# Pilea 'Red Stem Tears'



## winyfrog (May 30, 2009)

Where should this plant be planted in my viv? I have it at the top with medium wet soil right now and it seems to be suffering. 

Thanks for you help.


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## JJhuang (Feb 5, 2010)

I got this from info from Joshs frogs Josh's Frogs - pilea 'red stem tears' - pilea it says its a matt so i would assume on the floor? if that helps. If its right under your light it might be drying out. 


This is a personal favorite and highly recommended. It is truely a beautiful little gem, with tiny dark green leaves displayed well against stems of red. It is a low growing plant with a trailing growth habit that will rapidly form a good sized mat. In my experience it doesn't stand up to the large frogs (tinctorius or terribilis, for example) very well, the stems are just not thick enough. In that situation you'd be better served by 'Baby Tears' or 'Tiny Tears'. But it is a great addition to your thumbnail tank! We are selling some very nice, robust plants of this fine cultivar.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

This should do pretty well as either a trailer or growing prostrate. The name is just made up I think. When I bought it years ago it was being sold as Pilea glaucaphylla. I have never seen it flower so I really don't know if it's even a Pilea. Nice plant though.


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## Imperial_Aquatics (Aug 27, 2009)

winyfrog said:


> Where should this plant be planted in my viv? I have it at the top with medium wet soil right now and it seems to be suffering.
> 
> Thanks for you help.



As it happens, "red Stem" Pilea are one of the species I grow here in California. A lovely small plant, but a bit more sensitive than other forms of Pilea. We use it as a mat in tanks with Ranitomeya.

Your soil should not be capable of being described as "wet" These plants like soil that drains well, and they like it warm and humid. 

Just cut back on the water a bit and let it dry a bit. In the terrarium, most of these plants don't really need to be heavily watered, just simple misting is more than sufficient to make them grow explosively. From what I have seen, red stems tend to grow a bit slower as well.

For example, I have "Moon Valley" Pilea that exploded when put into the tanks with my frogs. Most of them shot up from 3-4" tall plants to over 10" in a very short amount of time, with nothing more than the misting for the frogs.


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