Laportea grossa is a plant of the forest floor and needs full to light shade or dappled shade, well-drained, fertile, well-composted soil and lots of water, particularly during the summer months. Gardeners in the winter rainfall areas will have to feed and water this plant in summer for it to perform at its best. Grow it in a cool, well-drained but well-watered, shady area where its lovely, glossy, white-spotted foliage will stand out. Choose an out-of-the-way position where it is unlikely to be encountered-unless you wish to try and exploit its repellent characteristics. Although it is also suitable to be grown in a container on a shady patio or courtyard, or indoors, its stinging stems and leaves make it an unfriendly house guest.

Laportea grossa is not a popular plant to propagate. Nevertheless it is not that difficult to work with it and not get stung. Use thick gardening gloves, or washing up gloves, or the new generation gardening gloves that combine latex and cloth. Experienced propagators know the knack of dealing with these unfriendly plants-take hold of the stem firmly and quickly, crushing the stinging hairs before they can penetrate the skin. It is the slower, more hesitant approach that results in stung fingers.

Laportea grossa is very easy to propagate from cuttings. Take stem cuttings (all growth is soft) at any time of the year, treat with a rooting hormone for herbaceous material and place in the mist unit. The cuttings root in ± 2 weeks. It is trickier to grow them on in the nursery because it is difficult to find a spot that suits them. They need to be cool, get no direct sun and be moist but not wet. Use a well-drained soil medium-it must drain freely-and water them frequently but make sure that the soil is not soggy or waterlogged.

Because cuttings are so easy, it has not been propagated from seed at Kirstenbosch. Seed should be sown as soon as it is ripe, in a well-drained soil medium, covered lightly, and kept moist and cool.