GrowingHQ
Houseplantfoliage houseplantSome care needed

Fittonia

Fittonia albivenis

A low rainforest-floor plant with strikingly veined leaves and no drought tolerance whatever. It collapses flat when dry and recovers within an hour of watering, which is alarming to watch and genuinely reversible — up to a point.

Position
Moderate light
Water
high demand
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Grows to
10–20 cm × 20–40 cm
Frost
Frost tender
Difficulty
Some care needed

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Fittonia’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
Take cuttingsMay. June. July.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Dappled shade, Full shade
Frost
Frost tender
Grows best at
18–26 °C
Soil
Peat-free compost
Soil pH
5.5–6.5
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Water needs
high
Drought
poor tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
moderate tolerance
Wind and exposure
poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Fittonia albivenis — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

It faints when dry — repeated collapses kill it.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionFittonia will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyWorks, with one conditionFittonia will crop on sandy, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure.
Chalky and alkalineStruggles hereFittonia struggles on chalky and alkaline: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.
LoamGrows well hereFittonia grows perfectly well on loam without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
SiltyGrows well hereFittonia grows perfectly well on silty without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionFittonia will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockWorks, with one conditionFittonia will crop on shallow over rock, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure.
Made ground and urban soilStruggles hereFittonia struggles on made ground and urban soil: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.2 to 7.8. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
10–20 cm
Mature spread
20–40 cm
Rooting depth
10 cm
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume
1 litres or more
Minimum depth
8 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

A small pot, a terrarium or a bathroom shelf. Dry air is the limiting factor rather than root space.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Indoor potWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
GreenhouseWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

WindowsillMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Open groundNot suitable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

  • WateringKeep the compost consistently moist and the air humid. A plant that has fainted will usually stand up again within an hour of watering, but repeated collapses cost it leaves permanently.
  • PruningPinch out the growing tips regularly. Left alone it goes bare in the middle and trails from the edges, and pinching keeps a dense low cushion.
  • FeedingA quarter-strength feed monthly in spring and summer is ample for a small plant with fine roots, and nothing is needed from October. Fittonia is grown for dense low foliage rather than size, and a fed plant in poor light simply stretches. Pinch the tips out regularly instead — that is what keeps it compact. It is the houseplant most likely to collapse flat when dry and recover fully within an hour of watering, which is alarming and harmless the first few times and genuinely damaging if it becomes the routine.
  • PropagationTake stem-tip cuttings in spring or summer — this is one of the easiest houseplants to propagate and one worth propagating deliberately, because a fittonia goes bare and straggly in the middle after a couple of years and is better replaced than nursed. Cut a shoot three or four centimetres long below a node, remove the lowest leaves and push several round the edge of a small pot of damp compost. Cover with a clear bag or put it in a closed propagator; in the humidity it likes they root within a fortnight.
Where this guidance comes from
WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Fittonia — pruning

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Fittonia albivenis

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Fittonia albivenis

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.
Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Pet safety not established

Safety around cats and dogs has not been established for Fittonia. Absence from a toxicity list is not the same as being listed as safe.
Insufficient evidenceconfidence unknown

Fittonia albivenis is widely described as pet-safe and is not named on a list GrowingHQ accepts. Absence from a toxic list is not a non-toxic finding, so the verdict stays open rather than being rounded up.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

    Sources for this page

    GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

    Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.