I'm mainly an outdoor gardener just beginning to dabble in the world of houseplants. I brought home seven plants the other day and can't figure out what two of them are. It doesn't help that HD just calls them Foliage, lol.
Any help on the IDs of these two would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year,
Erynne
Nice choices! The small one on the right is Dieffenbachia. The larger one might be Pachira aquatica.
Which are the other ones you got? Good luck with them all!
The larger plant looks like it might be Pachira, commonly known in the houseplant world as "Money Tree": http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56220/
Here's a picture of my little Pachira
Larger definitely look like Pachira aquatica to me too.
Thank you very much for your help! I hope they are not too fussy and that I can keep them going!
I also picked up a pretty Rex Begonia, a Christmas Cactus, a Dracaena, an African Mask and a Peperomia. Prior to these purchases, I had one lonely 2 yr old Pothos,lol.
Much appreciated,
Erynne
The 'money tree' might surprise you at how big it can get. Mine was about your size when I purchased it from Wal-mart back in '05 - now it's in a 12" pot and is quite large. They can really take off when given the right growing conditions. This type of plant can sometimes be a little fussy - they'll drop their leaves, etc. This is a good thread to read, might be useful: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/807840/
And regarding the pothos; not sure if yours has a trellis or not - but if you give it a good tree-like trellis to climb, the leaves will increase in size dramatically the higher it gets. Pothos is one of my favorite plants in the world - though the majority of them I see are tiny little potted plants. They can get huge if given the proper trellis. I have a cutting from May 2008 that has leaves as big as my head now; when I started it, the bottom leaves were barely palm sized. I posted photos of the parent plant to my cutting in Kaua`i here on Plantfiles - those leaves were as big as my torso (wish I could get mine that big here in SC, LOL).
I was just checking out how big the Money Trees can get! Well, I'm glad my new home has the space to accomodate it should I be able to satisfy it's demands and it actually grows for me. The leaf drop issue reminds me of when I had my Fiscus benjamina...moved it to another room and it got really upset with me. It stood there naked in defiance until I moved it back and by then I ended up giving it away to a colleague with warnings of it's fussiness included,lol. It's still alive & well. In retrospect, I should have kept it but space was the issue back then.
I don't have my pothos on a trellis. I've been letting climb about on the sill and have cut it twice to share with a friend. What kind of trellis setup do you have keonikale? I guess I've never associated trellises with being an indoor item so never thought of it.
I think I need a few more houseplants so I'm going to browse this forum a bit more. I don't particulary want flower power; just foliage of varying textures. I think that's in keeping with my love of foliage plants for the outdoors, mainly Hostas and Heucheras. :o)
Erynne
I'm a foliage plant person too - I let my wife work with the flowering types. Bigger the leaf, more I like it, LOL.
I've gone through every type of trellis there is and ultimately the best is the closest thing to a tree trunk (which makes sense). A regular open trellis with layered bars like you'd use in the garden won't work as well unless you take the time to manually weave the pothos through it over time and tie it (tightly) to the trellis. The pressure of the vine on the trellis is what seemingly increases the leaf size. But it's a annoying process to have to keep up with. I have tried growing my monsteras on traditional trellises as well and the plant actually broken the thing from the pressure, LOL. Anything that has a slick surface also won't work well, like bamboo (though one of my Heart Shaped Philos gave it a good shot). The rougher the trellis surface like bark, the better. I've switched to using trellises that resemble a fence or mailbox poll (nothing fancy, just something that doesn't look really ugly while it's sitting in the pot with nothing attached to it). The monsteras, pothos, and all my other philodendrons love them. The key seems to be keeping pressure on the vine though AND making the plant grow UP and not out (toward a window). That's my biggest problem with the montsteras indoors - they won't grow up. If you need a smaller trellis, look for a piece of wood that's about 0.5"x4", lite, and has a rough surface. I just got a few of those yesterday for a smaller pothos I'm starting today.
