Aglaonema Tigress Plant Care

Last Updated on April 15, 2022 by Admin

The Aglaonema Tigress is commonly known as the Chinese Evergreen Tigress. This is a stunning green leafed plant with white-silver patterns.

It features long, lance-shaped leaves that can get bushy. This makes the plant gorgeous if you let it grow out.

It is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia which is why it is fond on consistently warm weather.

How to care for the Aglaonema Tigress? Keep the plant in a well-lit location with no direct light. While it can tolerate low light, medium to bright indirect light will allow it grow best.

Maintain temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit and keep humidity at 50% and above. Don’t overwater the plant and use well-draining soil.

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Chinese Evergreen Tigress Light Requirements

The Aglaonema Tigress thrives on medium to bright indirect light indoors. This is the kind of lighting condition I suggest you try to give it in order to maintain its beautiful leaves and their color.

While the plant can tolerate low light, I don’t recommend leaving it in these locations.

That’s because low light won’t harm the plant. However, the leaves will lose some of their color vibrancy.

The dimmer the light, the less green and white colors you’ll see.

Additionally, growth will slow as well in low light. And the less light they get the higher the possibility of the plant becoming leggy and thin.

Thus, if you don’t get a lot of natural light indoors, try to set up artificial lights.

You can use grow lights or fluorescent lights. Both work well.

Personally, I prefer LED grow lights over fluorescent even if they cost quite a bit more. That’s because they last 5 times longer and don’ emit as much heat. This makes it safer for the plant.

Speaking of heat and intensity, that’s another thing to watch out for.

Too much strong or harsh light exposure can turn the plant’s leaves yellow or cause their colors to get dull and pale. On the extreme end, it can burn their leaves as well.

This is why you should keep the plant away from direct sunlight especially during the middle of the day. The times between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. are the hottest times of the day.

Similarly, summers can get extreme hot depending on where you live.

Avoid leaving the plant in the direct path of the sun’s rays during these times. While it can take 1 to 2 hours a day, more than 3 hours on a regular basis will scorch its leaves.

Outdoors, the same is true.

Therefore, avoid full sun. Instead, keep it under partial shade.

Something like the patio, balcony or deck with a shade or cover that’s still well-lit from the sun works best for the Aglaonema Tigress’s growth and leaf colors.

Chinese Evergreen Tigress Temperature

The Chinese Evergreen Tigress is a warm weather loving plant. It prefers 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the range where it feels most comfortable.

The reason is that it is native to the subtropical regions of Asia including China. Thus, it enjoys consistently warm to hot environments.

In contrast, avoid fluctuations.

This can dramatically affect the plant’s health and look, especially if the swings are sudden and significant.

Therefore, avoid leaving it near things that can change temperature very quickly including air conditioners, stoves, fireplaces, heaters, radiators or even open windows.

Similarly, avoid temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The plant is not cold hardy. And it does not like the cold.

Again, this stems from its native habitat. The regions near the equator don’t experience winters. In fact, they stay warm or hot even from November through March.

As such, if you go to the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia like Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, you’ll see people wearing shorts and a t-shirt during December and January.

So, keep the plant away from the outdoors come winter. Make sure you bring it inside before the temperature drops to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and keep it warm through the winter indoors.

That said, the Chinese Evergreen Tigress will happily live outdoors 365 days a year in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11. That’s because it is sunny and warm all year in these locations.

Think areas like Texas, Florida and California where the weather does not drop to freezing even at the end of the year.

Humidity

The Aglaonema Tigress will grow best if you give it humidity of 50%. Although, one reason the Chinese Evergreen plant is popular to homeowners is that it can tolerate low humidity as well.

Therefore, you likely won’t have to do anything special to keep the plant alive as far as humidity in your home.

Of course, if you want it to grow faster, produce more leaves and have very vibrant colors, it is a good idea to try to push up humidity to its preferred level.

This is why you’ll see many home growers mist the plant or set up a humidifier for the Aglaonema Tigress.

My favorite free method is using a humidity tray or pebble tray.

That’s because both are very hands-off. And all you need to do is refill the water once it gets depleted. Also, you can DIY these two setups in just a few minutes.

A few things to keep in mind about humidity are that:

Indoor humidity is almost always lower than outdoor humidity
Dry summers can cause humidity to drop
Winters are notorious for dry air

Therefore, it is a good idea to understand not only the temperature changes that occur due to the changing seasons but also what happens to humidity where you live.

