Indoor
Philodendron
Not pet-safePhilodendron hederaceum
- Category
- Indoor
- Light
- Low light
- Watering
- Every 6-8 days
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Mature size
- Trailing vine, 1-2m+ if given support
- Pet safety
- Toxic or irritant to cats and dogs if chewed. Keep out of reach.
Growing note
Often mistaken for money plant (pothos) on a nursery shelf, but the heart-shaped leaves are thinner and softer, and new growth typically unfurls from a light pink or copper sheath. Roots readily from a cutting in a glass of water, making it one of the easiest plants on this list to propagate for free. Contains calcium oxalate crystals that irritate the mouth and cause drooling or vomiting if a cat or dog chews the leaves, so keep it out of reach.
Growing Philodendron in Indian apartments
Yellowing on the lower, older leaves is usually just normal aging rather than a watering problem, worth checking that new growth still looks healthy before reflexively adding more water, which more often causes root rot than fixes anything. As the vine matures, giving it a moss pole or stake to climb changes the leaves noticeably, a philodendron left trailing unsupported keeps producing small juvenile-sized leaves indefinitely, while one trained upright on a support develops the larger, more deeply lobed leaves the plant is capable of. Root rot from decorative pots with no real drainage is as common a problem here as it is for several other plants on this list, always confirm water actually has somewhere to drain rather than trusting a cachepot that looks like it should work. It roots reliably from a stem cutting with a visible node, the same propagation method as money plant, and the two are worth comparing side by side once both are rooting in water since the difference in leaf texture and new-growth color becomes obvious.