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jamilalshaw26

Raphidophora Tetrasperma

7 years ago

So does any one have R. Tetrasperma? I have one coming in the mail tomorrow and I’m looking for care tips!

Comments (44)

  • 6 years ago

    I bought one as a rooted leaf and node and it’s growing nicely now. I have it in a terra-cotta pot and 5-1-1 as the potting medium. I don’t let it dry out completely but I let it get pretty dry before watering. It’s in my brightest room and it gets just a bit of direct sunlight right before the sun goes down. Seems to be easy going but I’ve been keeping a close eye on it since it was a cutting.

  • 6 years ago

    I got a funky looking rooted one in a trade. The seller had it left over cause nobody wanted it but they grow quickly so I’m not worried about how it looks now.


  • 6 years ago

    Just bought one on impulse, a 6" pot. I read that it is "hot" in the trade. I'm confused on how this will grow? Seems more of a vine than Monstera.

    Have not found much yet but seems like it will grow more like a vine, maybe similar to the very common trailing "philodendron"/ "pothos" and as easy to propagate, just bigger in leaf size. Read that they don't like much direct sun, as it probably grows under trees. Do I try to grow this as an upright plant, or with upright support, or a sprawling vine?

  • 6 years ago

    noki33 it’s a climber.

  • 6 years ago

    noki33 do you have a picture of it?

  • 6 years ago

    Noki33 was it expensive? It looks very healthy!!!

  • 6 years ago

    It was $25 which is more expensive than average for pot size, but they looked healthy.

  • 6 years ago

    Noki33 That’s actually a great price! I’ve seen pots that size going for $50-$70. I’ve seen a cutting for $30-50. People are even selling stem with nodes and no leaves for $25. It’s crazy!!!

  • 6 years ago

    Beautiful plant, but those prices are unjustifiably high, considering it's a fast grower, and is very easy to propagate. Folks in Europe can find it at a much more reasonable price:

    https://www.araflora.com/p77/rhapidophora_tetrasperma_m


  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    green_vines, yes they are way too expensive for a fast growing plant!!!! I got mine in a trade thank God. I really wanted one but I wasn’t gonna pay the expensive prices!


  • 6 years ago

    Your plant looks great!


    I actually got a rooted cutting of this plant the other day. Not sure it looks healthy, though. :(

  • 6 years ago

    Lisbeth post a picture! Mine doesn’t look healthy either but I just paid shipping to get it and it was rooted so I’m not complaining. The roots look good & they grow quickly so I’ll just pluck off the ugly leaves when new ones grow!

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks, I'll make a picture tomorrow, with better light!


    Anyway, I think they are interesting plants. While I love Monstera deliciosa, it would get too big for my place, very soon!


    Yes, it's definitely a 'hipster' plant... I must admit I discovered it on pinterest!

  • 6 years ago

    I have a Monstera as well lol. And it is HUGE!!!

  • 6 years ago

    LOL. If you have the space - fantastic!


    I'll try to post images below. What I think they don't show very well is that parts of it are slightly yellowish or lighter green. I'm always a bit paranoid about pests. These brown spots...





  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Sorry for double post, I couldn't figure out how to add another


    photo. Here's the brown spot in better quality:


    @ jamilalshaw26 , I'd like to see yours!

  • 6 years ago

    I can see the brown and kind of yellowing. Doesn’t look like anything peat related. I think most people overwater these cause the cuttings o see always look a little sickly, even the rooted ones!

  • 6 years ago

    *pest

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I suspect aroids are going to be a steep learning curve for me. I'm used to plants you can unpot and then leave alone for days or weeks while figuring out what to do! Now I took the little Raph out of its plastic bag yesterday evening (it still had lots of wet peaty stuff on its roots) and this morning it was all dry and thirsty. Put it in a jar of water for now.

    What mix did you guys use?

  • 6 years ago

    I use the 5-1-1 mix. If you type it into the search bar on this site you’ll find loads of information about it!

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Yes, I read it a while ago but haven't been able to get all the ingredients. What I have can be seen in a pic in this post (I'm also still trying to figure out what would work for my ficus): https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5763659/how-to-repot-and-care-for-baby-ficus-triangularis-variegata#24438240 so I guess I'll have to go with "something gritty that works".

  • 6 years ago

    So you still have the epiphyte mix?

