Peperomias have been sold as houseplants since the 1930s. For decades, there were only a handful of varieties to choose from, but with their new popularity and ease of growth, many additional varieties have come to market. The many types of peperomia can range from bushy to trailing, upright or cascading, and from fleshy succulent plants to those less so.
Many peperomia survive in nature as epiphytes or lithophytes, meaning they grow on other living and non-living things. Because they grow mostly in the understory in the tropics, they don’t need bright light, making them perfect houseplants. Peperomia never want to be in full sun, though the plants with thick fleshy leaves will need more light than the thinner leaved, less succulent varieties so keep this in mind when setting your plant in your home.
Peperomia Types
Peperomia are a diverse group of plants in the pepper family, Piperaceae, but not the edible pepper family that gives us green and hot peppers. The peperomia come from the pepper family that provides us the pepper spice that gives our food flavor. It would seem then that peperomia might be edible, but they are not for human or pet consumption.
You can choose from many varieties including bushy types as well as trailing varieties. None of the peperomia get overly large, so they are a nice choice for small spaces.
The National Garden Bureau has declared 2022 the Year of the Peperomia! Learn more about this happy houseplants at https://ngb.org/year-of-the-peperomia.
