink princess or a tai consolation. Once a verigation is commen enough (with maybe some tc help) and it named its still has verigation, its just stable and covered bu the name. Only thing i can think of would be like asking for a sugar free coke zero, you fell me 😄
Really enjoyed this rant! I’d love to see you take down some of the facebook communities. They seem to be some of the worst. Like, someone will post a photo of a new plant they are proud of, and then people will tear them down, commenting on how much they paid, how it was over priced, that it’s a crap specimen. Whatever. So many are such toxic spaces where people just seem to be dicks.
I listened to this again. I’ve been looking for a Florida Beauty, and all the ones I’ve found are miss-ID of Florida green with no variegation. I adore these rants, because I see things labeled as weird names, I’ve put in the correct information and they don’t like me pointing out inaccuracies. I point it out, not to be mean, so people new to things can double check their facts. So thank you for your great work and help. Your honesty and integrity is absolutely amazing.
I’d definitely say philodendron brazil is variegated, but it’s just not the kind of variegation we usually associate with when we talk about it. Brazil is a variegated cultivar of philodendron hederaceum, along with other cultivars of it like Rio, Cream Splash, etc. They can also definitely revert back to all green, which is what happens to all non systemic variegation. I have a Brazil myself and some vines have definitely reverted on me.
There are some variegations that I love, I find them absolutely beautiful, even if it makes them diva plants. There are others I really don’t like (yellow variegations, I always have the feeling a plant is sick; pink variegations, not my colour;…) But I can’t afford to buy a well established plant and all. I saved money for my birthday and went to a plant fair, I got a head cutting with 3 leaves of a montera variegata (it was at the end of April, the plant rooted superbly and gave me a beautiful new leaf) and I bought a single tiny leaf of alocasia frydek variegata, because I can’t afford a bigger one. It’s still pretty small, but it gave me already 5 new leaves and it keeps going. It get bigger each time and it’s so pretty. Recently I stumbled across a calathea white fusion, I know it’s a diva, but I gave it a try, because I think they are so beautiful. It was the first time I was seeing one in a shop, it wasn’t very expensive (like 12€) so I went for it. I’m sure it’ll struggle along the way, but I’ll do my best to keep it happy. I can understand the hate, but I like some variegations.
I made the mistake of buying a half moon monstera aurea and I finally just cut it back to the base after a year of full green, half moon (moon side dies off), full green, half moon (moon side dies off), etc. The original leaf is still alive and has the normal marbled variegation so I’m hoping it grows out that way this time around.
I feel like this was a dramatic reading for plant people. Lol love it! Buyer protections need to extend to things like receiving the wrong item aka a Thai instead of a Mint. If it’s not what it says buyers should not only get a full refund but the seller should have to pay for any shipping costs to get their plant back… A seller should know, whether on Etsy or on their own website or LLC etc. Fraud is fraud and the online shopping laws need to start recognizing it!
Oh man, the Florida beauty thing. Third time was the charm for me, at least so far, but I’m currently scared to breathe too close to it because I’m getting a high variegation leaf then a low variegation leaf, then high, then low, etc. Not 100% either way yet, but I need to sacrifice a goat to the plant gods or something because I won’t cope if it goes full flip flop.
I spent 120 on a variegated philodendron I wouldn’t have bought because I already had one, albeit smaller, because of what I found out after perusal a previous article of yours was just sun/heat stress. I wish I’d seen your article and this article BEFORE I bought it. It’s gorgeous and well established but the reason I bought it isn’t what I thought 😞
I disagree on the variegation debate with brasils and tinekes. It feels lightly gatekeepery to say they’re not variegated. They are! Just not in the way that’s currently popular, almost because they’re too “perfect”. I see the same thing happening with lab-created diamonds. People pooh-pooh them and say they’re not real diamonds, because they’re too perfect and artificial when they have the same physical, chemical, and optical characteristics as a diamond found in the ground. Tinekes/brasils ARE variegated; their variegation is just more perfect – in the same way a lab-created diamond is more perfect than a ground diamond. I think acknowledging that though would almost devalue more wildly variegated plants, so people argue they’re not REALLY variegated. Plants are plants. I love both kinds!
