Why is my peperomia sad?

Question

I moved her to this pot about a year ago and was really thriving for a while. I have noticed she doesn't like cold but does like light, but has made it through several different apartments with me despite the varied locations. Now she live in a room with indirect daylight for most of the day and I water heavily once a month or until the soil is dry.

There also seem to be tiny centipedes on the dirt, none of my other plants have them. They freak me out.

She seems all droopy. Am I not fertilizing enough? What would be proper care?

Answer 1

The plant appears to be suffering from insufficient light - I can see faint variegation on the leaves, but its much less noticeable than it should be. It likes bright daylight (though does very well with good fluorescent lighting too) but isn't keen at all on direct sunlight, although a little in winter shouldn't be a problem. With regard to insects in the soil, that might be down to whatever soil you used to repot it last time - if it wasn't fresh potting medium, it may have contained various insects and pathogens. Your watering regime sounds fine.

Otherwise, this plant likes average warmth, not lower than 50-55 deg F in winter. It shouldn't be repotted too often, you should wait till its unavoidable (after some years), then pot into something only one size large, preferably in spring. However, if the soil you used is suspect, then it might be useful to decant the plant, gently remove as much soil as possible, or soak it in a bucket to get the soil off,then repot into a clean pot in fresh potting medium, without using a larger size pot.