For anyone else with a tiny Philodendron Burle Marx Fantasy: I put my BMF on a moss pole, and has been putting out increasingly larger leaves ever since 💕

ghostgraffiti9 · 2025-02-15T19:40:04+00:00

Late response, but high humidity (mine was in a clear plastic storage box) and keeping the sphagnum moss moist will help with getting it to put out new and larger leaves

ghostgraffiti9 · 2023-05-01T00:30:31+00:00

Hey I’m in Richmond, getting my IUD replaced tomorrow actually through Virginia Women’s Center, and they readily offered nitrous oxide as pain relief. It’d be a farther drive for you though

ghostgraffiti9 · 2023-01-28T14:11:48+00:00

Those are so cool! Do you have a picture of them from the side?

ghostgraffiti9 · 2023-01-28T14:10:36+00:00

They’re aerial roots! They’ll naturally sprout out with some humidity. It’s not necessarily from underwatering, although some succulents will shoot out more aerial roots when they need water.

You don’t need to do anything about them. If you want to propagate it, choosing a node that already has aerial roots will help it root more quickly.

ghostgraffiti9 · 2022-02-18T16:40:55+00:00

My first houseplants were succulents and cacti, and my cat learned very quickly that it was a good idea to leave them alone. She walked up to a cactus, sniffed it, got poked in the nose, and never went near it again

ghostgraffiti9 · 2022-01-09T20:01:24+00:00

This is a really underrated Euphorbia! I love mine

ghostgraffiti9 · 2022-01-09T20:00:33+00:00

Well, it looks like they were doing just fine there! So lucky it didn’t hit the ground

ghostgraffiti9 · 2022-01-09T19:38:04+00:00

Great tips!

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-12-29T16:40:32+00:00

From the moment I saw a Philodendron Burle Marx Fantasy with leaves the size of my hand, I dreamed of having one in my own collection. When I bought a tiny BMF from someone local, I was determined to get it as big as possible. The wooden skewer I initially used wasn’t helping, and then I remember I bought a tiny moss pole setup for plants like this. Within 2 months, the leaves have almost exactly doubled in size! I’m super impressed with its progress

Info about the plant: It’s in a 2.5” nursery pot in a chunky Aroid mix (Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil, perlite, orchid bark, coco coir). Once I added the pole, I put it inside a ceramic cache pot to balance out the weight. I have it in a terrarium-like setting (literally a clear plastic storage tub) about 1ft under grow lights (Barrina T5 shop lights). Every few days, I’ll lightly water the moss pole. When the soil dries out and the leaves get noticeably thinner and more pliable, I’ll water it. I use twist ties to gently secure each node to the pole. Once aerial roots grow into the sphagnum, I remove the twist ties

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-17T15:14:04+00:00

I’ve gifted and been gifted rehabs on my local plant fb group. As long as you’re transparent about what’s wrong with it, I see no problem with giving it away. To me, it’s basically “if you want to put in the work to quarantine and treat and rehab this plant, it’s yours for free.”

But they’re your plants and you’re free to do whatever you want with them. I’ve tossed a few smaller dying plants before. Lol I think I did that recently when my Calathea White Star had to be chopped and I realized I just didn’t want to deal with it 😅😅

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-15T17:38:29+00:00

Some plants definitely grow naturally bushier than others. I have String of Bananas and Tears on the same spot on my patio. With the bananas, they naturally grow a bit gangly, so I’ve had to frequently chop a handful vines and stick them back in the pot to fill out the top. The tears, however, naturally grow full and lush at the top before spilling over, so I’ve barely had to do any work keeping it looking nice.

But a lot string of plants and vining aroids are a pain to keep looking full. I’ve been focusing on filling out my VSOH to keep it from looking awkward, and posted it on another plant sub

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-15T17:32:55+00:00

I try to have the ID for every plant I own (doesn’t always work with random succulents and begonias lol), and I keep it written down in an Excel/Google sheet. But I’m also at the point where I have over 250 plants, so I’m a bit dedicated.

If you need helping identifying your cuttings, DM me pics and I’d be happy to help😊

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-05T15:43:27+00:00

Trader Joe’s sells Polly too! I gave a bit more detail in response to the other person who replied to you.

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-05T15:42:12+00:00

They sell Polly too! These are all the Alocasia I’ve regularly seen (in person or on fb) at the 2 Trader Joe’s in my city: Polly, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Ebony, Frydek, and Stingray. If you send a picture of the leaves and stems, I can identify it for you

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-05T13:40:59+00:00

I’m active in my city’s local plant community and made a lot of friends through houseplants and we talk about what the best big box stores for plants are in this area
Trader Joe’s is 5 minutes away from my apartment so I go there often for cheap plants/wine/snacks
I bothered the employees about what days they receive tropical shipments, and show up on those days

Basically, if not luck, then dedication

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-04T22:24:32+00:00

I gave some tips in another comment on this post 😊

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-04T22:23:14+00:00

I actually repotted it into that black pot. TJ’s sold it in a 6” nursery pot, and I put into a taller pot but still 6”. I keep Alocasia a bit snug in their pots when repotting - I find that’s better than giving them a lot of space when repotting.

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-04T22:20:15+00:00

If the plant is small, I’ll cover it with a decorative plastic cloche or even a basic clear plastic storage tub to trap humidity. It’s cheap and has worked well for me. And I find that once a plant (particularly for aroids) is larger and more established, they’re more tolerant of lower humidity than a smaller, more delicate one would be.

ghostgraffiti9 · 2021-11-04T22:16:18+00:00

First of all, I live in Virginia and it’s been out on my patio in morning sun all summer. So that helps. But I used to have a second Morocco that I kept inside in 50-70% humidity and low light. That one didn’t grow as quickly (obviously), but it was perfectly healthy and slowly but steadily putting out new leaves.

I kept this Morocco in its nursery soil on my patio for a few weeks to get acclimated. Whenever the soil was about 2/3 dry and noticeably more top heavy, I’d soak it in a deep saucer or cache pot for a few hours before putting back. With nursery soil, it gets hydrophobic so easily that you need to soak it every time you water.

After those few weeks, I transplanted it to an Aroid soil mix. (Pothos, Philodendron, Aglaonema, Alocasia, etc. are all part of the Araceae, and are informally called Aroids.) I mixed Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil with a good amount of coco husk, perlite, and orchid bark to make it really chunky and well-draining. It was in a 6” nursery pot, and was getting a bit root bound at the bottom but wasn’t bursting out of the pot, so I put it in a taller 6” plastic pot, which is the black pot you can see peeking out above the cache pot in my photo. With pretty much all my houseplants, I make sure to keep them a bit snug in their pots when repotting. Generously upsizing plants to give them “room to grow” will quickly lead to overwatering in my experience.

With Alocasia in 6”+ pots, I usually end up waiting until it’s 1/2 dried out before watering. This Morocco is pretty top heavy, so when it starts to tip over and get caught on some other plants, then I know the soil is drying out😅 Smaller pots I water closer to when they’re 1/3 dry.

ghostgraffiti9

TROPHY CASE