I was given this plant 9-ish years ago. Back then, it was the size of a spoon; now it’s basically my curtains. Every 2 or 3 years since getting it, I’ve transferred it to a pot twice as big as the previous one, but I feel like I’ve finally ran out of runway.
I kept expecting it to reach a happy adult size and stop growing, but after looking at photos it seems like this species can grow to be the size of a tree.
At its current size, it’s at the limit of what I can realistically carry in and out of my house especially when it comes to getting it through a door without snapping anything off (the weather here is only warm enough to leave it outside for ~5 months out of the year, so I can’t leave it out indefinitely).
At the same time, if I don’t repot it, won’t it run out of dirt and start making tendrils like crazy? Every time I’ve transferred it to a new pot, its foot was 90% root, 10% dirt. I guess I could add satellite pots that the tendrils could eat from, but I don’t imagine that’s what most people do.
That window is unfortunately by far my best indoor natural light source. When it’s outside, it’s much happier and spreads out to 2-3x the volume.
Anyway, do any of you have any tips for how to handle such a large plant, going forward? Thanks, in advance!
by 2ndPickle
2 Comments
Can you keep it outside? I think that would be your best situation. It will keep growing like a tree and into a philodendron tree (with excellent shade) that will probably need to be suspended by something in order to keep it lifted
The leaves will get really big and it will look really cool buuuutttttt it’s a grower, not a show-er
I learned this recently because I started taking care of a 40 year old one in an atrium and it’s massive and suspended from an iron bar above it. When I prune a leaf off so it doesn’t weight down so much you can walk under it, the leaf and stem stands as tall as me and I’m like 5’7. I could be wrapped like a spring roll in its leaf.
Personally, it chop and prop but toss like a lot of it away. You could also think about donating it to some place or business/hotel/restaurant
Throw it a pizza party and thank it for doing such a good job increasing revenue so you can buy another vacation house.