What is this climber

[markpulawski]

This is at the Colombian Zoo taken by AlexRible, I have it in my front yard climbing a palm tree and always wondered what is was. All the leaves froze last winter and I pulled them off, it has regrown nicely, repopulating the stems with leaves.

[Eric Walker]

looks like a type of philo to me.

love those red stems

[markpulawski]

Yes that is why I took a peice off of a potted plant in the office I used to work in, the blood red stems. The leaves are about a foot long and narrower than most philo's. my plant covered the bottom 1/3rd of my palm tree, man was I bummed when the cold turned them all brown but most of leaves have grown back. There are usually a couple good chencks growing off into the plant beds,perhaps I should get the shovel out and head to the plant classifieds. I will get a pic of mine when it stops raining.

[roxrgneiss]

It looks like Philodendron erubescens. I've seen it on ebay for 5-10 bucks and it does well in tanks. It would be great for a 75 vert.


Mike

[Eric Walker]

looks like it would spread out way to much for most comercial 75 gals.

It would have to be made to custome dimensions.

[james67]

i have some, i can give you a cutting mark.

its philo erubescens

james

edit: i didnt notice you already have it

[roxrgneiss]

Originally Posted by Eric Walker

looks like it would spread out way to much for most comercial 75 gals.

It would have to be made to custome dimensions.

It really depends on how many cuttings/leads you are using. What you see in the picture above is the result of multiple leads. One stem with leaves should need a little more than one square foot of horizontal space. Also, this plant, like many other climbers, may not reach maturity in a tank and the leaves may stay smaller than 1'.


Mike

[markpulawski]

Some trailer pieces in the plant beds have leaves that are 4-5 inches however the main body of the plant all of the leaves are 12" +. I would suggest it would be too big for anything under 200 gallons but trained properly who knows.

[poison beauties]

That plant will likely look rough if you try to keep it pruned back in a viv. Im not sure how well it would do in a smaller viv but if you like the red stem Philo's then grab up a Philodendron 'Zulu Prince' if you can find it. The stem and spear shaped leaves are blood red to almost black. Im trying to grow out alot of it right now. It definately ads some different color to a viv.

Michael

[roxrgneiss]

It really does depend on what you want out of the plant... Any vine will have to be trimmed at some point, unless the goal is to let it reach the top, grow until it hits bottom, and then does laps around the tank. Having to cut the plant back periodically will further stunt it to some degree. For plants like that - most any vine - I prefer to cut it back almost to the ground, then replant part of the terminal end that was cut, to allow the process of climbing to begin again and hopefully some healthy growth results while maintaining a manageable size for the plant. Only cutting off tips near the end doesn't work well indefinitely and will result in a rough looking plant, but replanting can work.

If climbing is not ideal for the setup, then self-heading Philodendron and Anthuriums are a better way to go; they stay put a little better and the overall appearance of the design can be better preserved. If the plant isn't a hybrid and grows as an epiphyte in nature, a somewhat dry spot or one that dries quickly would work, but that isn't always in the plans for most tanks. In any case, it isn't easy to find small ones that like terrarium conditions, aside from a vigorous hybrid like Philodendron 'Wend-Imbe' - a nice plant, but almost too small for larger enclosures. Sorry for the minor hijack, but I like the climbing vine v/s self-heading epiphyte topic.

Edit: I think that a self-heading terrestrial may even be the better option, if it prefers to be moist 24/7. Don't know of too many off the top of my head though. It isn't easy getting some nice, broad foliage into a viv and maintaining the look.


Mike