Philodendron verrucosum has beautifully designed colorful leaves. Their velvety texture makes them suitable for the indoor temperature. Philodendron verrucosum care is different from its other family members.
It has green leaves with bright green veins on them. There are many varieties of verrucosum plants. But the two most popular varieties have red and burgundy bottom of leaves.
Verrucosum is a tropical plant that means it needs a high amount of water and humidity. But when you grow it in containers, it needs less humidity and water. Only if the soil you use is fast-draining soil.
The maximum height under ideal growing conditions is 3 feet.
This height is only achievable if you live in USDA zones 9b to 11 and you grow it in your outdoor garden.
Indoor growing philodendron verrucosum plants do not grow big like they grow in their native tropical environment.
Today we’ll discuss Philodendron verrucosum care and maintenance methods.
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Quick care guide
| Common Names | Philodendron verrucosum |
| Size | 3 feet tall in ideal condition |
| Light | Moderate |
| Soil | Well-draining |
| Water | Moderate |
| Temperature | 18 to 27 degrees C |
| Humidity | Above 60 % |
| Pests and Diseases | Thrips, scales, mealybugs, and root rot |
How to care for Philodendron verrucosum?
For proper care of your growing philodendron verrucosum plants follow our below guide. This is a tropical plant so you need to pay more attention to the air moisture and watering sessions.
A healthy plant care routine gives you healthy plants.
Light
Philodendron verrucosum plants need moderate filtered light to grow. Put the plant pot near the sunny window.
5 to 6 hours of bright filtered light is enough for this plant.
In its native place, the plant grows on the jungle floor. But due to the shadow of large trees, only limited sunlight reaches the plant. So, it starts climbing the trees to get more bright light.
This clears that the plant needs long hours of bright light. This makes it the perfect plant for an indoor environment.
If you have an artificial grow light at home you can use that to care for philodendron verrucosum plants. I use grow lights to grow salad and vegetables in grow tents. I never use grow lights to grow flowering plants.
Plants like philodendron get enough light from our normal house lights. They do not have a need for any particular light wavelength. Therefore, they grow perfectly under fluorescent lights.
For best care put the plants in morning sunlight. Then after 10 am arrange some shade for them.
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Soil
Potting soil 30% + Orchid bark 30% + Perlite 30% + Charcoal 10 % is the best potting soil formula for Philodendron verrucosum care.
This climber plant is from the family of epiphytes. Epiphytes are those plants that climb on other plants to live and also have their roots in the ground.
They need good potting soil to grow. It has good draining soil with excellent aeration properties.
Wrong potting soil can increase the chances of root rot and turn the beautiful green leaves into yellow leaves.
Once 50 % of a leaf turns into yellow color then none of the methods can turn it back to green. This is the reason I always said soil is a very important factor in growing indoor plants. Choose it carefully and enjoy beautiful plants like Philodendron.
Mature Verrucosum plants produce petiole with small hairs. They suck the moisture from the air.
Despite being a tropical plant, it is prone to root rot conditions. Because it spends its most life on other plants.
Water
You need to mimic the jungle conditions because the plant needs the same amount of water all the time. Just remember that the plants need moist soil, not wet soil. Wet soil increases the chances of root rot infection in houseplants. Wet soil also becomes heavy and reduces aeration.
When the roots do not get proper oxygen, they start to root.
Oxygen is necessary for every living thing on this earth.
No doubt an extra cup of water can cause root rot. But if you use perfect potting soil then it drains the extra amount of water. Here you need to understand that the soil only drains water if there is a drainage hole present in the bottom of the pot.
The material of the pot does not matter. What matters is one or more drainage holes in the bottom plate of the plant pot.
Temperature
Verrucosum plants need high temperatures to live. Room temperature above 20 degrees C doubles the growing speed of the plants.
The combination of warm temperature and high humidity acts as a miracle for tropical plants.
For best Philodendron verrucosum care set the room temperature between 17 to 27 degrees C. In this temperature the plants grow faster and produce colorful leaves.
If you are living in 9b to 11 USDA zones then you do not need to worry about the temperature. Because these zones have the perfect temperature for philodendron verrucosum plant care. These plants can naturally grow in outdoor gardens.
