About
Callisia 'Turtle' is a tender evergreen perennial typically cultivated indoors. It exhibits a trailing growth pattern, creating mats of branching stems that can root at the nodes. The leaves are densely arranged, slightly fleshy, and pointed, reaching lengths of up to 4 cm, with a purple hue on their undersides. In late spring and early summer, small white flowers emerge from the leaf axils of the upright stems.
About the genus
Callisia consists of evergreen perennials that can either trail or grow in a bushy form. They feature somewhat thickened stems and foliage, along with small flowers that have three petals, typically in white or pink hues.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full shade, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Loam
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, North-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H1B
Plant details
- Plant type
- Conservatory Greenhouse, Houseplants
- Habit
- Matforming, Trailing
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Height
- Up to 10 cm
- Spread
- 0.5-1 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- Hanging basket, Houseplants, Patio and container plants, Sub-tropical
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Grow in a hanging basket or container as a houseplant or conservatory plant, in in two parts peat-free John Innes No 2 and one part grit, in bright filtered light. Water freely from spring to summer and apply a liquid fertiliser monthly. Water to keep just moist in winter. Can be grown outdoors where temperatures do not fall below 10°C in winter. See houseplant cultivation for further advice
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by softwood cuttings, by root cuttings, removing 6-7cm of the root tip in spring, or by division, removing rooted offsets. To produce dense coverage, pot up several cuttings in an 8cm container
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free