I wanted a pink princess and the first time i saw them they were 70 dollars for a 4 inch pot so i said nope. Eventually i found a 4 inch pot at the grocery store for 13 dollars that had four plants in it and it came with a ceramic pot. It had good variegation but it’s now tossing out lots of burgundy leaves but since i knew that could happen i really don’t care and if it gets ugly i can always sell it for like 5 bucks and keep the pot 🤷🏼♀️. I have white wizard as well, was 5 dollars for 5 in a pot. One is quite variegated and the others are mostly green with the odd splash. I can’t complain about unstable variegation though for these really low grocery store prices esp when i get a decent cover pot with them 🤣 My Thai is the only one i was willing to spend a little on and that was because you said it was stable. So far i really enjoy it and I’m surprised by how quickly it’s upsized it’s leaves. I also love the tight internodes compared to my deliciosa large form that it is literally touching. I don’t really consider my other plants variegated bc it’s how they’re supposed to be, but i do love when i get a short/splash of white on my global green pothos or a streak of dark green on my neon pothos etc. It makes tending to them more fun when it’s not the same every single time. 💞
I love this rant especially in her accent. But its true, I love variegation but the tricks out here from some of these sellers are a trip. When she said, get that ish checked out from the mother plant, hilarious. I recently left my pink princess outside in the sun too long and the burning looks a hot mess.
Girrrrrllllll!! I love you! THANK YOU! I see all of this shit on the reg in my plant selling groups and it makes me so sad to see people new to plants or not knowing a lot and very knowledgeable sellers taking gross advantage. I love that you give zero fucks even when your career is selling plants and making coin. ❤️❤️
Love love love your articles! Educational & hilarious…and the best part is my husband actually likes you too! Usually he rolls his eyes when he walks in the room at any female YouTuber I watch & thinks their voices are all annoying but he loves yours & he loves that you curse in your articles too😆. Wish you were in the US I would love to buy plants from you!
I mean I have pot full of golden pothos and whenever I show it to my friends I’m just like “look at how beautifully it verigated, I finally got the light down and now they are giving me pretty leaves”. Like to me a verigated plant is not necessarily a special plant or anything like that, but a plant that exhibits more that one color
Totally agree with the name part. I’ve been looking at succulents and I’ve come across a lot of succulents that look the same but that one or two stores would have a whole different name to it even though they are the exact same! Annoys me so much and they just say “oh it’s just a marketing thing” like as if it’s not deceiving at all 😕
Kayleeee😂😂😂😂 that baby giraffe analogy had me dyingg hahahahha🤣. Excellent explanation however about those half moon leaves 💯. Totally agree with the “sport variegation” claims being quite the ick too!! 👊🙌 I also agree that variegated anthuriums are icky!! But i do look fwd to the day u find a gorg one to show us🙌. Def wont call Philo Brasil variegated ❌. Loveddd this article to the max and would totally enjoy other ranty vids💚.
My pink princess was doing good, but then Norwegian winter came, and it got Cinderella sickness, which finally seemed to go away as summer came (warmer weather, better growth) but keeping the pink isn’t always easy. 😅 I must say, the only variegated plant I do love, is the simple pothos. It never disappoints. 😉
I’m actually searching for a varigated something right now. I’m particular and not spending much. My last varigated plant was a pepper plant. It’s flowering again and getting more varigated in the stems and fruit. I didn’t realize it was varigated at first 😂 it just looked sad. I thought it was sickly, but it’s prettier now. I have some African violets recently. I like the chartreuse, creams, and golden varigated types right now. Oh yeah I just got a ficus and a second maranta varigated… other than that, I’m not giving into the “rare” trends of the market. I just like what I like.
