Today I responded to an advert on Facebook Marketplace and found myself riding my bike a few suburbs over to see what plants were available at this Italian Nonna’s house. Over the phone she had said she didn’t know what she had, but the advert showed what looked to be a Philodendron of some sort and some Hoyas as well. So I took a chance.
I got there and her place was packed with plants. She propagated her plants to sell for spare cash and they looked like she spoon fed them steroids.
I picked up two mystery Philodendrons that came from the same plant. The Mother plant was insane. It had been trained along the 6 foot high fence that ran along her two car length carport. There was also a Monstera Deliciosa that had stems thicker than my wrist. Wow!
I picked out two plants despite only intending to buy one. Both stood out to me though. I expected that they were some sort of P. Erubescens because of the way they climb and the general shape. I thought that $10 each was a good deal. I paid $28 for my P. Blushing a while back. There are a few old style Philo’s around my suburb and I figured I was finally getting one of those.
I spent the afternoon trying to work out what I had. P. Erubescens just wasn’t a sure thing as the afternoon went. It wasn’t until I posted on the Aroid Society Of Australia’s Members Page on Facebook that I got answers…
Philodendron Golden Tuxtla 🤩🤩🤩
How did I not realise?
I guess I just expected it to be a more common plant.
I have only really seen this plant once, just recently and it went straight onto my Wishlist. So, I can tick that once off. 😁
The big one, above, Is just a boomer of a plant. I plan to re-pot and give it a choir pole to climb. It will go inside and be a houseplant. I need to find a cover pot big enough now. I want it to grow large and be a feature plant in my lounge because it’s absolutely stunning. The big leaf is massive and only just fit into my greenhouse (I need a bigger set up. Lol) I am just so in love with this plant right now.
I am still not sure why I felt the need to have this second one (above) but now that I know what I have, I am thrilled to have it. It was the red under the leaves that got me. It’s stunning. My original intention was to cut this one back and propagate for friends, but now if I do that, I may just sell one or two and put the money towards something more expensive. I feel slightly guilty doing that now that I know what I have. But It is mine to do as I wish and I just don’t have the income for some of the plants I would like to collect. I will re-pot it anyway and let it settle in again before doing anything. If I do cut the plant, it will only be about half way down the stem. The remaining plant will stay in the Greenhouse growing away happily.
So, yeah… What a nice surprise. It was worth it to ride over there and lug a heavy plant one either side of the bike and another, a Hoya, in my back pack. A bit of a feat for someone with my health and messed up body. Lol. I did get some funny looks but I was too excited to care. It just makes for a better story that got better again. Lol.
Thanks for reading and happy growing. Xx
Velvet Leaves Of Adelaide 