How to Grow Japanese Aralia (Fatsia Japonica)

How to Grow Japanese Aralia (Fatsia Japonica) Fatsia japonica

With big, bold leaves, put fatsia on your wish list if you’re looking for a pet-friendly houseplant or one that will tolerate low light levels.

Take one look at its emerald green leaves and you’ll want to move it to the top of the list!

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Perhaps you’ve already taken the plunge and brought a Fatsia japonica plant home.

Or maybe fatsia is on your wish list and you’re here to decide if it will tolerate the growing conditions you’re able to provide.

In this article we’ll cover all of this houseplant’s growing needs so whether you’re troubleshooting a problem or preparing to bring a specimen home, you will be ready to proceed with confidence!

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Fatsia japonica – also known simply as fatsia – is an evergreen shrub that has a rounded, open, spreading growth habit.

Though it can reach up to 16 feet tall when grown outdoors it usually grows to around six feet tall and wide as a houseplant.

Fatsia has glossy, emerald to dark green palmate leaves that are deeply lobed, grow to be eight inches wide or larger, and are held on long petioles.

These leaves have an odd number of lobes – usually seven, nine, or 11 lobes per leaf – though younger specimens typically have fewer and shallower lobes.

When new fatsia leaves unfurl, they are covered with small, orange-tinted hairs, so if you notice some fuzz on your houseplant’s foliage, don’t panic.

Though Japanese aralias grown as houseplants don’t often bloom, when cultivated outdoors these plants produce fragrant white blooms in fall, which attract pollinators such as wa