You’re my absolute fav! Sooo clever and entertaining! I could watch/listen ALL DAY! You’d be a really successful radio host! Yup I accidentally ripped off the top growth of my pink princess doing that exactly, it was caterpilling and trying to help it, I broke it right off.. Isn’t the Brazil a variegated version of the heart leaf? I don’t know if it’s own plant honestly or a hybrid there’s different info online. I honestly prefer the natural forms of plants and animals, I’m not interested in a verigated hybrid that someone’s made. There’s a reason it didn’t do that in the wild. I like my plants to last.
The absolute weirdest variegation in my opinion is Dracena Surculosa “gold dust”/”dotted gold” etc. To me it’s the most sickly looking variegated plant I’ve personally ever seen. I got one as a gift which is how I came to know about it. I honestly hope it will lose the variegation for most part and become majority neon instead. That is, if I even keep it anymore. I also might or might not have let pests torture it previously, although I’ve payed my penances since. However, now that it’s been growing during the summer again it’s getting into the “so gross it’s cool” gategory for me for not being absolutely hideous but more so WTF-inducing. I realize this could have been a comment on the ugly variegation article instead, but it popped into my mind here instead.
Awesome rant 👌 great that you’re so realistic, even though it’s basically about your bread & butter 😂 Two things really interested me though (and I don’t know if you’ve made article’s about them already), but I’d love to hear more about spotting real variegation from a virus or other ‘discoloration’ and also the influence of temperature was new to me. What does higher/lower temp do?
I don’t know what it is maybe the valid rage or what but your energy is hitting and your humour in this one is also deadly like dude can i subscribe again 🤣🙌🤣💙 plus extra points for the “i sell it but don’t buy it” comment the amount of times in different jobs I have said that 😂🙌 Honesty rage with love and I’m hear for it !
Serendipity? Fate? You mentioned Whipple Way and that reminded me to check and see what prices were like these days…. what comes up on my Etsy search (is it me or is Etsy really getting weird lately?) but a “Variegated Philodendron House plant”. It’s a Philodendron Brazil. Put me in the camp who finds it annoying to label a Brazil a “Variegated Philodendron House plant”.
Kaylee..You could be a GREAT Actress! You’ve got so much panache! And your sooo Pretty! Anyhow.. THANK YOU! ..thank you! Thank you! for saying what has needed to be said! I’ve gotten pretty fed up with the over inflated costs for tiny plants, cuttings, nodes etc.. of the variegated species. It comes off as these people being ugly greedy and ridiculous! I wish folks would not buy into these scammers! Has anyone noticed these are not rare plants? THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! If people quit buying them at the high prices ..GUESS WHAT..they would be much more affordable for everyone!
We need a part two of this article and you have to address Facebook plant group tendencies to post bullspit advice. People on those groups acting like a monstera albo needs to be pampered like a baby and need more light to produce more varigation and put air stones in prop water with silica and uuuh don’t let soil touch the roots 🙄Jesus.. and here I am juggling mine with absolutely no regime other than water when dry and propagating in months old tap water after cutting with an old box cutter. They’re fine.., people are acting like they’re true divas.. those people need perspective and buy a white fusion
happened to me B4 if I needed to buy Hoya Kerri albo coz of shape and variegation coz I have peperomia scandens variegata which I very much liked. Upon research, the shape and variegation are dependent on light & humidity which I am not keen, so I decided not to buy and I’m glad I didn’t since I cannot provide it’s need while I am anyways enjoying my peperomia.
