Nerve Plant - Fuzzy Stem Crawling

Nerve plants (Fittonia albivenis) are tropical, humidity-loving growths known for their crispy, dark green leaves paired with spindly veins and nodes of different hues. Other common names include painted net leaf, fittonia, and mosaic plants. Members of the Acanthaceae plant family, they grow plentifully in the rainforests of Peru, Ecuador, and other South American countries.

While they provide ample ground cover in their natural habitat, nerve plants grow best as indoor plants in less humid and hot regions of the world due to their unique climate needs. Some gardeners choose to keep them in small terrariums miniature indoor gardens encased in glass—due to how much climate control and trapped humidity such a small, contained environment allows.

Nerve plants can be a bit temperamental, so you’ll need to care for these tropical plants well to help them survive and thrive. Here are seven key nerve plant care tips:

• 1. Cultivate a humid environment. Nerve plants require high humidity to thrive. If you don’t already live in an extremely humid area, you should consider bringing these plants indoors so you can keep them moist at room temperature. They risk wilting or outright dying otherwise. Use a humidifier or resort to misting your plants regularly as an alternative. Build a small terrarium to allow even more moisture to remain trapped near your plants.
• 2. Exterminate pests. Like many other plants, fittonia leaves are feeding grounds for aphids, gnats, and mealybugs. If you encounter these pests on your plants, use neem oil or another insecticide to eliminate the problem. Prevention is preferable—the healthier you keep your plants and the more you keep an eye on them, the less likely such an infestation will occur in the first place.
• 3. Feed the plants. You should fertilize your fittonia every week, especially if they’re new plants. A regular houseplant fertilizer might be useful in a pinch, but liquid fertilizers designed expressly for tropical plants will prove the most useful.
• 4. Give them the right light. Find a happy medium between constant direct sun and low light to mimic the jungly homelands of your nerve plants. Place them in a sun-facing window if you’re keeping them indoors to expose them to constant bright indirect light throughout the day. If they’re out in your garden, make sure they’re in a shady region that still gets a moderate amount of direct sunlight.