If you’re not sure what humidity your home or each room in your home has, you can pick up a hygrometer. This affordable device will tell you what the humidity is at any give time.

And you can just move it from room to room to check.

How Often to Water Aglaonema Tigress

Always allow the Chinese Evergreen Tigress to partially dry between waterings. Avoid overwatering.

And if you’re not sure whether the plant needs watering or not, don’t water. Erring on the side of caution pays off for this plant.

The reason is that it is susceptible to overwatering. And while it does not like being left very dry either, it recovers very quickly from lack of water.

The same is not true for excess moisture. In fact, in some cases one strike and you’re out.

This is the case because root rot can happen. And if it is not detected early, there comes a point there there’s no saving the plant no matter what you do since too many of the roots have been damaged already.

What makes watering tricky is that the change in the weather affects how often you’ll water the Chinese Evergreen Tigress.

In the summer, the plant will need regular watering to keep soil consistently moist. But avoid watering too often that the soil ends up wet or soggy.

The reason for regular watering is that the sunny and warm weather cause soil to dry up faster. Additionally, the plant is actively growing during this time. So, it needs more moisture to drink.

On the other hand, it is important to scale back on watering during winter.

During this time of year, the weather is cold and there’s a lot less light. So, soil takes much longer to dry. Also, the plant won’t grow much due to the cold environment.

So, it is easy to overwater the plant during winters if you don’t scale back significantly.

This is why the best way to water the Chinese Evergreen Tigress is to wait until the soil is 50% to 75% dry. This means you want to allow the top half or three-quarters of soil to dry before adding more water.

Anywhere between this range will work. So, you don’t need to be very precise.

The simplest way to check is to use a wooden stick or chopstick.

Insert the wooden stick into the soil all the way down until it hits the bottom of the pot. Then take the stick out.

You’ll see wet and dry areas in the wood which will indicate until where the soil is still moist. Thus, once the dry part passes the halfway point, that’s your “go signal” to water.

Avoid watering before then to prevent overwatering.

Aglaonema Tigress Potting Soil

The Aglaonema Tigress needs moist, well-draining soil that is rich in organic matter. However, the plant is not very picky about this.

So, the most important thing is that the soil is able to hold some moisture but has good drainage.

I know that this sounds ironic but let me explain.

Well-draining soil does not mean the soil will just drain all the liquid as soon as you water it. Instead, that happens with very sandy soils (which you should avoid with this plant).

What it does it hold some moisture to keep the roots hydrated. But it will quickly drain excess liquid so the roots don’t end up sitting in water for long periods of time.

The latter is how root rot occurs. And you want to avoid that at all costs.

This is why you should never use heavy soils or any kind of growing medium that’s designed to hold moisture (at least for the Aglaonema Tigress).

A simple potting mix recipe that works really well for the Aglaonema Tigress consists of:

1 part peat
1 part perlite
1 part potting soil

Here, the perlite ensures that the potting mix has good drainage. This will prevent waterlogging and overwatering.

Avoid using regular potting soil on its own as it is often too heavy and will retain too much water for the plant’s liking.

If this is the case, just add some perlite or orchid bark to increase drainage and make it lighter.

Chinese Evergreen Tigress Fertilizer

The Chinese Evergreen Tigress does not need fertilizer. but I do suggest using one to optimize the growth of the plant.

The reason for using fertilizer is that it will help your plant grow bigger, faster and produce more leaves. Also, the leaves will look more vibrant.

The important thing here is not overthink it or try to overdo things.

Just use a balanced liquid fertilizer at half-strength once a month during the plant’s growing season (spring and summer). That’s it!

Avoid feeding the plant more than what’s needed. And don’t give it fertilizer in the fall or winter either.

Always remember that too much fertilizer is worse than not feeding the plant any. That’s because it can result in yellow leaves and damaged roots.

If you don’t like to use regular fertilizer, you can go with fish emulsion as well.

Or you can just amend the soil to avoid using any fertilizer at all.

To do so, use compost or worm castings. These are natural fertilizers that will release nutrients into the soil slowly. All you need to do is add a ½ inch layer of compost or worm castings to the soil.

Flowering / Blooms

The Chinese Evergreen Tigress is a flowering plant. Thus, you may see its inflorescence which comes in the form of a white spadix that’s enclosed by a light green spathe.

