Climbing Poles

17 years ago

What are some good options for home-made climbing poles for Philodendrons?

I have several climbers and the only thing I can find are these sphagnum moss stuffed mesh tubes that don't look like they'd hold any weight.

I have one plant that is mounted on a large bamboo pole but it doesn't climb it, I have to wrap and tie it on. I serveral smaller ones that are just hanging up but I want to have them growing up something instead.

Thanks

Dan

Featured Answer

exoticrainforest

17 years ago

Dan, I'm not sure of the weight of the plant you want to climb but few weigh enough to squash one of the Mosser Lee totems. I have bought at least 7 dozen of their longest 42 inch poles and have plants now climbing two poles stacked one on top of the other. They support their totems with a steel frame. Some of the leaves are close to three feet long. When you double them you'll need to tie them to a piece of 1x2 inch pine but that is still no problem

At the International aroid Society Show in Miami last month there were several large Philodendron specimens climbing 12 foot poles in large pots. These were just old pieces of rough timber that looked natural. I've also bought rolled cork and attached that to 2x4 wood to allow the plants to climb something that looks good with no problem but in 6 years or so the cork will begin to crumble and rot.

I'm about to order 2 dozen more from Mosser Lee and if you buy them by the box they are relatively cheap. Check the link below. The totems are on the 5th line but check the sizes to the right of the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: sphagnum totems

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Comments (7)

dellis326 (Danny)
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks exoticrainforest.
I'll check those out. One of the plants is starting to get fairly large, The bamboo pole has already fallen over once and it's sunk down into the soil quite a bit. another is a #69686 (I think, an ebay buy, you never know for sure) cutting that's gotten a few of feet long over the summer and starting to branch. I also have several others of unknown types that are stunted, growing in water or soil that I want to correct by giving them better growning conditions.

The link is a couple of pics of the two philo's mentioned above. Click the photo for a larger view.

Here is a link that might be useful: A couple of my philodendrons
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dellis326 (Danny)
Original Author
17 years ago
PS. I pretty sure that's a monsteria, not a philodendron I have.
exoticrainforest
17 years ago
The first one could be a Monstera but may also be an Asian species that takes on a similar shape. There are quite a few. The only way to be certain would be to post some better shots of the petiole, underside of the leaf vein so the venation is clearer, the stem and if you have a photo of the inflorescence that would help. It isn't a Philodendron species. Have you seen an inflorescence?

I'm not sure the second is P69686 either. There are also very similar species and this one doesn't look like my 5 year old P68686 with has climbed almost 6 feet on the stacked totems I recommended. You can easily tie the totems to the top of your chain and they'll hold nicely.

If you can take some good photos of of both sides of the blade so I can see the veins, the petiole that support the leaf, stem and any other detail shots I'll gladly compare them.

My plant came from Dr. Croat's plant at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The originals came from the collection of Roberto-Burle Marx in Brazil who originally located the plant.

If you've ever seen an inflorescence on the one you feel may be 69686 it should be about 3 inches tall and rarely opens. Dr. Croat isn't certain it ever opens but the Cyclocephala beetle that pollinates it may just force its way into the floral chamber. That one is still a bit of mystery.

He is also unsure if this is a species that hasn't been observed in the wild or is a natural hybrid. There is so much forest that has been destroyed in the area where the plant was likely originally collected it may well be extinct in the wild. My friend Leland Miyano who worked with Roberto for several years indicates Burle-Marx also loved to hybridize plants so it could be one of Roberto's creations. His collection is now owned by the country of Brazil and there are many plants that have no known origin. Dr. Croat recently allowed me to take cuttings of three more interesting plants that originated at the Marx sitio in Brazil and all are odd but still unknown to science.

If you don't mind please send me a note once you post them and I'll gladly check them against our own plants.

Steve@ExoticRainforest.com
exoticrainforest
17 years ago
Dan, Dr. Croat just indicated the plant you bought as P69686 is Philodendron anisotomum. That species is common to parts of Mexico, Coasta Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Honduras, and Panama.

It is my opinion the plant that looks like a Monstera is actually an Asia species known as Rhapidophora tetrasperma. Check the link I'm giving and tell me what you think.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rhapidophora tetrasperma
exoticrainforest
17 years ago
Sorry I repeated myself and can't spell "Costa Rica". When I try to do things on the fly I always get in trouble.
flower_fairy09
16 years ago
dellis326...am glad I ran across your post b/c I too have been trying to find something for my 2 philodendron's to grow on.I think we have the same 2 plants and I just recently found the name for one....is called "Erubescens/Red Emerald"....will post a picture of my 2 if you want to see...& maybe I can find the ID to my other plant. :-)