  • 6 years ago

    If you can get your bark chopped down smaller you have all the right ingredients to make a good mix.
    The epiphyte mix sounds like it’s more for hydroponics maybe.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I thought the original recipe needed Sphagnum moss? I can't seem to find that post now. So I'm at a bit of a loss how much to use of what...

    Yes; in fact the epiphyte mix is from a fresh bag. It is made for epiphytic cacti, hoya and the like, by a big cactus nursery.

    Do you mean I should get the bark smaller than the pieces in that mix I made (lower right side of pic)?

    Sorry if I'm a bit dense.


    ETA; Oh, I totally forgot I also have diatomaceous earth /like in that Napa Floor Dry that seems to be popular in the US).

  • 6 years ago

    Yes

  • 6 years ago

    You can use regular potting soil if you don’t have spagnum. 5 parts bark , 1 part moss, & 1 part perlite

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    OK, it's pumice not perlite in my case, but I'll be chopping those pine bark chunks tomorrow! Thank you so much.

    How is yours doing?

  • 6 years ago

    It hasn’t put out any new growth yet but it’s still alive!!!

  • 6 years ago

    They sell these cheap at walmarts and Lowes around here. Other names used for them is Mini Monstera and Ginny. I have one that has gone wild mixed in with a couple Variegated Monsteras in my backyard under a canopy of other plants. There are a couple other Monsteras climbing a Starfruit tree in the same area. The Raphidophora is a tough little plant. It gets neglected quite a bit back there. I should really pull it out and give it more light but its such a tangled mess lol.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago



    Sounds good @jamilalshaw26!

    I realized I wasn't able to make as many small pine bark chunksas I needed (boy, that stuff is strong! Structurally stable indeed!), so I made a somewhat chunky mix and hope for the best. If it survives until next summer, when I'll hopefully have everything I need in advance I'll be happy. The parts where it was cut from the stem look black, not sure that's a good sign.


    @sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish), that's interesting! I have seen Monstera adansonii in supermarkets recently, marketed as "mini monstera", but not Raphidophora.

  • 6 years ago

    I also used 5-1-1 mix for my cutting. My leaf started to yellow before I had new growth. It also started getting patchy (for lack of a better word) on the back side. It’s growing great now. I had the black on the cut ends too. I don’t think it’s a problem. I really think keeping it on the dry side is key. I water mine every 6 days or so. Here are some recent photos from when I posted before. Does anyone know if the mother leaf will die off? Like a succulent does. I’d love a monstera adansonii! I think it would look cool growing up the same trellis as a Raph.

  • 6 years ago

    Austin, that’s a great idea to grow a adanosii with a raph. I think I’m going to try it! I’ve got some adanosii cuttings I’ll put in with mine once it starts growing!!!

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    There are some discussions in other plant places as to whether some of these Raphs are actually R. pertusa , not tetrasperma. No idea how to determine what mine is, LOL.

  • 6 years ago

    Now that i'm looking out saw some other plants that were sold as "mini monstera", but they were different from the one I have. These in the store had darker green, longer more elongated leaves, the leave splits more random looking? Could that be R. pertusa?


    I read in multiple places that Tetrasperma does not like to be dry. Mine seems uncomfortably wet so far, I think I will change the soil to something less soggy.

  • 6 years ago

    I had some tip browning on one of my leaves. I’m watering even less now. I want to feel moisture only if I burry finger. The second leaf hasn’t had any tip browning so hopefully I’m on track. My third leaf is already unraveling.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Which is this "holey" plant?



  • 6 years ago

    Could be Monstera adansonii.


  • 6 years ago

    Question to those of you who grew their plant from a cutting: How long did it take? Because that leaf definitely seems to be wilting... :(

  • 6 years ago

    Delivered June 19
    New growth at the end of July beginning of August

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Oh dear. The leaf won't hold out that long... And when it's gone, there won't be a new plant, right? (My cutting was rooted, though. Still, that leaf won't be doing much photosynthesis anyymore...)

  • 6 years ago

    Lisbeth, don't lose hope just yet - even a little bit of green can be enough to feed the roots until new growth emerges.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Houzz has this cool one... lol

    Pseudo-Monstera


  • 6 years ago

    I finally have new growth!!! I’m so excited!!!

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