Airpot update: I think it’s happy!

About 4 months ago I made a post asking about an airpot that I had found.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/philodendron/s/U8ljEmDmxz

People seemed interested so I wanted to give you all a small update and show off a bit. Despite the fact that we just went through the dead of winter my pink princess has been thriving! These photos do not do justice to how stunning it is. It has nearly doubled in size already and is putting out quite large leaves, measuring about a foot! So far it has not dropped any. I don’t actually see very many roots growing out of the airpot’s holes, possibly because it has been cold. However, if I shine a light through them I can see a lot of thick roots growing inside, so I know there is a lot of action happening. I’ll do another update in the summer or next time I repot. For anyone who is interested I’ll just talk about how I’m caring for it below.

Light: it sits in a giant east-facing corner window. I get amazing light in spring/ summer, but during the winter the sun disappears for months at a time. Right now I’m supplementing with a Feit 32w clamp lamp. It seems to be keeping the philodendron very happy, and as you can see my monstera is even reorienting itself towards the lamp. I plan to remove it and rely only on natural light in about a month or two.

Soil: I’m using an aroid mix from my favourite local plant shop. It is a lot of chunky bark, charcoal, sphagnum moss and very little peat. I think there is slow-release fertilizer as well.

Support: I’m not about moss poles atm so I gave it a stake wrapped in burlap. It seems to be doing the trick, and I am already in need of a taller one. One of my favourite things about the airpot is how securely it holds the stake. That thing is SOLID.

Water/food: I water roughly once a week right now. As the sunlight increases I expect the frequency to increase quite a bit as well. To water I will usually bring it to the shower and place the airpot in my largest cooking pot, which comes up about 2/3 of the way. I then shower the plant, and use the shower head to water from the top until it is fully submerged. Then I let it sit for 15-30 minutes before draining. Once or twice a month I give it some diluted miracle gro 20-20-20 fertilizer which all my plants seem to love.

I think that’s it! Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I am just so pleased with this progress that I wanted to share. If anyone has specific questions I will try to answer!