I feel you on the paraiso verde. Bought it not knowing about the temperature thing and when the first green leaf came out I was shocked😅. Luckily it was only 20 euro’s but I’m so happy I didn’t splurge on it. During a heatwave it made one green leaf with vague speckling (while it was 35 degrees outside) so I’ve given up and now it’s just a green plant with some pretty leafs at the bottom😂
Hot take: I’d rather find a sport variegated version of a plant and grow it than buy a cutting of a variegated plant. I have a sport variegated Monstera deliciosa ‘Aurea’, it’s an absolute beauty and it’s sooooo much less stressful to take care of because I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for it. I’m so sick of high prices and “”luxury plant”” elitist bullshit, it sucks the absolute joy out of being a so-called community, and I’m glad the end of covid lockdown also cooled the ridiculous plantmarket down.
Hol’ up! What are we talking about variegation not being “blocky”? Can you explain. My Micans put out a leaf with copper colored “variegation”. It’s kind of blocky🥴 the edges aren’t sharp, but I cant see if they are faded either because of the color blend. I wasn’t planning on cutting it…I’d be sad if it’s any sort of virus. Btw; it’s potted in a mixed pot and all the other vines are fine
I like some variegated plants, but the ones i cant stand that im seeing a lot near detroit, MI there is a shop called rare plant fairy that puts out a lot of plants with pink variegation and it just feels a bit scammy to me. and they have a hefty price tag on top of it. makes me wonder if its similar to what they did with the pink congo or if itll actually hold its variegation. I dont like pink plants, so i feel safe, but i worry about others honestly. a pink raven zz? sounds fake to me
Philodendron brasil and ect are indeed variegated. However when we hear the word Variegated these days we think of monstera albo and similar so i think thats why people dont consider something as the Brasil as being variegated, but it is, technically. The name thing, i havent seen it TOO much. YET. But…golden Pothos dont need 4-5 names….really it dont. Ive seen them being sold as Hicolor, Golden queen, Njoy Golden, white variegated golden..im sure there are more.
Re: the Pholo Brasil being variegated. It is, technically, its just refered to gene-pattern variegation, since the patterns are built onto the genetics. Things like variegated philodendrons/monstera/anthurium and all the other trendy shit are chimeric variegates, meaning theres two separate sets of DNA, one produces chlorophyll and one doesn’t. Inb4 Mint adansonii guy makes this all about himself again. 🫣
I have to disagree with you regarding the Philodendron Florida Ghost. I do believe there are multiple different forms of this plant sold under the term “Florida Ghost”. I have two different speciments from two different sellers that show way different variegation. The first one produce pale white new growth that then slowly turns green as the leaves mature, this is what I would call the original Florida Ghost. Old leaves show no sign of variegation. My second speciment produce more mint looking leaves from the start that DON’T lose their variegation as the leaves mature, but rather keep this mint variegation even in old leaves! Actually old leaves look even whiter than new growth after they have hardened off.
My biggest issue with the plant community about variegation that you didn’t cover is pedantic snobby completionists or “serious” collectors who look down on other people who don’t have all the different whatevers and the newest whosits. Not everybody has the time / budget / space for every single type of varigated monstera or patterned of hoya. And people who put their nose in the air over owning several or imply you are not a “real” plant parent without such-and-such drive me to fits. When I hear “you really should have this highlymegaultrasnowwizard if you want to be a serious plant parent” said by some random tiktoker funded by daddy deeppockets, I just want to reach through and smack them with their own plant.
😂😂😂, yo no tengo ninguna planta variegada, no se pero no las veo tan tan atractivas ….ohhh perdón, tengo un Philodendro black Knight y está ok y la más modesta pero no por ello menos hermosa. el philo painted lady, bueno en verdad me gusta hasta la hierba y es verdeeeee 😂😂😂🤣🤣, en fin creo que es cuestión de edad, llevo cultivando más de 35 años y me gusta lo que me gusta y fin . 💌
BTW…Absolutely! YES .. plants such as the Philo. Brazil..etc.. are indeed accurately referred to as variegated plants. this comes from 40 years of owning plants and raised by a European trained florist/plant mother who made her living at it. Variegated plants have been around for forever. All these recent hybrids (Philo. Monstera Albo..etc) are ‘Hybrid Variegates’.