That said, the plant rarely blooms indoors.

But if you grow it outdoors, you may see it bloom later summer to early fall.

Note that because the flowers are not very stunning (like those of hoyas or other houseplants) many growers will prune them.

They do this so that the plant won’t use up energy or resources in growing the flowers. Instead, it will focus on foliage growth and development which the Chinese Evergreen Tigress is best known for.

Of course, this is really up to you.

Some people like the look of the flowers. And if you do, you can keep them and let them bloom.

Chinese Evergreen Tigress Pruning

The Aglaonema Tigress is not a big plant. It typically grows up to 2 or 3 feet tall and its leaves will spread out to about 1 to 2 feet from side to side.

Since its leaves make up nearly 100% of the plant you’ll see above the pot, pruning is not really needed. However, at some point, the plant will have tons of leaves and may look a bit too bushy.

If that happens, you can prune a bit here and there.

In general, only light pruning every few months is needed at most. Again, this will depend on the look you’re going for and how bushy you want the plant to be.

How to Propagate Aglaonema Tigress

The most effective way to propagate the Aglaonema Tigress is to divide the plant.

This means that you need to wait for the plant to mature before you can propagate it. Additionally, it is not a good idea to propagate a small Chinese Evergreen Tigress.

This will leave you with very small new plants that are harder to grow.

Here’s how to propagate the Aglaonema Tigress by division.

The best time to propagate the plant is between spring to early summer. So, prepare all the things you need for the day.

Start by clearing your workspace. If you have a potting bench that’s great. But you can use the floor or anywhere else. If you propagate the Aglaonema Tigress indoors, make sure to put newspaper or plastic on the surface to make it easy to clean after.

Also have new pots and enough soil to fill the pots.

The number of pots you’ll need will depend on how many divisions you want to separate the mother plant into. This is up to you and the size of your Aglaonema Tigress.

Begin by carefully taking the plant out of its container.
Remove excess soil and separate any tangled roots.
Check the roots. If there’s root rot, pests, disease or anything else, fix that problem first before dividing. Going ahead with propagation only multiplies the issue since you have to treat 2 or more plants instead of one.
Decide how many divisions you want to make and where you want to separate the root ball.
Make sure each division has enough roots, stems and leaves to start a new plant.
Then separate the mother plant. You can use a sterile knife or your hands.
Plant each division into a pot with fresh, well-draining potting mix.

Once you’re done, water each of the new plants and place them in bright, indirect light.

From here, take care of them like you did the mother plant.

How to Repot or Transplant Aglaonema Tigress

The Aglaonema Tigress only needs repotting once every 2 years or so.

The exact timing will depend on how fast the plant grows. As such, the environment and care you give it will affect how fast or slow it grows.

For example, the more light, humidity and fertilizer it gets, the faster it will grow. In low light, the plant won’t grow as fast.

And the best way to tell when to repot is to check the bottom of the container.

If you see a lot of roots coming out from the bottom of the drainage holes, it means that the plant needs repotting.

Spring is the best time to repot.

And when you repot, choose a container that is 2 inches wider in diameter. Avoid the temptation of using a bigger pot just to reduce the amount of times you need to repot.

That’s because overpotting increases the risk for overwatering.

Also, prepare fresh, well-draining potting mix to replace the old, spent soil.

Is It Toxic/Poisonous to Humans, Cats & Dogs

The Aglaonema Tigress is toxic to humans and animals. Therefore, avoid letting young children, dogs or cats play around the plant. This will reduce the risk of accidental ingestion.

Aglaonema Tigress Problems & Troubleshooting

Pests

Pests can attack your Aglaonema Tigress. The most common problems involve mealybugs, scale and spider mites.

These bugs tend to hide under the leaves and in the nooks and crannies in the stems. So, check thoroughly.

Regular inspection is the best way to spot any pest problem early.

This will prevent them from growing into an infestation.

Diseases

Overwatering can lead to root rot. Additionally, it is also the cause of bacterial and fungal infections which will require immediate attention and treatment.

Therefore, avoid wetting the soil too much and allow foliage to dry quickly.

Pruning diseased and unhealthy leaves also help stave off infections or prevent them from spreading.

Aglaonema Tigress Plant Care – How to grow Chinese Evergreen Tigress