How to Plant and Grow Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’

The Mona Lavender plants are slowly becoming a favorite indoor plant for many plant lovers 💏 and for a good reason. When most other plants enter dormancy, this beauty sends flower spikes with tubular lavender flowers.

The fascinating thing is that the shorter daylight hours trigger the bloom period. So you can enjoy a flower color right through winter to early spring.

Plant Name: Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’

Other Name: Mona Lavender, ‘Mona Lavender’ plectranthus, lavender spur flower

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial shrub

Native Areas: Cultivar

Light Requirement: Partial shade

Watering: Average

Fertilizer: Water-soluble fertilizer

Toxicity: Non-toxic

Temperature: 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit

Propagation: Seed or cuttings

Growth: two feet tall and two feet wide

Soil Type: Acidic, well-drained soil

USDA Hardiness Zones: 10-11

What Are Plectranthus Plants?

The Mona Lavender flowers are a hybrid between two South African species, the Plectranthus saccatus and Plectranthus hilliardiae spp autrale ‘Magwa.’ You will see the parental traits from both plants.

Its leaves are vibrant with pretty purple stems and two-lipped purple blooms. The ovate, glossy leaves are green on top with purple undersides.

You will find this tropical plant easy to grow, and it thrives with minimal care.

Another exciting thing is these ornamental herbaceous plants growing abundantly in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town.

The Plectranthus Mona Lavender’s common name is the lavender spur flower, which has an upright growth. It also belongs to the mint family and has a long bloom period.

You can grow the plant as a houseplant mostly, but in zones 10 and 11, you can plant them as a perennial in spring as it serves as an evergreen to bloom in summer into winter.

Plectranthus Plant Varieties

The Plectranthus Mona Lavender is a unique cultivar of the cross between P. saccatus and P. hilliardiae ssp. autrale ‘Magwa’. But there are some other species you can add to your garden collection.

Plectranthus ciliatus

The blue spurflower is a Troy’s Gold cultivar with green leaves with creamy margins resembling coleus. Then you have the Zulu Wonder that looks similar to the Mona with purple undersides on the leaves.

Plectranthus oertendahlii

In the Swedish ivy or Brazilian coleus, the leaves exhibit a green hue with silver markings and deep red undersides.

Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ Care

The fantastic thing about the Mona Lavender flowers is that you can grow them in the garden or as an indoor plant. It brings beauty indoors and outside year-round with its pretty foliage and purple flowers.

Many Plectranthus species have medium maintenance and bloom in late summer into winter. Gardeners refer to it as a short-day plant as it will shift into a flowering mode when the days become shorter, and the growth tapers off when temperatures warm up and days get longer.

The Best Soil For This Tropical Plant

When choosing a potting medium, your plant prefers rich soil that drains well and is slightly acidic. The soil pH recommended is between 5.6 and 65. So, add some organic matter to add to your well-draining soil.

Lighting Needs For The Lavender Flowers and Purple Undersides on Leaves

The trouble-free plant prefers partly sunny positions in the garden with some morning sun. Still, it thrives in partial shade in the afternoon and grows in warmer climates. It can tolerate full shade but will affect the foliage and bloom 🌸 colors.

So keen gardeners prefer growing the perennials with some afternoon shade with bright light in the morning sun for richer colors. As houseplants, these plants enjoy standing in bright indirect light.

Watering Your Mona

The genus Plectranthus prefers regular to evenly moist soil. This is quite a thirsty plant and needs watering every couple of days. When you notice the top inch of the soil dry to touch, give your Mona some water. But ensure that the soil drains well to prevent root rot.

Temperature and Humidity

The Mona thrives in year-round temperatures between 60°F to 80°F. Nonetheless, the plant can withstand only light frosts with temperatures down to 25°F. When grown in warm climates, flowering occurs in the fall and winter.

Your Mona will need added water during the bloom time. Also, withhold fertilizing as it will boost new stem tips, not flowers. The same applies to indoor plants if you want them to flower well.

You can expect your Mona to flower consistently from late summer to spring for garden plants in mild winter temperatures. Yet, a ⚠️ warning is that your Mona is very sensitive to freezes.

So, we recommend bringing your plant indoors or taking some cuttings to propagate and grow your Mona annually for freezing climates.

Fertilizing For The Gorgeous Flower Spikes

Grown as a garden plant, you can fertilize Mona every ten weeks using a water-soluble fertilizer by following the instructions on the label. When grown in acidic soils, we recommend using an acidifying feed to improve the foliage and flower color. On the short days when Mona flowers withhold fertilizing.

Pruning Plectranthus Mona Lavender

The herbaceous perennial does not need a lot of pruning, and you can pinch your young plants to encourage branching for fuller growth. The long-growing purple stems you can snip off to propagate. New stem tips you can trim regularly to help retain a compact shape to form. After blooming, you can remove the flower spikes.

Potting and Repotting ‘Mona Lavender’

We recommend using a soilless medium when you grow Plectranthus Mona Lavender in containers. As a houseplant, provide your plant with bright sunlight in the morning and light shade in the afternoon. You can expect to repot your Mona every two years into a larger container. 😀

Propagating Plectranthus Mona Lavender

The easiest way to propagate your houseplant is with stem cuttings planted in a proud rooting mix or water until the roots form. You can do this at any time but best done in the fall for plants grown outdoors to develop indoors and potting them up in winter to return outside in spring.

1. Take a six-inch cutting and remove any flower buds and the leaves at the bottom of the stem.

2. Place some water in a clean jar and leave it in a bright space with indirect light. Or plant it in some potting medium.

3. Add water to the jar as needed and freshen it up when you see the water turning yellow or brown.

4. Once the roots develop, you can transplant the one in water into a container and leave it to grow in bright indirect light.

5. When your Mona becomes leggy, you can pinch off the stems for bushy growth.

After the danger of frost passes, you can transplant your new plants in spring in the garden or move the container outdoors.

Also, as easy as it is to propagate stem cuttings, you can try sowing the seed, but it is seldom done. The problem is that the Mona is a hybrid that rarely grows true to the parent. For sowing seeds, you can do the following:

1. Sow the seeds indoors about six to ten weeks before the last spring frost.

2. Use seedling 🌱 flats or a small pot filled with a starter potting mix.

3. Sow the seeds shallowly and place them in a bright location out of direct sunlight.

4. The seedlings will emerge in 14 days.

5. Once the seedlings emerge, you can move them into direct sunlight and provide them with at least eight hours of darkness.

6. Once your seedlings reach four weeks old and have two sets of leaves, you can feed them with a half-strength houseplant feed.

Before you plant them outdoors, it helps to harden off the seedlings for about a week.

Plectranthus Mona Lavender Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Like most other species, your Mona Lavender is not bothered by pests or diseases when you plant them outdoors. The crucial thing is to provide her with well-draining soil. Some pests that can become a problem occasionally are:

• Aphids

• Whiteflies

• Spider Mites

You may find them on your plant in summer, and using something like neem oil helps. Disease problems are root and stem rot and leaf spot resulting from humid conditions or when your Mona Lavender grows too dense.