Variegated Indoor Plants

Variegated indoor plants add an extra layer of interest to an indoor plant display and brighten your home. Variegated plants are those whose normally-green leaves are patterned with white, yellow or even pink or red colours.

With most indoor plants being green and leafy for most of the time, variegated forms add colour among the green.

Variegations are usually the result of a change in the growth of the plant that causes part of the plant to develop a variegated appearance. The variegated part is then propagated vegetatively (for example by cutting or grafting) and continues to produce its variegated patterning.

Occasionally a variegated plant reverts to green. If you spot a green stem on a variegated plant, always prune it off so that it doesn’t outgrow the rest of the plant and lead to a loss of the variegated colour and pattern.

Only the green parts of a variegated leaf undergo photosynthesis and produce starch to fuel the plant’s growth. Plants may lose their variegations if they are grown in dark conditions as the plant struggles to produce enough nutrients for plant growth. If a variegated plant isn’t thriving, move it into a more brightly lit spot (but not into direct sunlight, which could lead to leaf burn).