Philodendron atabapoense

“Tree huggers” (Philodendron) are a diverse group of mostly climbing aroids (Araceae) from the Neotropics. There are also a few species that are reluctant to climb and grow creeping on the ground or even as a compact bush.

Due to their lifestyle, Philodendron are also called “nomadic climbers”. They usually start their lives on the forest floor, where they live as rather thin vines with poorly differentiated leaves and try to find a tree to climb. When they find a suitable substrate to climb, they attach themselves to it with special adventitious roots (similar to ivy) and grow up it. Only then do the leaves differentiate into their later adult form, and only then do they grow larger. After a few meters, many species also form so-called aerial roots, which, unlike adventitious roots, do not serve to attach to the substrate, but instead hang freely to the ground, providing the plant with additional nutrients. Often, after a few years and several meters of stem length, the lower part of the stem that connects the plant to the ground dies, and it is only in contact with the soil via its aerial roots. Now the plant lives as a so-called hemiepiphyte, or “semi-epiphyte”. In this way, nomadic climbers ascend large jungle trees over many years, finally reaching their maximum size and flowering in the tree canopy.

This lifestyle should be imitated (at least in part) in cultivation to obtain beautiful and healthy plants. Many Philodendron are easy to care for in indoor cultivation despite their unusual lifestyle.

This Philodendron grows as a young plant in the shady undergrowth and as an adult plant in the much brighter canopies of jungle trees. With too little light and without a climbing aid, it remains in its juvenile form and becomes leggy. Bright to very bright indirect light, e.g. next to a west or east window or somewhat protected by a south window, is ideal.

When cared for under grow lights, e.g. in a plant display case, terrarium, or grow tent, it needs fairly strong lighting. It grows well at 5000 to 10,000 lux or 90 to 180 PPFD (µmol/m²/s).

Supplementary lighting to better endure the dark winter months helps this plant a lot. Otherwise, it forms significantly smaller leaves during the winter, which look unattractive in the overall appearance.

This Philodendron likes a humidity of 60% or more and still grows well at over 90% RH. It is not sensitive to cool temperatures and can even withstand night temperatures of 10°C, but it only grows well at 20°C or more.

This Philodendronprefers a coarse to very coarse, airy but consistently moist substrate. This plant should be potted in a loose, acidic (pH below 7) and very airy mix. For this plant, we recommend our Aroid Mixor, for larger specimens from 30 cm pot size, pure coconut chips.

The pot for this plant does not need to be particularly large. A pot that is too large will cause the substrate to be dry at the top but still wet at the bottom. This can easily lead one to believe that watering is necessary, thereby drowning the plant, which is actually still moist enough. Some experimentation is required to find the right pot size. As a guide: if you can water every 5 to 10 days, and the substrate is almost completely dry in between ("iron-dry"), then the size is well chosen.

This Philodendronclimbs and should be offered a climbing aid to show its natural growth. For this, you can either offer a coir pole as a pure base for aerial roots or (even better) a moss pole filled with Sphagnummoss or a mix of Sphagnumand coir chips. The moss pole not only serves as a climbing surface but also provides the plant with extra root space if the pole is kept consistently moist.

This Philodendron should never completely dry out, but how moist it likes to be depends heavily on the (substrate) temperature. Above 25°C, it can be kept consistently moist to wet. If it is kept as a houseplant (especially on a windowsill), it should be watered sparingly in winter, as the combination of colder temperatures and moisture weakens it and can lead to rot.

It is a fast-growing species that requires a lot of fertilizer. Fertilization should occur during the main growing season, from approximately May to September. If no additional lighting is provided, this plant will barely grow from October to April and does not need to be fertilized. No special fertilizer is required. A normal complete fertilizer (N-P-K + trace elements) for houseplants is sufficient. We recommend using the dosage specified by the manufacturer (which corresponds to about 1000 µS/cm conductivity for fertilizer).

When cared for under grow lights, it can be fertilized year-round.