Philodendron Erubescens Red Emerald is a Colombian plant. It has green leaves with red vines and produces red flowers in an ideal growing environment.
But when we grow it indoors it does not produce flowers.
You can grow it for its beautiful and unique shining green foliage. Red lines on the leaves make it a different philodendron plant.
If you do not have philodendron growing experience you can still grow it without much effort. All the growing secrets and techniques are explained below.
You May Also Like: Caring Philodendron Squamiferum
About the Plants
In a proper caring environment, this plant can easily achieve 6 feet height. With a total spread of 4 to 5 feet.
It is a fast-growing plant so you will need to repot it many times until it gets matured.
Because of its climbing nature, it needs some kind of support to grow. The stems cannot hold the weight of large size leaves. Use a moss pole or bamboo stick to support its structure.
To grow it at home you must need to learn about its nature and growing needs. All the basic growing and maintenance needs are discussed below.
Light Needs
In tropical forests, red emerald grows under the canopy of large trees. They do not allow the sunrays to fall on the ground. Therefore, this plant only gets a limited amount of light to grow.
When growing at home you should also expose it to indirect bright light.
Place the plant pot a few feet away from the sunny place. Make a balance between bright light and low light.
In low light conditions, your red emerald produces small size leaves, and stems become stretchy. The whole plant gets stretched toward the source of light.
The plant stretches themselves to full fill their light needs. This means your plant is not getting enough light. Move the pot close to the light source and it will thrive again.
If you are planning to grow it in a dark place with the help of grow lights. Then choose LED 300 watts grow lights. Invest in a high-quality light that gives you full control over the light intensity.
Potting Soil
Choose potting soil that has lightweight and fluffy ingredients like perlite, coco coir, peat, etc.
These ingredients soak a limited amount of water without being waterlogged. Overwatering in Philodendron Erubescens Red Emerald is the main cause of their death.
A well-draining soil can save your plants in this situation.
General potting mix will work fine but it should have perlite and coco coir in it. Perlite will absorb a good amount of water and coco coir make soil fluffy. Coir also has some minerals that are essential for plant growth.
If you do not have perlite and coir then add compost to the potting mix.
You May Also Like: Angel Wing Begonia Care Guide
Watering
Erubescens red emerald philodendron thrives in balance watering. The soil has to be moist all the time but not wet.
The extra water in the soil causes root fungus diseases.
To prevent them keep eye on the soil moisture level. Only water your plant when the soil starts drying.
A little bit of dryness is not a problem. It can handle the conditions but extreme dryness should be avoided.
Choose water that is suitable for human consumption. Such water does not contain heavy substances.
Fertilizing
The good news is Philodendron Erubescens Red Emerald does not need heavy fertilization. So, you do not need to spend huge money on maintenance.
Fertilize Erubescens Red Emerald once in 30 days. Dilute the solution as per the instructions of the manufacturer.
To see the diluting steps, check the nutrient bottle.
You can also use a general-purpose slow-releasing fertilizer. These are the fertilizers that we normally use for our houseplants. They are easily available in all stores and have mild potency.
To prevent overfertilization use a weak solution.
I use Miracle-Gro general-purpose indoor houseplant fertilizer with organic ingredients. This nutrient bottle has a little high percentage of nitrogen. Which is a good thing when you have foliage plants.
Nitrogen is necessary to produce green parts of plants including leaves and green stems.
Temperature & Humidity
Erubescens easily adapt to our home environment because they need a temperature between 50 to 85 degrees F.
As long as you give comfortable temperature to a plant. It will grow without any problem.
Because these are not frost-resistant. So, bring them inside or keep them protected when the temperature dip below 55 degrees F.
Humidity above 60% is the perfect range for the Red Emerald philodendron.
Generally, we have home humidity above 60 % which is a good thing. But if your home air is dry then you need to improve the general humidity.
To improve it, humidifiers are the best options. You can also use the pebble tray technique.
But I do not recommend spraying water on plant leaves. Because this technique is good for outdoor plants.
Because we give indirect light to our plants. It increases the leaf fungal disease if leaves remain wet for a long time.
Repotting
The young philodendron plant grows faster. So, you need to repot it frequently until it reaches its full maturity.
A mature Red Emerald plant start climbing. It needs a good structure or support to hold its weight. Moss pole is a good option.
If your plant is already climbing on some kind of structure. Then it will be hard to repot it because such plants develop heavy structures. Moreover, they are not easy to repot due to their overly grown size.
For repotting use fresh soil if you are repotting once in 2 years. This gives new opportunities to plants to grow healthy once again in their life.
Propagation
You repot it by dividing its roots into parts. Then plant each division in a different pot. Use the same type of potting soil that you use to grow when you just bring it home.
Keep the soil moist by regularly watering it with fresh water.
The second method is stem cutting. I found it easy to propagate with this technique.
Cut a healthy stem 4 to 6 inches long, make sure each stem cutting has 1 or 2 leaves at the top. You can use water or potting soil for rooting.
Plant cutting in the soil or put it in a glass of water. Change the water of the glass after every 4 days.
Within few days the stem cutting will develop new roots.
Once the new roots grow 1 to 2 inches long then transfer them to the potting soil.
Conclusion
To add some new colors to your living space grow a Red Emerald Philodendron. High humidity, dapples light, and moderate water is all it needs.
Protect your plant from overwatering and it will not face any growing issues.
For good growth keep the soil moist and give it indirect bright light for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours.
