Monday, October 27, 2008

A scary philodendron

Dealing with another philodendron today, repotting. I bought it as the variety Imperial Green. The size of this plant is beginning to scare me. I photographed it on a chair to give you an idea - it's almost as tall as I am when it sits there. The leaves are the size of two human hands, and that's not counting the stalks. With stalks, the ones at the bottom are as long as my arm.

I am having problems placing it because it needs both lots of indirect light and space. The leaf blades are quite fragile, it's easy to tear them so they shouldn't be touched when you pass by the plant. They also shouldn't touch other plants, especially thorny ones. I initially kept it next to a tall euphorbia and the leaves got permanently scarred. Once you tear or pierce a leaf, it's not going to heal but go dry and ugly around the wound.

But even though my plant is scarred, it still makes a strong statement. If it grows some more it might actually drop the lowest, most damaged leaves. It's my second largest philodendron (after monstera deliciosa) and I plan to grow it as long as it fits inside my apartment. It looks like it's going to share a west facing window with the monstera because they will have best light there. I hope I'll fit in the room with them.

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