Hello - My boyfriend and I recently moved in together, and as a housewarming gift, his mother gave us a plant. She apparently got the plant just before he was born, making the plant at least 26 years old now. We put it in our bay window where it gets basically full sun from morning until late afternoon, and it seems quite happy - New growth all over, and it's trying to take over our couch. Would like to get an ID so we can know of any proper care or, ahem, trimming procedures before it eats the rest of our livingroom. From base to tip of leaf, most of the stalks are a good three to four feet long. Thanks! Katy
it's a philodendron or a monstera. BEAUTIFUL plant!!!! nice and healthy!! i'm surprised it's doing so well in full-sun...what direction does the window face?? you may have to move it to a different location once late spring/summer hits...the sun will be much stronger then.
The window faces east, so it gets morning sun. It's in full sun until about noon, where it's obstructed in part-sun by a tree until four or five (at this time of year, anyhow.) Thanks for the compliment :) I'm not sure what we're doing, but I'm glad we're doing it right!
Your boyfriend's mom is a great woman. Plus, she must really like you, katym. If this were my plant, I would help it do what it is wanting to do: get bigger. With a big plant, the owner must, eventually, make a decision---1. cut back (if the plant is one that this can be done to); 2. given to someone with more space; or 3. commit to it and let it achieve its largeness. Twenty-six years? It's a family member!
I wouldn't mind it getting bigger, if it would just grow UP a little! It's base is only maybe a few inches long, and then BAM! leafs. In a lot of the photos I've seen, they have long trunks, and it it were up a little that would help. Is there anything I can do to encourage it to grow like this?
I'll second the ID for P. bipinnatifidum. Time, progressively larger pots, and a bit of trunk support when it gets a bit taller, are what you can do to encourage it to gain some height; you can also give it a bit of fertilizer to encourage growth.... Lovely healthy Philo! It also looks like you might have a pup in there - is there one trunk, or two? If it's two, then it's probably not getting taller because it's rootbound and competing with the younger plant. In this case, you definitely need to think about separating them into two pots.
Er. Actually, there are five trunks - Geez, does that mean there are five plants? Because we reeaally don't have room for five plants that size, if I separated them all I'd definitely need to get some new homes! I'll discuss it with the boy, what we'll probably do is wait until spring and try to separate them in to at least two separate, larger pots. The pot is frighteningly small for how big the plant is, but I didn't want to touch it until I knew what it was - I know some plants are really sensitive to being moved and transplanted and such, but I've been reading about them and this guy seems tough. However, I'll have to convince the boyfriend - He seems to have a pretty big disinterest in breaking any of it apart from a moral/attachment view. We may just have to get a REALLY big pot!
Perhaps you could gently explain to him that a separation is to make the plant healthier...that you will have even more of it around the house to bring joy to your lives...and that there comes a time when we all must leave home and become independent. You have a new home---why not the phil as well? This last applies to new pots, plural, or a new HUGE pot, singular. Plus, the two of you can go together and choose the new home/pot. Get the one he really likes. Hey, katym...how's the weather up your way? Here in Col's we got a half-inch of ice, then 8" of snow. More snow predicted for Friday, then a possible "major storm" looming early next week!
Your weather conditions sound almost identical to mine :) I had to scrape about a quarterinch of ice off my window, after I got the 7" of snow off :P Unfortunately, my city is undergoing 'budget cuts' which means they only salt major roads :(
