Baby's tears
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called angel's tears, bits and pieces, bread and cheese, Corsican Carpet, Corsican creeper, Corsican curse, friendship plant, helxine, Irish moss, Japanese Moss, Mind-Your-Own-Business, mother of thousands, Paddy's wig, Peace-in-the-Home and Pollyanna vine.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drained or Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H4 — -10 to -5°C -10 to -5 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Brown tips on the newest leaves first
The baby's tears browns at the very tips first, and the brown line creeps back along the edges over weeks. The tissue is dry and brittle, not soft.
Penn State Extension cites ASHRAE's recommended indoor range of 30% to 60% relative humidity; a heated room in winter drops below it. Air that dry pulls water from the leaf faster than the roots replace it, and the margins are furthest from the supply. That applies while it is grown indoors; its RHS rating of H4 describes a plant that also grows outside, where the air is seldom that dry.
Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionBaby's tears brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Whitened areas where the sun falls longest
Scorched leaves on the baby's tears turn from pale to brown and brittle, and the damage stops where the shade of another leaf fell across it.
Full sun or partial shade is what its source names, and outdoors that sun comes with moving air that cools the foliage. Behind still glass the same light heats the tissue well above the room, and the exposed patches dry out first.
Telling it apart: Whether the patches grow. Scorch is done once it happens; a leaf spot keeps spreading.
RHSDiagnose leaf drop on this Baby's tears- Yellow, limp leaves at the base
Whole leaves yellow at once rather than browning at a margin, and the baby's tears looks deflated despite soil that has not dried since it was watered.
Soil described as moist but well-drained or well-drained is a drainage instruction as much as a watering one. Compost that stays saturated suffocates the fine roots that do the drinking.
Telling it apart: The soil, not the leaf. Wet compost under yellowing leaves points one way and dry compost the other, and the leaves alone will not tell you which.
RHSDiagnose yellowing leaves on this Baby's tears
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Baby's tears.
Routine care
- Watering
- In summer water when needed; in winter keep just moist.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Increase from seed or division.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Keeping it off the soil limits spreading, and pruning can be done when needed.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Usually free of pests and diseases.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Soleirolia soleirolii is a flowering plant in the nettle family. It has a number of common names, including baby's tears, angel's tears, peace in the home, bits and pieces, bread and cheese, Corsican creeper, Corsican curse, friendship plant, mind-your-own-business, pollyanna vine, Paddy's wig, and mother of thousands. It should not be confused with Kalanchoe daigremontiana, another plant known as mother of thousands.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- WC. Medit.World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026W. Mediterranean, Italy, Sardinia and Corsica.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026W Mediterranean Is.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- subtropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- subshrubWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Ground Cover, Perennial; habit cascading, climbing, creeping, dense, horizontal, prostrate, spreadingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Matforming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 3–6 in; width 36–72 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height Up to 10 cm; spread 0.5-1 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers white; blooms in spring, summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers pink in summer; white in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Uses
What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.
Ground coverNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Baby's tears
More of the Urticaceae family
Chinese money plantBrown tips on the newest leaf blades first
Aluminum plantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
AngeloweedSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Creeping CharlieSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Friendship PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
- No photograph yetPolynesian IvySourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.