Tolmiea menziesii
The first time I saw a piggyback plant, I was hiking Mount Hood in Oregon with a friend who lived in the region.
I saw this cute herbaceous plant with a funky, tiny leaf growing out of its foliage.
I asked my friend what the heck I was looking at, and he told me it was called youth-on-age.
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Turns out, not only is piggyback plant, as it’s also known, a beloved native in my area, but it’s a valued ornamental in other regions with a similar climate.
On top of that, it’s a popular houseplant in areas not blessed with the perfect Pacific Northwest climate (I might be biased).
Whether you intend to grow piggyback plant in a hanging pot in your kitchen, an urn for your entry, or even in the garden, this guide will help you out.
Here’s a look at what I’ll cover:
Tolmei menziesii is an herbaceous evergreen in the Saxifragaceae family, native to the Pacific Northwest in the cool, moist climate west of the Cascade mountains in southern Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and northern California.
If you live in Zones 6 to 9, you can grow it outside in shady, moist areas. Otherwise, it makes a delightful houseplant.
When not in its reproductive stage during the summer, it looks a little like a small, herbaceous maple tree because the leaves have a similar shape to those of Acer species.
But then the tiny plantlets form at the point where the stem meets the leaf and suddenly piggyback plant looks quite different from everything else.
This plantlet will eventually fall off and root in the ground. Basically, the youngsters live on the mature plant, absorbing nutrients and moisture, until they’re ready to head off on their own.
Quick Look
Common name(s): Curiosity plant, pick-a-back, piggyback plant, youth-on-age
Plant type: Herbaceous semi-evergreen perennial
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 6-9 (outdoors)
Native to: Pacific Northwest
Bloom time / season: Spring, early summer
Exposure: Partial sun, part shade, shade
Soil type: Loose, loamy, well draining
Soil pH: 5.0-7.0, slightly acidic to neutral
Time to maturity: 1 year
Mature size: 2 ft wide x 2 ft high
Best uses: Woodland or pollinator garden, houseplant, ground cover
Taxonomy
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Tolmiea
Species: Menziesii
T. menziesii has several common names that reflect its funky reproductive habit.
It may be called curiosity plant, mother of thousands (not to be confused with the succulent, Kalanchoe daigremontiana), pick-a-back plant, youth-on-age, and piggyback plant.
In addition to forming plantlets, this species can also reproduce via seeds and rhizomes.
The seeds form inside fruit capsules on tall stalks following unusual chocolate brownish-purple flowers with yellow anthers.
The stems are hairy and the leaves hairy, heart-shaped or palmate with toothy margins.
There is another Tolmei species out there that is indistinguishable from piggyback plant, T. diplomenziesii.
This second species only grows in Oregon and a small part of northern California.
I mention it because you might occasionally see T. diplomenziesii listed for sale as piggyback plant. It’s essentially the same, and only botanists will know or care about the difference.
Youth-on-age grows to about two feet tall and wide when mature, so it’s not too demanding about space, and it will stay even smaller indoors, where it works well in a hanging planter.
Outdoors it will spread readily via plantlets, seeds, and rhizomes in moist areas, so it’s perfect for growing as a ground cover. When in bloom it will attract all the pollinators.
How to Grow
Piggyback plant is quite easy to cultivate provided you try and replicate its natural woodland habitat.
Soil
Piggyback plants love loose, loamy, rich soil, like what you would find on a moist forest floor, with lots of decomposing organic matter.
Ideally, the soil should be well-draining, but this versatile species will tolerate both poorly draining and sandy soil. You’ll just need to be mindful about watering.
A pH of between 5.0 and 7.0 is fine.
If you’re cultivating in a container, I love FoxFarm’s Ocean Forest potting mix.
I use it in my potted plants, raised beds, and to amend small areas of the garden. It’s made using earthworm castings, bat guano, forest humus, and sea meal.
FoxFarm Ocean Forest
You can find FoxFarm Ocean Forest in one and a half cubic feet bags available via Amazon.
Light
If you’re growing piggyback plant outdoors, choose a location in shade or dappled light.
The plants will tolerate partial sun, but you’ll need to be meticulous with your watering.
Indoors, bright, indirect light for most of the day is ideal.
Humidity
Many plants that grow in the Pacific Northwest need a good amount of humidity to survive, but piggyback plant is fine in the average home humidity.
Don’t bother worrying about trying to increase the humidity unless you start to see crispy brown edges on the leaves.
If that happens, you can group plants together or move yours into a bathroom or kitchen, where the humidity tends to be higher.
Water
In many parts of the Pacific Northwest, there is constant moisture from October through May, but it can be totally dry during the summer months.
Piggyback plants have adapted to that kind of shifting moisture level. If you let the soil dry out a little in the summer, it will be totally fine.
Make sure you keep it evenly moist from fall through spring, but short periods of drought shouldn’t be a problem.
Ideally, the soil or potting medium should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge, not soggy and wet.
Fertilizing
Plants outdoors don’t need to be fed unless your soil is extremely depleted.
Indoors, you should feed twice a year: once in spring and once in late summer. Whether indoors or out, use a fertilizer with an NPK ratio of 1-1-1 or 2-2-2.
Cultivars to Select
In the US, you’ll mostly find the species for sale at garden centers and nurseries, but cultivated varieties are becoming more common, especially in Europe and the UK.
Here are a few to look out for:
Cool Gold
Talk about eye-catching, ‘Cool Gold’ has golden foliage and it forms dense clumps.