The indoor temperature is also in the ideal range in these zones.
No doubt smaller temperature fluctuations cannot affect the health of a plant. Most of the verrucosum plant varieties live happily in a warm and humid environment.
Humidity
Above 60% humidity in the air is recommended for the plants. Remember that tropical plants always need more humidity than other plants.
Humidity is the water contents in the air of the growing room. Dry air causes many problems to plants and humans.
To breathe easily plants, need some percentage of humidity in the air.
Each and every other house has different humidity levels. This depends upon various factors.
The heat released by your indoor home appliances also decreases the humid level.
To increase the humidity in a particular room we have many options. Put all the plant pots close to each other. Use pebble tray or at last use Humidifier.
Those living in desert areas always have humidifiers at home. Put the plants in the same room where you install the humidifier.
This way your plants get the right humidity when you turn on the machine. Also, in the presence of plants, you need to run your humidifier for a short period of time. Because once the humidity rises to a sufficient level plants have the ability to maintain it for a long time.
Fertilizers
This plant grows slowly so it needs slow-release fertilizer. Any organic fertilizer will be the best choice. A normal houseplant fertilizer will be the best choice.
Fertilizer it only 3 times in a year.
If you do not give it a nutrient boost. The plant will show slower growth.
Timing plays a very important role in fertilization. Never fertilize plants in the winter season. Their growing months are the best time to fertilize them.
For the best possible philodendron verrucosum care give them nutrients once before the winter season start.
Repotting
These plants grow large in size and their roots also grow large. For big roots, they need big pots. Because the small pots stop the growth of roots. This stops the growth of plants.
Clay pots are best for plants that need good aeration. These pots have tiny holes through which they absorb fresh oxygen.
For repotting you need to wait for 2 years.
It slowly grows big and roots become tight in the old pot. Then there is a need to change the old plant pot. Remember that the pot should have a bottom drainage hole.
This hole allows the extra water to drain out of the pot and save plant roots from root rot.
Propagation
Philodendron verrucosum propagation has many methods but the most popular and easy method is stem cuttings. In this article you will learn stem propagation and seed propagation of philodendron verrucosum plants.
Stem cutting propagation
- Cut the healthy stem
- Dip it in the rooting hormone
- Plant it in the potting soil
- Put the pot in the warm location under low light
- Humidity has to be above 60 %
- Within 3 to 4 weeks cuttings will develop roots.
Propagation from seeds
- For saving seeds you need to grow two plants for pollination. The best idea is to buy the seeds online from famous sites like Amazon.
- Then sow the seeds in the potting soil in the plant pot
- Put the pot in the high humid area.
- For the first 30 days give low bright light
- Once the seedlings grow 6 inches tall
- Stat giving them bright light
Common problems with Philodendron verrucosum care
Yellow leaves
Yellow leaves at the bottom of the plants are natural. Old leaves at the bottom of the plant turn into yellow color then they dropdown. But if the top leaves are yellow then this means your plant is suffering from extra water in the potting soil.
There are two reasons one is you use the wrong potting soil and your pot do not have a bottom hole.
The second reason is you give more than enough water to your plants.
Root rot
Root rot is a fungus disease that infects plant roots. The plants will die in few days when their roots are rotted. It is caused by only one reason and that is extra water.
Overwater triggers root fungus bacteria that affect the entire plant’s health.
To fix this issue take the plant out of its pot and cut the infected roots. It is a deadly disease after cutting the infected part plant the plant again in the pot.
But before that change the soil or sterilize the old potting soil.
Pest infections
Thrips, mealybugs, scales, and spider mites are common pests that infect plants. to combat them use rubbing alcohol and wipe them off the plant.
Then use neem oil to prevent them in the future.
You should use neem oil in advance to prevent pest infections.
If the pest infection is at advanced stage then you have to use insecticidal soap to rinse it. If the problem does not get solve. Then the only solution left is use of pesticidal spray.
To spray on plants, move the plant pots to your outdoor garden. Because these sprays are harmful for pets and children. wear the gloves, safety glasses and mask to avoid accidental inhale.
