Discovering the Zebra Plant: My Adventure with my Aphelandra Squarrosa Care

A Zebra plant? What is that? What? Are you interested, then tune in! 💜

A Zebra plant (AKA aphelandra squarrosa) is a plant native to Brazil, and it loves to live in moist, tropical environments. It’s dark green leaves are patterned with vibrant yellow or white stripes that line through the plant’s veins; hence the nickname, Zebra plant. The Zebra plant makes for a beautiful house plant as it seems to fit with any aesthetic; but, from my experience, I’ve learned that the aphelandra squarrosa can be very sensitive to an indoor environment, so be careful with where you put it!

I got my Zebra plant from my grandmother back in Spring 2023. It was one of the many plants that I got when I started my plant hobby. This is what it looked like when I got it,

and this is what it looks like now!

Not bad I will say so myself! I even prorogated this little baby from the mother plant. And the baby plant is also doing really well; in recent day’s I’ve seen my Zebra plant’s offspring pushing out new growth, which is super exciting.

Just like it’s off-spring, the mother plant also looks excellent, and it’s pushing some new growth; however, recently I’ve noticed a little something that has me at the edge of my seat. Scales.

I’m starting to think that maybe my backyard is laced with something, cause this isn’t the only pest infection I have at the moment. Yeah, I have another, Aphids… I don’t know what it is, but apparently my backyard is a breeding ground for these things.

Scales are a pest that stick to the stems and under-leaves of plants, with their purpose, to drain the life essence out of the plant. Well, technically, they just eat sap, but still, life essence! This is a problem for me, because I want my aphelandra squarrosa to grow big, and strong, which it can’t do if it’s infested with pests.

So, in order to combat these insects, I’m afraid I might need to prune my leaves. Unfortunately for me, the pest seem to be all over the plant, and for some reason, Neem Oil doesn’t seem to be cutting it. Before I prune, I will try another insecticide and see how it’ll fair against the outbreak.

These are some photo’s of the Scales on my plant, as well as a close up of what the pest looks like; that way, you can identify the pest when you see it!

Now that we glossed over bugs, it’s time to talk soil.

Soil Needs:

Like most plants, the aphelandra squarrosa requires well-draining soil. Although that soil may be well draining, you never want your plant’s soil to dry out completely. Trust me, you’re plant will hate you for it.

Now, lets get into watering.

Water Needs:

In my experience, I know that my aphelandra squarrosa, requires lots of water. I find myself watering my Zebra plant at least twice a week, if I don’t, it literally will show me how sad it is. Lets say I haven’t watered it in 4 days. The plant will go limp, sag, and practically pout, which I always find to be hilarious. I never once thought that a plant could be so dramatic. 😂

Sun Needs:

During the winter months, I kept this plant indoors to protect it from the small cold fronts we’d get here in Florida. But, as I was keeping it inside, I noticed how it started to push less and less growth than when I initially got it. Because of this, I decided to keep it in my patio. Although this decision is what ultimately led to it’s infestation, I did notice major changes in the plant’s behavior.

All the articles that I looked up, all the video’s I watched would tell me that these plant’s need bright, indirect light. Which typically means that the plant can be housed indoors by a bright window. But, I found that my plant seemed to flourish in bright lighting. Even direct lighting, which I found to be very surprising. And now, I’ve seen lots of new growth on the plant which I had been anticipating for the longest now!

So, my best advice, is to pay attention to your plant. If your plant’s indoors, and you see little to no growth, it might be because the plants needs more light.

Fertilizer Needs:

Fertilizer, is so tricky… Honestly. And I know it’s SUPER important for the plant. I always hear plantTubers talking about fertilizing the plants and how it allows them to grow big! And want that for my plants too. So, the fertilizer I use is: Southern Ag PowerPak 20-20-20 Water Soluble Fertilizer with micronutrients. My grandmother uses this fertilizer as well, and her plants seem to flourish from it, so I hope it does the same to mine.

But, that’s pretty much everything I have in store regarding my Zebra plant. I have faith that it’ll really hold out; it’s proven time and time again that it’s strong and resilient to change. And hopefully, I will succeed it making it grow huge like how it should grow.

But that pretty much covers everything for now. If you have any feedback at all, please leave a comment! I’d love to your thoughts ✨. And if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you for reading this post, and I hope to see you again in the next one!

Until next time,