Beyond the foliage color, it’s the same as the species in size and other characteristics.
Taff’s Gold
Tremendous ‘Taff’s Gold’ is variegated with bright yellow and green foliage. It grows a bit wider than the species but the same height.
The downside is that this cultivar is prone to reverting back to green, so prune off any totally green leaves that form to encourage the gold variegation to remain.
Variegata
‘Variegata’ is a naturally-occurring variety that was found growing in the wild.
It has creamy yellow splotches on green leaves. Otherwise, it’s just like the species.
Maintenance
Pruning isn’t necessary unless you see dead or dying leaves. Feel free to snip these off.
Otherwise, you can prune leaves to create a shape that you like, but it’s not necessary. If yours flowers, which doesn’t always happen indoors, you can remove these at the base, as well.
Over time, the original specimen will start to become a bit sparse. When this happens, cut it back to the ground and it will re-emerge from the soil with a more dense, compact growth.
If your piggyback plant starts to spread where you don’t want it, you can dig it up. It won’t spread into dry or sunny areas, so don’t worry; it’s not prone to taking over an area.
Propagation
You can propagate piggyback plants from the tiny plantlets it produces, as well as from seeds or by division.
From Seed
If you have access to an existing plant, you have a ready-made seed source. Or, you can often buy them from companies that specialize in rare or native seeds.
To harvest your own seeds, you’ll need to wait until late summer after it has flowered and the pods have developed.
When the pods turn brown and some of them begin to open, it’s time to harvest.
You can pluck the entire pod or rub it between your fingers to release the seeds. Collect them in a bowl or cup underneath as they fall.
The seeds need to be cold-stratified for at least a month before sowing. To do this, fill a bag or sealable container with moist sand.
Place the seeds in the sand and set the bag or container in the refrigerator. Set a reminder on your phone to check them every week to make sure the sand is evenly moist.
After a minimum of one month, but preferably two, they can be sown in pots or trays indoors for transplanting after the last frost date has passed.
Alternatively, you can sow the seeds directly in the ground outside in fall and let Mother Nature handle the stratification.
Cover the seeds with a bit of soil and then lay chicken wire or some other mesh over the area to protect the seeds from cats, crows, squirrels, and other critters that love to dig in the soil.
Divisions
Piggyback plants spread via rhizomes and it’s easy to divide these to grow elsewhere.
To do this, look for a specimen with multiple clumps of stems. Gently dig down around one of the clumps and lift it out of the ground.
You might need to snip away some of the roots to fully separate the plant.
Set the division in a new spot by digging a hole the same size as the roots. Place the division in the hole and fill in around the roots with fresh soil.
Fill in the hole you left behind with soil.
From Offsets or Leaf Cuttings
Those offsets are what make youth-on-age unique, and you know you’re dying to try your hand at propagating them.
Spoiler alert: it’s super easy.
The little plantlets that form at the center of the mature leaves can be gently teased away and set it their own containers.
Or, you can just remove the entire leaf with its piggyback and all. I prefer this method because there’s no risk that you’ll remove the plantlet too early.
The offsets start showing up in the late summer and are usually gone by spring.
Look for those that are about the size of a pencil eraser or larger on a healthy leaf. Use your fingers to gently tease it away from the parent.
Otherwise, pull or cut a leaf with just a bit of petiole and an attached plantlet. Stick the petiole in potting medium with the bottom of the leaf just touching the surface of the medium.
Moisten the soil and place the pot in an area with bright, indirect light.
Keep the medium moist and while roots develop. Either the plantlet will leap off the leaf and start itself in the soil, or the leaf will send out roots. Maybe even both.
Either way, keep the newly emerging specimen in its growing container until the following spring. Then you can transplant it outdoors or repot into a permanent container.
Transplanting
Most houseplant specialists will carry youth-on-age. Your job is to move it from the grower’s pot to a larger, more permanent container or into the ground outdoors.
This will be one of the easiest jobs you’ve ever done.
Prep the new container by putting a little potting medium in the base so that the crown sits at the same height it is in its existing container.
Gently remove the specimen from the growing container and set it in the new pot. Fill in around it with more potting medium. Water, add a bit more potting medium if it settles, and you’re done!
For planting in the garden, dig a hole the size of the growing container.
Lower the root ball into the hole and fill in around with extra soil, if needed. Water, add more soil if it settles, and voila.
Managing Pests and Disease
For the most part, piggyback plants are pretty easygoing.
Fungus gnats are annoying, but they aren’t the end of the world. They feed on dead material in the ground and sometimes on roots.
Aphids and mealybugs might also make their way to your piggyback plant. Slugs will also chomp on the foliage.
If you grow piggyback plants in heavy clay or other unsuitable soil, chances are high that you’ll end up facing root rot at some point.
While this species loves moisture, it doesn’t thrive in poorly-draining soil.
Too much standing moisture, whether from overwatering or poor soil, will deprive the roots of oxygen and cause rot.
Root rot shows up as brown, dying leaves, and the piggyback plant will eventually collapse.
Learn more about root rot here.
Bring the Woodlands to Your Space
Whether you want to fill a woodland-like space in your garden or you bring the temperate rainforest vibe into your home, piggyback plant is the perfect option.
Even if you just want to enjoy the look of the unusual plantlets, you can’t go wrong.
What are your goals with this plant? Looking to please the local pollinators? Or will it be the perfect houseplant for your space? Let us know in the comments section below!
If you found this guide useful and you’re looking for a few more plants with interesting foliage, check out these guides:
