Water Mel when the top two inches of her soil feel dry. Let the water drain through and pour out the excess so that she’s not left sitting with a soggy bottom.
Susceptible to sunburn because of her tender leaves, pop your plant in a spot where she gets plenty of light but not too much direct light for too long.
Sit your pot on a gravel tray topped up with water that will slowly evaporate. Otherwise give her a regular mist.
Botanical name
Philodendron melanochrysum
Nickname
Black-gold philodendron, Melano plant
Plant type
Indoor evergreen
Plant height (including pot)
50-60cm
Pet/baby safe
Toxic if eaten
Air purifying
Yes
Nursery pot size
17cm
A rare and beautiful thing, Philodendron melanochrysum is like the ballgown of the Philodendron world. Grown for its foliage, it has large impressive leaves that in the wild get up to 80cm long, have a smooth velvety texture, and are a dark shimmering green with yellow ‘gold’ veins.
This is a vining philodendron that is native to the Andean foothills of Colombia. It enjoys a warm, humid atmosphere and plenty of indirect sunlight. A regular feed throughout the growing seasons of spring and summer will give it the help it needs to put on lots of strong, new, healthy growth. It puts a lot of energy into growing large leaves and as a result is a relatively slow grower in terms of height and spread. Every now and again give it a cool shower to keep those large leaves clean of dust.
If you can imagine this sub-tropical wonder climbing up the trunk of a tree, reaching towards the light, then as much as possible you can replicate this by growing it up a sturdy support.
Did you know?
The botanical name melanochrysum means ‘black gold’ referring to the sparkling quality of the adult leaves when exposed to sunlight.
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