Aglaonema – Aglaonema spp.

Common Name: Chinese Evergreen, Aglaonema, Pewter Plant

Botanical Name: Aglaonema spp., ag-lay-oh-NEE-ma

Decorative Life: Indefinite under reasonable interior conditions.

Flower Color: Green, White, Yellow

Availability: Year Round

Any form and combination of nitrogen fertilizers seem to work equally well in producing high quality and long lasting plants. May form bent growing tips during production, possible due to too rapid growth. However, this disorder will not form under interior conditions.

Most cultivars are chill sensitive, store at or above 55F. In addition, Chen et al. (1999) reported that one of the most popular cultivars ‘Silver Queen’ was the most chill sensitive one out of 20 cultivars tested whereas ‘Stars’ was essentially chill insensitive. In another test, ‘Fransher’ stored well for 28 days at temperatures from 55-66F.

• Aglaonema is Greek for bright thread, perhaps in reference to the shining stamens (where the pollen is produced).
• Has been shown to remove pollutants from air such as formaldehyde and benzene. Flowers develop green berries that turn orange-red and will remain for months.
• The cultivar ‘Silver Queen’ is one of the more popular ones. Will grow well in light levels bright enough to read a newspaper in comfort.
• Several arum family members (including taro) are grown in tropical regions for their edible tubers, representing starch staples for large populations. Many other species are grown for their beautiful foliage.
• Gray to yellow spots on leaves are signs of chill (low temperature) damage. The gray color is similar to damage noted on bananas when they are held in refrigerators.

Poole and Conover (1993) stored this species at 36-46F from 1-4 days and subsequently noted total or partial leaf death within a few days. As summarized by Brown (1988) of the work by Wolverton et al. (numerous years), this is one of many foliage and flowering plant species that can remove air pollutants such as formaldehyde and/or benzene often found in cigarette smoke from interior environments. Chen et al. (2000) determined that ‘Maria’ performed better than ‘Silver Queen’ and ‘Cory’ under common interior environments.