Of course the larger the trellis the larger the pot - 14" usually the min and you'll need to protect the bottom of the trellis from rot. I have found PCV pipe to work well for this task with a cap on the end - for circular post trellises. Or if it's the thinner wood like I noted above you could just wrap the thing very heavily in duct tape at the bottom and then bury it up to above the tap line. I always figure I'll never repot them again once I put a trellis on them - mostly bc I'm using 20-24" pots and it damages their roots to remove and replace the trellis. But the trellis rotting has been an issue for me at times - I had a cheap open one with thin legs collapse last year from the weight of the pothos; poor thing was destroyed when I repotted it. It has one vine that was 38' long, a beautiful plant.
-John
This message was edited Jan 4, 2009 2:31 PM
Snapped these real quick. This is the pothos I just started the other day. It's still really small now, but in a few months it should be climbing and getting quite large like my others. This is the tallest trellis I've tried yet, so I am looking forward to seeing just how big the leaves get.
Lighting depends on where they are. I have found the pothos that get good indirect sunlight grow the best. Those I've tried to grow in northern rooms without much sun don't do as well - they'll grow, but the vines tend to reach and don't really climb for me. The pothos I've grown in southern windows will get quite large - even if a open trellis is used. Further below is a photo of my old photos on the open trellis, before the trellis failed. It was a beauty.
First photo shows the 4" x1" trellis. The rough surface will make it easy to climb - unlike most treated and sanded wood. The flat surface will be better than the skinny legs of most open trellises too. I could probably start another cutting on the back of the trellis.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2009 11:20 PM
Here's the full trellis - about 7' tall. I anchored it in the bottom of the pot with another board to prevent tipping. Pothos (compared some some climbers) I've found rather lightweight overall.
Here's the old one before the trellis issue.
And another. I still kick myself for not being more careful with the root ball upon replanting.
Oh wow! Cool! Thanks for the additional info regarding your set up John! Nice pics too.
I won't show you my poor pothos because it might get an inferiority complex after seeing yours,lol. I think I need to move mine to the south-east window to give it a boost. DH has got a boat load of wood in the barn; I should be able to utilize something from his stash.
Thanks,
Erynne
My pleasure, I could talk pothos all day. Every time I watch LOST on ABC it reminds me just how big these plants can get. Check these two photos I snapped in May '08 on Kaua`i. The second is me holding a leaf that has to be the largest pothos leaf I've ever seen. Even the cutting I brought home has huge leaves - but no where near that big, yet!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/215059/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/215060/
John, your passion for big leafed foliage is as bad as mine;-)
If you have not already checked out Larianne's pic's of her potho's she has growing in her yard.....I suggest you check out it out;-)
Thank's alot for the information and illustration that you have provided concerning your growing of the potho's. It has been helpful.
I purchased a new pothos a few week's ago which has nice large leave's and I want it to continue to produce such. The largest leaf's on on this plant are 9" L. 7"W. and I sure hope I can continue the growth of the larger leave's that this one has produced......but time will tell. It will have to be a houseplant here in my part of the world and I know that the plant that I purchased will not be use to my "non tropical environment" but I want to give it a go and see what I get.
I took your advice and added a new piece of wooded material and attached it to the existing one in order for it to climb when it's ready . I will just need to learn about the "pressure" I need to add in order for the plant to produce such larger leave's.
I will add a couple of pic's of what I have. This first pic is of one of the larger leave's and if you notice, I added a dead leaf from another pothos that I have in a hanging basket in the right hand top side for comparison.
Thank's much
Rachel
Rachel that's one going to be a big one! Beautiful looking plant. If you have leaves that large already that'll be a huge pothos in no time. Please post some photos once it starts climbing - would love to see it grow.
-John
Thank's John! In all reality, I honestly think the lighting source will hold a tremendous "value" conerning this certain pothos. Time will tell! This plant had a tremendous start for me to start off with though;-)
If you can think of any more tip's to "aid" us people who have to keep such plant's as indoor's plant's.. it would be appreciated.
Rachel
